Blackburn’s Premier League title win: Feeling the pressure 25 years on
Kevin Gallacher, Colin Hendry, and Mark Atkins consider Rovers’ 25-year Premier League title triumph.
A quarter of a century after the thrilling title race matchup in 1994–1995, three players reunited with Sky Sports
News correspondent Ben Ransom.
A quarter of a century ago, two rivals from the North West were involved in one of the most intense title contests in
Premier League history.
Attempting to defeat Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers were the successors to the throne.
Rovers were within striking distance of the ultimate prize thanks to the record-breaking partnership between Alan
Shearer and Chris Sutton, but they started to fade as they went into the home straight.
According to former midfielder Mark Atkins, Rovers had a six-point lead at the top with five games remaining after a
“We met Man City on a Monday night where it was torrential rain, the pitch was awful and that game could’ve gone
“We had a chance to win that one, but we lost. Since no one had ever been there before, the run-in was always going
Striker Kevin Gallacher was back in training after a broken leg, and he recalls seeing some of his team-mates were
beginning to struggle with the weight of expectation.
“One or two of the lads were tiring a little bit because it was a tight-knit squad and a tight team that were generally
playing,” said Gallacher.
“Someone seemed to leave at the wrong moment when we had everyone singing. We had never been there before,
and Mark mentioned that the nervous energy was being depleted by the games.
Gallacher did return to the field to score the game-winning goal as Blackburn defeated Crystal Palace 2-1, but they
lost to West Ham at Upton Park ten days later after a terrible effort.
Throughout the season, Colin Hendry has been a constant presence at the centre of the Rovers defence. He recalls
that’s when the dressing room started to get heated.
“It was the game at West Ham when we got beat 2-0, that was the game for me when I thought that we
were going to have a bigger fight on our hands,” Hendry stated.
“We felt really let down. If my memory serves me well, after the game, two or three of us got on to each
other and had a pop at one another.
“There is pressure. Among our prominent figures were Alan Shearer, Chris Sutton, Tim Sherwood, and
Tim Flowers.
“These boys weren’t going to shift and they weren’t going to pull back from saying something. There were one or two
things in that game that really narked me, and I had a pop but you get onto the next game.”
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