IT has been at the heart for the community for decades; generations have made a weekly pilgrimage to cheer on their heroes.

Ewood Park, home to Blackburn Rovers, has long been a major landmark in Blackburn.

Unlike many football clubs which have moved to out of town sites, leaving their traditional bases behind, Ewood Park has been home to Rovers for more than 100 years.

In use for sports events from 1882, Blackburn Rovers moved to Ewood Park in 1890 from their previous base at Leamington Road.

In the early years of the last century, the ground took shape with the Nuttall Street stand being built in 1904. The Riverside stand was added in 1913 which took the ground’s capacity to more than 70,000 - the vast majority of spectators standing on traditional terraces.

In 1960 Blackburn Rovers may have experienced the disappointment of losing the FA Cup Final to Wolves but their cup run financed a cantilever roof on the Blackburn end.

What we now recognise as the modern Ewood Park really began to take shape when Jack Walker took over the club. Having already funded the construction of the Riverside stand in 1987, the early Nineties saw a stadium emerge to match the team’s ambitions

Plans were passed in 1992 for new stands to be built around the the remaining three sides of the ground to give the club an all-seater stadium with a capacity of around 31,000.

Two new car parks were also created behind the Blackburn and Darwen Ends - work which had involved the demolition of a number of terraced homes and also of Fernhurst Mill.

The final piece in the jigsaw was the construction of the Jack Walker stand which replaced the Nuttall Street stand and the new-look stadium officially opened in 1995 - the team serving up a performance to match the occasion, beating Nottingham Forest 7-0.