Blackburn Rovers Preview

29 August 2023

After a return to winning ways on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Morecambe, Town will be hunting a cup upset tomorrow evening when Championship side Blackburn Rovers are the visitors to the Envirovent Stadium in the second round of the Carabao Cup.

The fixture is the first time that the club have hosted a side from the second tier, with League One outfits Blackpool and Portsmouth the previous highest ranked to visit, and Town will be looking to reach round three for the first time in their history.

Ticket Information

Our opponents

Rovers narrowly missed out on play-off spot at the end of last season, finishing in seventh spot and just one place outside the playoff places. In the Carabao Cup they made it through to the fourth round before falling to Nottingham Forest, a run that included a thrilling 10-09 penalty shoot-out win against West Ham.

Following the end of the season there were a number of departures, including top scorer and Chilean international Ben Brereton Diaz, with the club moving to bring in the likes of Niall Enniss and Sondre Tronstad.

So far they have taken seven points from their opening four games, including a 1-0 win at Watford on Saturday and knocked out Town’s fellow League Two side Walsall in round one.

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The man in charge

Rovers are managed by Jon Dahl Tomasson, the former Danish international who guided Malmo to consecutive Swedish titles before heading to Blackburn ahead of the start of last season.

Tomasson enjoyed a stellar playing career earning over 100 caps for Denmark and representing a string of marquee names such as Feyenoord and Milan, earning domestic titles in both Holland and Italy as well winning a UEFA Cup and Champions League title, also starring in the Premier League for Newcastle United.

Ones to watch

Sammie Smodics has found the net twice this season as well as adding an assist. Midfielder Ryan Hedges netted the winner at the weekend and Town will need to be wary of both Adam Wharton and Lewis Travis whilst youngster Harry Leonard will spearhead the attack.

Rovers will hope to have defender Joe Rankin-Costello available after he was forced off with an injury in the victory at Watford.

History

Rovers were founded back in 1875 and were one of the founding members of the Football League, winning five FA Cup finals before the end of the century as well as League titles in 1911/12 and 1913/14.

The 1970’s saw the club relegated twice to the third tier, bouncing back in quick succession to spend most of the 1980’s in the second tier, also winning the Full Members Cup in 1987.

After being taken over by Jack Walker the club gained promotion to the Premier League in 1992 under former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, going on to win the Premier League in 1994/95.

Following Dalglish’s departure they were relegated just four years later, but returned at the end of the 2000/01 season, and won the League Cup in 2002. After 11 seasons back in the top flight under the likes of Mark Hughes and Graeme Souness they were relegated in 2012, before suffering further relegation in 2017. They secured an immediate return to the Championship where they have since remained.

Team news

Midfielder Dean Cornelius misses out with a fractured wrist suffered at Accrington, though Rod McDonald came through 90 minutes against Morecambe unscathed having recovered from a cut to the face.

Match Previews

Match Reports

TOWN 0-8 Blackburn Rovers - Town suffer heavy defeat in Carabao Cup exit

30 August 2023

Town exited the Carabao Cup this evening after being on the wrong end of an 8-0 defeat at home to Blackburn Rovers.

The Championship side raced into an early lead, making it 4-0 at half-time and showed no let up in their intensity as they pressed home their advantage after the break.

Both sides made a host of changes after triumphing at the weekend. Rovers rotated all but one member of the side that earned a 1-0 win at Watford whilst Simon Weaver made eight changes to the team that defeated Morecambe 2-0, with only Mark Oxley, George Thomson and Levi Sutton retained in the starting eleven.

Town were quickly on the back foot with Will Smith making an early intervention to thwart a Rovers attack in the opening minute. Oxley was then out quickly to deny Gallagher as the tall forward was sizing up an opportunity.

It took the visitors just ten minutes to take the lead though. A series of neat passes around the edge of the box freed Garrett to find the time and space to fire home with his left foot low beyond Oxley.

Gallagher then pounced on a Smith slip just two minutes later to double Rovers lead with an almost carbon copy to the opener and make Town’s evening that even more difficult.

Jack Muldoon had a golden opportunity to reduce the arrears moments later when he outmuscled the Rovers backline but he couldn’t lift his effort above Leo Wahlstedt.

Markanday nearly stretched the lead on twenty minutes after Warren Burrell’s ball was cut out but he couldn’t squeeze his effort past Oxley.

Rovers did get their third on the half-hour though when Buckley was on hand to convert Andy Moran’s cut-back from the byline.

Muldoon had a golden opportunity five minutes before the break when he profited from Abraham Odoh’s powerful run but with Wahlstedt committed he struck the wrong side of the post. Against a side of Blakburn’s quality it was moments like that Town really needed to convert.

On the stroke of half-time Rovers put the tie beyond all doubt when Markand firedy home from the edge of the area past Oxley’s out-stretched right-hand.

