AS AN exiled Rovers fan living in the USA, you can imagine how frustrating it is to live 4,000 miles away from Ewood Park. Yet these days, the Internet and electronic mail make the world a smaller place.

For example, from my office at Indiana University in the American Midwest, I run an electronic mailing list for Rovers fans all over the world. There are currently over 350 subscribers from over 30 countries - from Singapore to Sweden, from New Zealand to Newfoundland.

As a group of dedicated fans, we share ideas, thoughts, and emotions on a daily basis.

There is a proliferation of material available on the Rovers on the Internet these days.

So, it was with immense joy that I discovered the Rovers had developed their own World Wide Web site to convey "official" club news to the rest of the world. Imagine my surprise when, on checking the web page this morning and following a link to the "Latest Match Report" I was expecting the worst, considering the recent result against Arsenal last weekend. But I wasn't prepared for what I found. The link (supposedly "courtesy of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph") took me to a recent Telegraph story entitled: "CLARETS: Taylor's no dummy!"

Now, you don't have to be much of a Rovers fan to realise that there is something wrong with this picture. As far as I know (and I've been following the Rovers for 30 odd years), there is not even the slightest hint of claret in the Rovers team strip.

It's difficult enough dealing with the fact that the Rovers have experienced one of the worst starts to a season EVER. But to add insult to injury by taking a committed Rovers fan to a story about Burnley Football Club is more than most true Blue and Whites can take. And this from a web site that claims to be the "official" Rovers page.

I find it outrageous that those people purportedly clever enough to develop a web page, cannot make the simplest of links to another web site. It is a disgrace to the Rovers, to Rovers fans everywhere, and to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, who, as far as I can see, are completely blameless in this matter. I hope that whoever is responsible for this unforgivable error is forced to stand alone in a cold, dark corner of Ewood Park, and hang his (or her) head in shame.

Please remove this link to the Burnley story from the official Rovers page as soon as possible.

BILL ELLIOTT, Co-ordinator Blackburn Rovers Supporters electronic mailing list, Indiana, USA.

FOOTNOTE: We were as amazed and annoyed as you were. We knew nothing about it - Editor.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.