Since its inception in 1992 the Premier League has only had 5 different winners. Manchester Unite, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchestery City have been multiple winners. The other team was Blackburn Rovers in the 1994/1995 season. They had come close in the 1993/1994 season finishing runners-up but the following season they stopped Manchester United from winning it for a third year on the bounce.
It all came down to the final game of the season. Manchester United had to win at West Ham and hoped Blackburn would lose at Liverpool. Blackburn did lose at Liverpool 2-1 but Manchester United could only get a 1-1 draw at West Ham. This was Blackburn’s first league title since 1914.
This week’s where are they now will look at some of the key players from that Blackburn squad.
(Minimum of 20 league appearances as starter or sub)
Gk: Tim Flowers: Signed for Blackburn in 1993 from Southampton for £2.4 million making him the most expensive goalkeeper in Britain at that time. Flowers played 39 times in the league that year and 177 times in total for Blackburn from 1993 – 1999. Flowers also picked up 11 England caps.
He retired in 2003. Since retiring he has worked as goalkeeping coaches at numerous clubs before trying his hand at managing in the lower leagues. His last job was as goalkeeping coach at Nottingham Forest when Stuart Pearce was in charge. In February of this year Pearce was sacked and Flowers left the club.
Def: Colin Hendry: Signed for Blackburn from Manchester City in 1991 to start his second spell with the club. He cost Blackburn £700,000 and stayed there until 1998. He played 38 times in the league that season scoring 4 goals. He played a total of 337 games for Blackburn scoring 34 goals. Hendry also played for Scotland 51 times scoring 3 goals.
Hendry retired in 2003 and after retiring tried his hand at management with Blackpool and then Clyde.
Hed returned to Blackburn in a coaching capacity but left that post in 2014.
Since retirement Hendry unfortunately lost his wife to meningitis, and was also declared bankrupt after amassing debts in the region of £2 million due to on-line betting.
Def Graeme Le Saux: Signed for Blackburn in 1993 from Chelsea for £700,000. He played at Blackburn till 1997 when he re-joined Chelsea. He Played 39 league games in the 94/95 season scoring 3 goals. He played 129 games in his career at Blackburn scoring 7 goals. He was capped by England 36 times scoring once.
Le Saux retired in 2005 and got work as a football pundit, and now works as a commentator on the NBC sports network covering the Premier League.
Def: Henning Berg: Signed for Blackburn from Lillestrom in 1993 for a fee of £400,000 and played at Blackburn till 1997 then again in 2000 till 2003. The 94/95 season saws him play 40 league games scoring 1 goal. In his 2 spells at Blackburn he played 233 games scoring 7 goals. Berg was also capped by Norway 100 times scoring 9 goals.
Berg retired in 2004 and in 2005 started his career in management at Lyn. He then went on to manage his former team Lillestrom before returning to Blackburn as manager in 2012. His reign at Blackburn only lasted 57 days as he only won 1 game. He has since gone on to manage Legia Warsaw in Poland.
Def: Ian Pearce: Signed from Chelsea in 1993 for £300,000. He stayed at Blackburn till 1997. In the championship winning season he made 28 league apperances. During his time at Blackburn he made 63 appearances scoring 2 goals. Pearce retired in 2012.
He has since gone on to do some coaching in the lower leagues as well as motivational speaking and sports punditry.
Mid: Tim Sherwood (capt): Signed from Norwich in 1992 for £660,000. He played at Blackburn till 1999. In the 94/95 season he played 38 games scoring 5 goals. In his Blackburn career he 246 games scoring 25 goals. He made 3 appearances for England.
Sherwood retired in 2005 and got into coaching and management in 2008 as an assistant to Harry Redknapp at Tottenham Hotspur. In 2013 he became manager of Tottenham but his contract was not renewed at the end of the season. He is now manager of Aston Villa.
Mid: Stuart Ripley: Signed from Middlesbrough in 1992 for £1.76 million. He played for Blackburn till 1998. Ripley made 37 appearances in 94/95 scoring 1 goal. In his Blackburn career he made 188 appearances scoring 13 goals. He also got 2 England caps.
Ripley retired in 2001. On retiring he set up a physiotherapy and sports injury clinic. He also in 2010 became a qualified solicitor. He now works on the FA’s judicial panel.
Mid: Jason Wilcox: Started his career at Blackburn in 1989 and stayed till 1999. He played 27 games in the championship winning season scoring 5 goals. He played a total of 271 games for Blackburn scoring 31 goals. He also appeared for England 3 times.
Wilcox retired in 2006 and worked in media after a short spell away from the game. He currently works with the Manchester City academy.
Mid: Mark Atkins: Signed from Scunthorpe in 1988 for £45,000 and stayed at Blackburn till 1995. He made 34 appearances in 94/95 scoring 6 goals. His Blackburn career saw him make 257 appearances for Rovers scoring 35 goals.
Atkins retired in 2004. He has since had jobs as caretaker manager at lower league clubs. His last job was as manager of Matlock Town a job which he did for 6 seasons resigning in 2014.
Mid: Paul Warhurst: Signed from Sheffield Wednesday in 1993 for a fee of £2.3 million. He played at Blackburn till 1997. In the 94/95 season he played 27 games scoring 2 goals. His total career appearances at Blackburn was 57 games scoring 4 goals.
Warhurst retired in 2007. He now works as a football consultant.
Fw: Alan Shearer: Signed from Southampton for a English transfer record of £3.6 million in 1992. He stayed at Blackburn till 1996 when he joined he boyhood club Newcastle for a world record fee at the time of £15million. In the 94/95 season Shearer made 42 appearances scoring 34 goals. He played 138 times for Blackburn scoring 112 goals. He played for England 63 times scoring 30 goals. He was also captain of the national team.
Shearer retired in 2006. He has since gone on to become one of the leading pundits on Match of the Day. He has dabbled in management. In 2009 he took over Newcastle for a short period and hoped he could stop them from being relegated. It was hoped by the fans he would get the job on a permanent basis, however this failed to materialise.
Fw: Chris Sutton: Signed from Norwich in 1994 for £5 million making him the most expensive player in English football at the time. He played for Blackburn till 1999 when he left for Chelsea. In the 94/95 season Sutton played 40 times scoring 15 goals. In his Blackburn career he played 130 times scoring 47 goals. He played for England once.
Sutton retired in 2012. Sutton had a brief spell in management at Lincoln City in 2009/10. He now works as a football pundit on TV.
Manager Kenny Dalglish: the Liverpool legend took over Blackburn in 1991 and managed them till 1995. As a manager of Liverpool between 1985 and 1991 he won 3 league titles, 2 FA cups and the Super Cup. This was on top of what he won as a player in the 70’s and 80’s. In his 1st season at Blackburn he guided them out of the second division back into the top flight. Then in the 94/95 season after finishing runners-up the previous season he took Blackburn to the title.
Dalglish is now a non-executive director at Liverpool.
Andrew Huddlestone
@ahuddlestone77