At the break Town made three changes, bringing on three of the players initially rested with Luke Armstrong, Sam Folarin and Anthony O’Connor coming on for George Horbury, Matty Daly and Abraham Odoh. The changes saw Town switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Burrell coming into midfield.

The visitors made a pair of changes with Zak Gilsenan and Hayden Carter replacing Harry Pickering and Dominic Hyam.

Five minutes after the restart Rovers made it 5-0 when Gallagher was bundled over in the box and Buckley stepped up to convert the spot kick for his second of the evening.

Town’s fourth change of the evening came on the hour mark when James Daly replaced the hard working Muldoon, who on another evening could have had a couple of goals to his name.

Despite their advantage there was no let up from Rovers and having been awarded a free-kick just outside the Town area Gilsenan stepped up and cracked a shot beyond Oxley, who barely had time to move before the ball hit the net.

And the intensity of the Rovers play continued and they netted a seventh when Bloxham turned in the box and fired beyond Oxley before Edmondson added an eighth with fifteen minutes remaining.

With five minutes remaining Oxley was on hand to race of his line to prevent Rovers adding a ninth, thwarting substitute Edmondson, but a difficult evening for Town was soon brough to an end.

Match Reports

Ticket News

Up Next - Blackburn Rovers visit The EnviroVent

27 August 2023

Against arguably the biggest club ever faced in a competitive fixture, we welcome Blackburn Rovers in Round Two of the Carabao Cup.

Tickets

All supporters can still buy tickets from our Official Club Store, which is open from 10am-3pm Wednesday – ID checks for new customers.

All supporters can also purchase via email - tickets@harrogatetownafc.com.

Online sales are limited to supporters who have been to three or more games since the start of last season (45 loyalty points).

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To create an account and assign tickets - click here

Phone lines will be closed on Wednesday – email only. Tickets should be purchased online where possible, except for Accessibility and Under 5 tickets.

Fixture Information

The Carabao Cup Round Two fixture will be the first time Harrogate has hosted a Championship club, with League One Blackpool and Portsmouth the previous highest ranked to visit.

A place in Round Three of the competition awaits the winners, with more Premier League clubs added to the draw, including the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Rovers narrowly missed out on a Play-Off place last season, finishing 7^th in the Championship and missing the chance to return to the Premier League, a competition they have spent 18 seasons in, famously winning in the 1994/95 season with Premier League all-time top scorer Alan Shearer at the helm.

The Lancashire side are managed by Jon Dahl Tomasson, a man with over 100 international appearances for Denmark and an honours list that includes a Serie A title, Eridivisie win as well as UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League successes.

Having once lined up alongside the likes of Paulo Maldini, Andrea Pirlo, Rivaldo and Andriy Shevchenko, Tomasson is set to face off against Simon Weaver in the Wetherby Road dugouts.

With a sold out away end, it’s going to be an unforgettable evening at The EnviroVent Stadium.

Further Ticket News

Please note Season Tickets are not valid for this fixture.

Concessions are classed as...

Senior 65+
Full Time Student 18+
Blue Light Card
Disabled Person in receipt of mid/high rate DLA / PIP

Prices

Prices for this fixture can be seen below.

For the 2023/24 season, purchasing a ticket in advance will be cheaper than purchasing from 12am onwards on the day of the game. Admission prices will increase on a matchday (from 12am), by £2 for over 18s and £1 for U18s.

Programme

Our first Carabao Cup programme of the season features an interview with Summer signing James Daly and will be available to purchase for £3 inside the ground on matchday.

Programmes will also be able to read online, free of charge 24 hours prior to kick-off via the below link.

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How to Follow

If you are unable to attend the match, updates will be provided across our social media channels and via our Live Match Centre, where text and audio commentary can be accessed.

This fixture is not available on iFollow.

Pre-Match Entertainment

Turnstiles open from 6pm, along with our supporters' bars and matchday food kiosks.

You will find our marquee bar located between the GH Brooks and Black Sheep stand, and our Supporters bar between underneath the EnviroVent Stand, next to the Exercise.co.uk hospitality suite.

Both bars serve a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, including 'Yellow Black Army' and Black Sheep's popular 'Respire'.

Hot and cold food is available from multiple locations inside our ground, for a full matchday menu click here.

Our friendly mascot Harry Gator will be in attendance, meeting supporters before the match and at half-time.

Our Exercise.co.uk hospitality suite will also be open, to book your place email joannetowler@harrogatetownafc.com.

Club Shop

Supporters can buy a range of merchandise from our pop-up shop inside the stadium, located behind the GH Brooks Stand. Open from 6pm, our shop sells replica shirts, accessories, match programmes and more.

Please note our Commercial Street clup shop is closed on matchdays.

Further information, including travel and stadium safety is available in our matchday guide.