Blackburn Rovers secured promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking on Tuesday night after a 1-0 victory away to Doncaster Rovers.
With a goal scoring record that would rival most strikers in the league, centre-back and captain Charlie Mulgrew netted his 14-league goal of the season after he glanced home Bradley Dack’s corner with 10 minutes to go. The win meant Rovers followed fellow former Premier League outfit Wigan to automatic promotion from League One. There is just one-point between the two North West rivals with two-matches to play as both look to go head-to-head for the League One crown.
Mowbray began the 2016/17 season with Coventry City, but he left eight weeks into the season after a run of winless results. He was appointed Blackburn manager in February 2017, with Rovers staring down the barrel of relegation. He was brought in to try and steer the club away from the bottom three. Following his appointment, Blackburn took 22 points from their final 15 Championship matches, more than any other team in the bottom seven, but it wasn’t enough to survive. They won away 3-1 at Brentford on a wild last day of the season but were still relegated to the third tier on goal difference after wins for fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Rovers faithful. Just seven years ago, Blackburn were an established Premier League side when poultry giants the Venky’s purchased the club. A catalogue of errors by the owners ultimately resulted in the club inheriting over £100m in debt and suffering two relegations, dropping from the Premier League to League One. It meant Blackburn were the first ever former Premier League winners to drop down to England’s third tier.
After two defeats in their opening two league games of this season, Rovers looked set to struggle to bounce back. Following a 1-0 defeat away at Oldham in October, they sat in 10th place and 12 points off leaders Wigan and second-placed Shrewsbury.
However, despite their slow start, Rovers regrouped and settled into life in League One. In fact, under Mowbrays’ leadership they flourished. So much so that they have lost just one league game since mid-October, with their only defeat coming against Plymouth at the start of February.
Despite overseeing departures of 12 senior players in the summer, Mowbray has replaced them with trusted personal and he has found a way to get the best out of his star men. Most notably midfielder Bradly Dack has flourished. His 18 goals so far this season saw him crowned as the EFL's League One Player of the Season.
Dack is one of three players in double figures this season, with Charlie Mulgrew and Danny Graham both sitting on 14 goals respectively. If Adam Armstrong was to score one more this season, it would be the first time in 60 years that four players have reached double figures in the same season.
Despite all the troubles off the pitch, on the pitch Mowbrys’ task this season was to get Rovers back to the Championship. Now achieved, celebrations will be short but sweet as he prepares for life back in England’s second tier. The fans have a team and manager they can be proud of, but for a club the size of Blackburn, Mowbray knows he can’t settle on making up the numbers next season. His eyes will already be firmly set on the Premier League and restoring the former champions back to where they belong.
