Fans Create Investment Group to Buy Blackburn Rovers

Following rumours that the Venky brothers will soon sell Blackburn Rovers FC, fans have created The Blackburn Rovers Supporters’ Investment Trust, with plans to buy the club if the opportunity arises.

The current owners have faced pressure from supporters since purchasing the club in November 2010 and are now rumoured to be looking to sell, and this fans group feel they would be the perfect people to take control.

The takeover effort is being fronted by Wayne Wild, a director of one of Blackburn’s commercial partners and sponsor who late last year voiced his displeasure at Venky’s handling of the club.

Fans have become frustrated by continuing underachievement after narrowly avoiding relegation last year and remaining around the drop-zone this season.

“At some point, and maybe soon, we believe Blackburn Rovers will be put up for sale,” Wild said.

“We believe the best ownership model for Blackburn Rovers is to be entirely owned by the supporters through a trust.

“We are seeking to engage with the current owners to advise them of our plans and we ask that they consider our proposals seriously as a credible and respectful way to pass on ownership of the club.”

The plan for the trust is to persuade supporters to commit to purchasing shares in the club to try and help the movement gain some weight and force the Venky brothers’ hand into selling.

“At this stage we are asking Blackburn Rovers supporters if they would be willing to buy a share in their club. The more fans who pledge to buy a share, the stronger and more credible our bid will be.

“We will raise funds to buy the club by issuing a sufficient number of shares to meet a realistic valuation at the time of purchase.

“It is clear that any fair and realistic valuation will be based on the position of the club within the league structure at the time of purchase together with a true assessment of the clubs assets and liabilities.

“It is not, therefore, possible at this stage to put an exact figure on the amount of capital we will need to raise to be successful.”

by Ismail Uddin