"There is a large group of people for whom following a football club involves latching on to a team purely and simply because they are regularly successful, play at huge stadia, enjoy a massive global profile, and boast the best players on the planet.

Burnley and Blackburn Rovers tend not to attract that kind of following; instead, they draw their support largely from their immediate locality. For those supporters, their team is so much more than a mere fashion statement or a trendy whim; it is a physical, visceral attachment; it speaks of a person’s identity, values, and heritage. It is who you are and where you belong."

Hmmm, not too sure the above is applicable to our Blackburn friends. The season Uncle Jack bought in, 1990/91 their average gate was 8,126, ours wasn't much different, 7,882. Five years later, after Uncle Jack had invested his millions, they were playing in a modern stadium, regularly successful, had a global profile and had some of the best players money could buy, their average gate was 27,714, ours was 9,064.

I think it's valid to ask the Mrs Merton question to those 19,000 additional Blackburn fans who had appeared, as if from nowhere, during those five years, "What was it that first attracted you to the millionaire Jack Walker's football club" ? Could it really be explained by "a physical, visceral attachment; it speaks of a person’s identity, values, and heritage. It is who you are and where you belong."

I rather think not, they weren't called Bandwagon Blues for nothing. We had 'em sussed.