BLACKBURN Rovers legend Simon Garner has been unveiled as the ambassador of a unified fans’ group which has been formed to put pressure on Venky’s to sell the club.

The Rovers Trust, Blackburn Rovers Football Community Action Group, Ewood Blues and BRFCS.com have joined forces under the banner ‘We Are Rovers’ after a public meeting in Blackburn last Thursday where supporters called for united action.

We Are Rovers state its two core objectives is ‘to seek to encourage Venky’s to put the club up for sale’ and ‘to collectively work with new owners on ways of re-engaging supporters and re-establishing Rovers as a club at the heart of its community’.

Garner, the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, will act as a spokesperson for the group after agreeing to become its ambassador.

He said: “I have supported Rovers fans in their efforts to take back control of the club for five years and the We Are Rovers initiative is a very welcome step up in the fight to change ownership.

“Like most fans, I have had to watch appalled at what has happened to Blackburn Rovers. Equally bad is the impact terrible ownership has had on the team, the community and on the supporters.

“I will be fully behind We Are Rovers as we seek to further highlight the actions that have brought our once proud club to its knees.

“For the sake of everyone concerned about this famous old club, we need the Rao family to hear the message in Blackburn and in India: do the decent thing and sell Blackburn Rovers now.”

Garner added: “We Are Rovers is not about the manager, the team or the league position. It’s not even about the few remaining administrators left at Ewood Park who are trying to run a football club in appalling circumstances.

“Owning and working for a football club; playing for and supporting the team, should be a joy and a privilege – it certainly was when I pulled on that famous blue and white jersey.

“But the pride and the fun have been driven out of the club. The fans’ passion will never be removed though and that’s what is driving We Are Rovers.”

We Are Rovers state it will stage ‘respectful, peaceful and professional protests’ on selected matchdays at Ewood Park ‘alongside a high profile PR campaign against Venky’s’ in their ‘backyard in Pune’.

We Are Rovers state it ‘does not claim to represent all Rovers supporters and does not constitute a task force or other unelected body’ and that the campaigns it will organise ‘will be open and inclusive to anyone who wishes to participate in them’.