Ranked: The top 10 best players Blackburn Rovers have produced from their academy – Do you agree? | OneFootball

Over the years, the academy at Blackburn Rovers has certainly been a productive one.

If you were to look back through past years, you would see a long list of players to have graduated through the youth ranks with the Lancashire club, who have gone achieve some impressive feats either at Ewood Park or elsewhere.

Indeed, even this season, Blackburn are seeing the benefits of their academy, with a number of players to have risen through the levels with the club currently part of the squad available to manager Tony Mowbray, as Rovers look to build a side capable of taking the club back to the Premier League sooner rather than later.

If they are to succeed with that, then it would no be the first time that Rovers academy has served them, and indeed some other clubs, well, thanks to the players who have graduated through to senior level.

Here, we’ve taken a look at ten of the best players to have come through the youth ranks at Blackburn.

We start this list with a player who is part of Tony Mowbray’s current squad at Ewood Park, and indeed, holds a key role in that side, in the form of Darragh Lenihan.

Having come though the academy at Rovers, Lenihan now found himself around the double century mark in terms of appearances in all competitions for the Ewood Park club, with his leadership and presence in defence meaning he can often be found wearing the captain’s armband for Blackburn.

Indeed, Lenihan’s contract with the club is set to expire at the end of next season, and you feel that a fresh agreement for the Irishman will soon be a significant priority for Rovers.

Another player who currently makes up part of Mowbray’s squad to earn a place on this list is Lewis Travis.

Having made his Rovers debut in the EFL Trophy in August 2017 as a 19-year-old, the midfielder would have to wait until December 2018 to really get a run in the side, when he quickly proved he was more than capable of competing at Championship level even at such an early stage of his career.

Indeed, with the exception of an injury that kept him on the sidelines for several months earlier this season, Travis has rarely looked back since then, and made his 100th appearance in all competitions for the club in the 1-1 draw with Swansea earlier in March.

After two years on the fringes of the Rovers first-team, Hanley enjoyed his first real run in the club’s senior side in 2011/12, as they suffered relegation from the Premier League.

The centre back would remain at Rovers for several more years, making 200 appearances for the club, and for a time, wearing the captain’s armband at Ewood Park, before leaving to join Newcastle in the summer of 2016.

Hanley would spent just a single season at St James’ before joining Norwich, who helped win promotion to the Premier League in 2019, with the Scot now looking well set to guide them to an immediate return to English football’s top-flight as captain this season.

It is no surprise to see that Ryan Nyambe’s soon to be expired contract is one of the biggest concerns for any Blackburn Rovers fan at this moment in time.

A member of Rovers’ youth team since the age of 13, Nyambe made his senior debut for the club as a 17-year-old in August 2015, and has since gone on to make over 160 appearances in total for the Lancashire side.

During that time, the Namibian international has established himself as a key figure for Rovers at right-back, with his abilities both defensively and going forward making him a big asset to the club, who will surely be desperate to keep him beyond this summer.

Back in the 2010/11 campaign, the efforts of a then 20-year-old Junior Hoilett proved vital in helping Rovers avoid relegation from the Premier League, with his goals earning some crucial points for Blackburn.

Despite an even better individual return for Hoilett the following year, he was unable to keep Rovers in the Premier League that time around and left Ewood Park for QPR, although he would suffer relegation from the top-flight with them as well a year later.

Even so, Hoilett does have two promotions from the Championship on his CV since leaving Rovers, one with QPR and one with current club Cardiff, with the Canadian still capable of coming up with spectacular, game changing moments at times, even if the 30-year-old’s pace is no longer what it was during the early stages of his career at Rovers.

Beattie may not have made the biggest impact during his time with Blackburn, but the fact that on the whole, he enjoyed a rather respectable career, cannot be denied.

After making his senior debut for Rovers as an 18-year-old in what was a certain Arsene Wenger’s first game in change of Arsenal – a 2-0 win for the Gunners at Ewood Park – Beattie would make just four top-flight appearances for Blackburn before leaving the club in 1998.

He did however, still go on to make well over 300 Premier League appearances for the likes Southampton and Everton, scoring almost 100 top-flight goals, and doing enough to earn five senior caps for England during his time with the Saints.

While things may not have worked out for Jones at Manchester United, there can be no denying the quality he produced during the very early stages of his career at Blackburn that earned him that move to Old Trafford.

Indeed, the reported £16.5million that United paid to Rovers in 2011 for the then 21-year-old Jones, who first joined Blackburn in 2002, will have gone a long way to helping the Ewood Park club move forward.

It is also worth noting that for all the scrutiny Jones has come in for recently, a Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League title, as well 27 England caps, is a lot more than most players will achieve during their careers.

There won’t be many players of recent years who are remembered as fondly by supporters of Blackburn Rovers, as David Dunn.

Across his two spells with his boyhood club, Dunn made well over 350 appearances for Rovers, playing a key role in their promotion to the Premier League and League Cup early in his time with the club at the turn of the century, with his England cap in 2003 making one of the few this century to have played for the Three Lions whilst a Blackburn player.

Meanwhile, his last minute equaliser that extended Rovers’ 34-year unbeaten run against local rivals Burnley towards the latter stages of his career in March 2013 is another standout moment for many Rovers fans of a certain age.

Another icon of Rovers’ resurgence as a top-flight club around the turn of the millennium, there weren’t many players in the Premier League, let alone at Ewood Park, who were as influential as Duff on his day.

Having made his debut for Rovers as an 18-year-old in 1996, Duff went on to make over 200 appearances in all competitions for, eventually leaving for Chelsea in 2003, with the winger going on to collect two Premier League and an League Cup winners medal during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Spells with Newcastle and Fulham – where he was part of the Cottagers’ famous Europa League runners up squad – followed, with Duff continuing to pose a significant attacking threat, wherever he played, for the rest of his career.

Any player to come through Blackburn’s academy who went on to play a part in their 1994/95 Premier League title win is bound to claim top spot in this list, so step forward Jason Wilcox.

Having joined Rovers in 1987 as a 16-year-old, Wilcox would make his first-team debut for the club two years later, and went on to spend the next ten years at the club.

During that time, Wilcox would make more than 300 appearances across all competitions for the club, helping Rovers to that aforementioned Premier League title – their first in English football’s top-tier for 81 years – justifiably, but not surprisingly, earning him legendary status around Ewood Park.