EWOOD PARK STADIUM
Home Of: Blackburn Rovers
Ground Opened: 1882
Previous Ground: Leamington Street
(1875 - 1890)
(1875 - 1890)
Other Uses: Multi-Sports Facility
NEAREST RAILWAY STATION
The closest railway station is Mill Hill which is around a 15 minute walk away from Ewood Park. It is served by trains from Blackburn and the journey only takes a few minutes. Blackburn station itself is at least a couple of miles from the ground and hence a good 25-30 minute walk away.
As you exit Mill Hill station onto New Chapel Street turn left and take the first turning on your left Parkinson Street then take the first turning on the right Norfolk Street proceed to the junction at the bottom of Norfolk Street then turn left and a sharp right into Moorgate Street go down as far as New Wellington Street and turn left. Go as far as you can down New Wellington street then bare right across the canal bridge into Albion Street and travel down to the junction at the bottom and turn left into Livesey Branch Road keep right on this road and and enter into Bolton Road then take the first left into Tweed Street and the Stadium is right in front of you.
EWOOD PARK STADIUM
Ewood Park is rather impressive, having had three new large stands built during the 1990's. These stands are at both ends and at one side of the ground. They are of the same height and of roughly similar design, being two tiered, having a row of executive boxes and similar roofs. The ends are particularly good looking, both having large lower tiers. The only downside is the open corners, although there is a huge screen at one corner by the away end, which shows an excellent pre-match programme and amongst other things, the teams emerging from the dressing rooms and onto the pitch. There is also an electric scoreboard at the Bryan Douglas Darwen End of the ground.
B RIVERSIDE STAND
C RONNIE CLAYTON / BLACKBURN END
D BRYAN DOUGLAS STAND
Today's Visitors PORTSMOUTH are newly promoted to league one and are in eleventh place in the league one table one place below Blackburn on the same points, 20, but have played 2 games more than Rovers. Pompey have won three out of the last four games all contested in October losing the last one to Doncaster 2-1 at the Keepmoat last Tuesday night.
It was a cold, wet and blustery afternoon one that you wouldn't expect a good game of football to played but to be fair I've seen a lot worse on my travels in ideal weather.
As the storm got worse with relentless rain and winds increasing in speed and power the game looked to have fizzled out as both sets of players looked as though they were dreaming of a nice warm dressing room and dry clothes. The surface water was getting to the stage were you feared that the match could be abandoned with the ball sticking in certain areas and players slipping and sliding the game was turning into a bit of a fiasco.
NEAREST RAILWAY STATION
The closest railway station is Mill Hill which is around a 15 minute walk away from Ewood Park. It is served by trains from Blackburn and the journey only takes a few minutes. Blackburn station itself is at least a couple of miles from the ground and hence a good 25-30 minute walk away.
As you exit Mill Hill station onto New Chapel Street turn left and take the first turning on your left Parkinson Street then take the first turning on the right Norfolk Street proceed to the junction at the bottom of Norfolk Street then turn left and a sharp right into Moorgate Street go down as far as New Wellington Street and turn left. Go as far as you can down New Wellington street then bare right across the canal bridge into Albion Street and travel down to the junction at the bottom and turn left into Livesey Branch Road keep right on this road and and enter into Bolton Road then take the first left into Tweed Street and the Stadium is right in front of you.
EWOOD PARK STADIUM
Ewood Park is rather impressive, having had three new large stands built during the 1990's. These stands are at both ends and at one side of the ground. They are of the same height and of roughly similar design, being two tiered, having a row of executive boxes and similar roofs. The ends are particularly good looking, both having large lower tiers. The only downside is the open corners, although there is a huge screen at one corner by the away end, which shows an excellent pre-match programme and amongst other things, the teams emerging from the dressing rooms and onto the pitch. There is also an electric scoreboard at the Bryan Douglas Darwen End of the ground.
