Blackburn Rovers finished just outside the play-offs last season in 7th place, which was a significant improvement on the previous year’s 19th, when they only avoided relegation to League One on a dramatic final day.

However, their fans have many concerns about the club’s future, as Venky’s continue to limit investment in the squad. The supporters’ frustrations at the owners’ frugal approach was shared by the last two managers, as they both left for greener pastures, complaining of a lack of money.

The departure of John Eustace in February 2025 was described by the Rovers Trust as “heartbreaking”, when the manager opted to leave Rovers while they were in the top six in order to move to Derby County, who were in the relegation zone at the time. The Trust said that this was “a damning indictment of everything that is wrong about our club.”

This situation was horribly familiar, as a disillusioned Jan Dahl Tomasson had also left Ewood Park 12 months earlier, after he was given a reduced transfer budget, which meant that the club had to pull out of a couple of important deals just as the players were about to put pen to paper.

This was the third time in four years that Rovers had a decent chance of reaching the play-offs, but the owners were unwilling (or unable) to support the manager in the January window, always leaving them just short.

The bad vibes around the club have not been helped by the recent decision to withdraw the women’s team from Super League 2 on cost grounds, while the departure of chief executive Steve Waggott after seven years in charge has increased the uncertainty.

League Position

After the Venky’s acquired Rovers from the Jack Walker Trust in November 2010, they were relegated to the Championship at the end of the following season, then down to League One in 2017, though they did bounce back at the first time of asking.

Before their arrival, Rovers had spent 11 consecutive seasons in England’s top flight, three times finishing in the top seven. Readers with a longer memory will remember that they actually won the Premier League in 1994/95 under Kenny Dalglish, spearheaded by the formidable SAS (Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton).

However, since departing the top flight, they have never finished above seventh in the Championship, despite benefiting from four years of parachute payments.

2023/24 Season

Let’s take a look at Rovers’ finances to see if they might explain the club’s conservative strategy.

The most recent available financial results are for 2023/24, which covered a “very turbulent and inconsistent season”, according to Waggott. Their 19th place was the club’s worst performance since they were promoted from League One in 2018.

Profit/(Loss) 2023/24

In contrast, the club did better off the pitch, as they swung from a £20.9m pre-tax loss to a £3.3m profit. However, the improvement was almost entirely due to profit from player sales surging from just £349k to £23.6m.

At an operating level, Rovers still lost £19.5m, though this was £1.4m better than the previous year. Revenue rose £0.4m (2%) from £21.0m to £21.4m, while operating expenses were cut £1.0m (2%) from £41.9m to £40.9m.

On the other hand, net interest payable increased from £0.3m to £0.7m.

The small revenue growth was driven by commercial, which rose £0.8m (12%) from £6.2m to £7.0m. In contrast, there were small decreases in both broadcasting, down £0.2m (2%) from £9.7m to £9.5m, and match day, down £0.1m (2%) from £5.0m to £4.9m.

Rovers’ staff costs fell, as wages decreased £0.4m (1%) from £25.8m to £25.4m and player amortisation dropped by a third (£1.1m) from £3.4m to £2.3m. However, there was an increase in other expenses, which were up £0.4m (4%) from £11.6m to £12.0m.

Rovers were one of only four Championship clubs that managed to generate a profit last season, though their £3m was surpassed by Southampton £17m, Watford £13m and Coventry City £9m.