The 2016-17 season marked a low point in Blackburn Rovers’ history, as they were relegated to the third division for the first time since 1980.
Moving up to a category unfamiliar to many supporters, securing promotion on the first try would be a difficult feat. Many players were out of contract that summer, and to make matters worse, the club was over £100 million in debt, with the Venky ownership under intense scrutiny.
Despite the off-field turbulence, that summer saw the entrance of one of the most naturally gifted players to ever wear the Blackburn uniform.
His name was Bradley Dack, and over the next several years, he became something of a modern-day legend among Ewood Park fans, dazzled them with his brilliance and finishing ability amid one of the club’s most tumultuous periods.
Bradley Dack leads Blackburn back to the championship.
Prior to his move to Lancashire, Dack trained at Gillingham’s academy, where he scored 72 goals in 185 appearances, the most of which came in the third division.
For Blackburn, this was enough to imply he was ready for a huge move, and Tony Mowbray’s side offered £750,000 plus add-ons for his services, which the Gills gladly accepted.
After signing a three-year contract, the attacking midfielder struggled along with the rest of the Blackburn team in the first few league games, with defeats to Southend United and Doncaster Rovers exacerbating an already bleak situation.
It took several games for him to regain his form, but once he did, he was on fire. In a three-horse promotion race between Wigan Athletic and Salop, Dack’s performances were critical, as he scored 18 goals and provided nine assists.
| Bradley Dack 2017-18 campaign, as per Transfermarkt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Minutes | Minutes Per G/A |
| 42 | 18 | 9 | 3,160 | 117 |
This propelled them to second place, beating Shrewsbury by nine points as Paul Hurst’s team faded late in the season.
His most important performance of the season occurred at Ewood Park in late April, in a critical game against Peterborough United. Rovers needed encouragement after trailing 1-0 at halftime, and Dack provided it by heading in an equaliser before Danny Graham put them ahead with a rebound. Not satisfied, Dack secured the 3-1 victory with a superb finish, effectively securing their promotion back to the second flight.
Dack delivers in the Championship for Blackburn.
Returning to the Championship, EFL fans were eager to see how Dack would fare in the tier above, having spent the majority of his career in League One.
The Rovers attacking midfielder immediately made an impact in a 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town, when Derrick Williams squared the ball for Dack, who tapped home to give Rovers a 2-1 lead.
With 14 more goals that season, Blackburn fans had grown accustomed to watching their star player arrive in the right position at the right time to score, similar to England hero Frank Lampard.
He did, however, have a miracle goal in his locker, and his goals against Carlisle United in the EFL Cup and West Bromwich Albion in the Championship were particularly enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the midfielder’s career suffered in the years that followed as injuries plagued him. He was never able to fully restore his form from 2017-18 to 2018-19 due to successive rupture of both anterior cruciate ligaments.
By the 2022-23 season, he was a mere shadow of his former self, and at the end of the season, he went on to a new chapter at Sunderland before returning to Gillingham.
Despite this difficulties in the latter stages of his Blackburn tenure, the form he demonstrated during his first two years at the club has cemented him as a modern-day legend.
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