The Riverside is the only undeveloped stand, running down one side of the pitch. This is a smaller single tiered stand and is not as pleasing to the eye as its more modern counterparts. In fact it looks older than what it is having been opened in 1988. It contains a fair number of supporting pillars and is partly covered (to the rear). Just to highlight how much the ground has changed, this was at one time the 'best' stand at Ewood Park. One other interesting feature of the ground, is the fact that the pitch is raised. This means that players have to run up a small incline, whilst taking throw-ins and corners. Outside the stadium behind the Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End there is a statue of former club owner Jack Walker.
Away fans are housed in the Bryan Douglas Darwen End, where the facilities provided are good. However, the spacing between the rows of seats leaves a lot to be desired, being quite tight. The Darwen End is shared with home supporters, but if demand requires it the whole of the stand can be made available. Normally the away allocation is for three quarters of the stand, at just under 4,000 tickets, which are split between the whole of the upper tier and part of the lower tier (with the lower tier being allocated first). If you have not bought a ticket in advance, then you need to buy one from the away supporters ticket office at the ground as you can't pay on the turnstiles. The ticket office is located on the corner of the Darwen End & the Jack Walker Stand.
GROUND LAYOUT
A JACK WALKER STAND
B RIVERSIDE STAND
C RONNIE CLAYTON / BLACKBURN END
D BRYAN DOUGLAS STAND
Today's Visitors PORTSMOUTH are newly promoted to league one and are in eleventh place in the league one table one place below Blackburn on the same points, 20, but have played 2 games more than Rovers. Pompey have won three out of the last four games all contested in October losing the last one to Doncaster 2-1 at the Keepmoat last Tuesday night.
Portsmouth won promotion last season topping the league two table with 87 points ahead of near neighbours and rivals Plymouth Argyle on goal difference.
Since the millennium Portsmouth have played here at Ewood Park ten times and have won only two of them losing seven with one draw. The last time they won here was on the 23rd September 2007 a Premier league match won by a solitary goal by Nwankwo Kanu in the 25th minute. The last match was on the 7th November 2009 also a Premier league game which Blackburn won 3-1, Pompey opened the scoring through Jamie O'Hara in the 15th minute but went down to three second half goals, a brace by Jason Roberts separated by a Ryan Nelsen goal.
BLACKBURN ROVERS ... 3 PORTSMOUTH ... 0
Had trouble getting to this game for the backlash of hurricane Brian hit the British isles and caused chaos in it's path. My mode of transport British rail had it's fair share with delayed trains and cancellations both of which I experienced personally during the day, delayed trains on four occasions.
It was a cold, wet and blustery afternoon one that you wouldn't expect a good game of football to played but to be fair I've seen a lot worse on my travels in ideal weather.
Blackburn dominated this game from the start creating lots of chances early on but not looking too convincing in the final third. Bradley Dack finally tested the Portsmouth keeper though only for Luke McGee to parry the shot into the path of fellow striker Danny Graham but his quick reaction attempt hit the bar and over for safety.
Dack did eventually open the scoring in the 38th minute when Harrison Chapman's fine pass found him in the Portsmouth six yard box to lash home Blackburn's first.
Charlie Mulgrew had a fine chance early in the second half stinging the palms of McGee to keep Pompey in it up to this point but the second wasn't too far away and was a fair reflection of Rovers dominance as on 58 minutes Derrick Williams put Danny Graham through to place the ball into the bottom corner of the Pompey net.
As the storm got worse with relentless rain and winds increasing in speed and power the game looked to have fizzled out as both sets of players looked as though they were dreaming of a nice warm dressing room and dry clothes. The surface water was getting to the stage were you feared that the match could be abandoned with the ball sticking in certain areas and players slipping and sliding the game was turning into a bit of a fiasco. 
As the game got into the mid 80's in minutes you knew that the game was going to finish. A needless sending off in the 87th when substitute Dominic Samuel was given his marching orders for lashing out at Christian Burgess a clear straight red card but instead of inspiring Pompey to take advantage of the extra man the opposite happened when in the final minute Rovers substitute Craig Conway sealed the three points with a third goal lifting the ball over Pompey keeper McGee.
MATCH DETAILS
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