Blackburn Rovers F.C. Under-23s and Academy

Blackburn Rovers Academy and Under-21s

Full name	Blackburn Rovers Academy and Under-21s
Nickname(s)	Rovers, Blue and Whites, The Riversiders[1]
Founded	1875 (1875)
Ground	County Ground (Leyland), Leyland, Lancashire
Capacity	~2,300
Head of Academy	Paul Gray
U21 Lead Coach	Mike Sheron
League	Premier League 2 U18 Premier League
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Blackburn Rovers F.C. Academy and Under-21s are the youth teams of Blackburn Rovers. The Blackburn Rovers Academy holds Category One status. The current manager of the Under 21's side is Mike Sheron. The team play in the Premier League 2 Division 1, after gaining promotion from the Premier League 2 Division 2 in the 2017/18 season.

Blackburn Rovers Under-21s play in the Premier League 2 Division 1.

Damien Johnson is the former manager the Under-21. His predecessor, Eric Kinder left the role to take over as the club's Head of Academy. Kinder was appointed Gary Bowyer's replacement following his appointment as first team manager following two successful caretaker spells. However, the new current head of Academy at Blackburn Rovers is Stuart Jones. The Under 21s play their home games at The Lancashire FA County Ground at Leyland, Preston.

The team now is mainly made up of players acquired from local academies like Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton. Several Under 21's players have recently made the step up into John Eustace's first team, including Lewis Travis, John Buckley, Joe Rankin-Costello and Hayden Carter.

Blackburn Rovers Academy holds Category One status, the highest possible. The club maintained this status in a full audit which took place during the 2017/18 season. The Academy trains at Brockhall training village, the same location as the first team and the Under 21s. It also provides a stepping stone for youngsters to progress to the highest levels of football at Blackburn Rovers producing high quality players in the past. Former players such as Damien Duff, Phil Jones, Damien Johnson, James Beattie, Neil Danns, Jonathan Walters, and Anthony Pilkington were all nurtured in The Academy. Current professional football players also include Jason Lowe, Martin Olsson, Grant Hanley, Josh Morris, Adam Henley, Connor Mahoney, Ryan Nyambe, David Raya and Jack O'Connell have graduated from the clubs academy. Recent graduates such as Lewis Travis, Joe Rankin-Costello, Scott Wharton, Hayden Carter and John Buckley among others, play for Blackburn Rovers Championship team currently.

In January 1991, British industrialist and businessman Jack Walker a lifelong fan of Blackburn Rovers completed the takeover of the club. In the following years, the Brockhall Village Academy, was constructed at a cost of approximately £4.75 million. The centre included state of the art facilities on a par with top training facilities elsewhere in Europe. It includes 6 full-size pitches, indoor training facilities, an indoor running track, outdoor running "hill", a swimming pool, goalkeeper training facilities as well as accommodation for the youth players.

On 19 November 2010, Pune based chicken meat processing, and pharmaceutical company, Venkateshwara Hatcheries Private Limited., completed the takeover of Blackburn Rovers, under the name Venky's London Limited.^[2][3]

One of the companies early ambitions was to open an Academy back in their home nation of India. Managing director, told The Indian Express newspaper the club was planning a centre of excellence near Pune which is 100 km (60 miles) from Mumbai.

"We are getting an academy and a stadium in Pune," Venky's B. Balaji Rao was quoted as saying. "The site is near the Mumbai-Pune highway and will be ready in a year-and-a-half or two years." Rao said the academy, on the outskirts of the city, will be run exactly like a Rovers' training centre at Brockhall in northwest England, taking players from the age of 11 and 12. As of 2016 however no academy or stadium has been constructed.^[4]

As of 29 November 2024^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 34 GK  ENG Jack Barrett 37 GK  ENG Felix Goddard — GK  ENG Solomon Honor — GK  PAK Adam Khan 35 GK  ENG Nicholas Michalski 38 DF  NIR Tom Atcheson 33 DF  ENG Jake Batty — DF  ENG Max Davies — DF  ENG Lucas Houghton 40 DF  ENG Matty Litherland — DF  ENG Charlie Olson — DF  ENG Brandon Powell

No. Pos. Nation Player 43 DF  ENG George Pratt — MF  ENG Isaac Dunn 36 MF  ENG James Edmondson — MF  HUN Patrik Farkas 41 MF  ENG Lorenze Mullarkey-Matthews — MF  ENG Harley O'Grady-Macken — MF  ENG Zack Stritch — MF  ENG Harrison Wood — FW  ENG Joe Boggan — FW  NIR Aodhan Doherty 32 FW  ENG Igor Tyjon

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  USA Leo Duru (on loan at San Diego)

Updated 29 November 2024.^[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG Harry Holt — GK  ENG Luke Thompson — GK  ENG Blake Wolsoncroft — DF  ITA Silver Eze — DF  ENG Micheal Decandia — DF  ENG Leon Kelley-Quinn — DF  WAL Bruce Leeming — DF  ENG Alfie McIlroy — DF  NGA David Odogun — DF  ENG Harvey Pates — MF  ENG Levi Ball — MF  ENG Thomas Cryer — MF  ENG Isaac Dunn

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Freddie Leatherbarrow — MF  ENG Harry Lister — MF  ENG Tyler Mansbridge — MF  ENG Archie McCoy — MF  ENG Lorenze Mullarky-Matthews — MF  ENG Aaron Potter — MF  ENG Frank Vare — FW  ENG Charlie Clanford — FW  ENG Nathan Dlamini — FW  ENG Harvey Higgins — FW  ENG Valentin Joseph — FW  ENG Jayden Sergeant

Blackburn Rovers' youth system has been successful over the years, many players who have come through it have gone on to feature in the first-team and make an impact or progress in the 1st teams of other clubs in the future.

• Official website