The extraordinary 2011 letter that warned Venky’s Blackburn Rovers were heading for trouble | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers are approaching 16 years under Venky ownership and their malaise was predicted by a leaked letter back in 2011.

Blackburn Rovers find themselves now a Championship stalwart, having once been in the Premier League – and there were warnings about what would happen under the ownership of the Venky’s.

One of seven teams to have won the English title in the Premier League era, Blackburn are one of the most storied clubs in English football, going back even further than that.

A founding member of the Football League, the Lancastrians and their supporters would perhaps quite rightly believe that their natural place belongs within the elite of the top-flight.

However, the last 15 years have seen Rovers enter into and stay in a frustrating malaise that even saw a short stint in League One in the mid-to-late-2010s, too.

As they continue on in their search for something or even perhaps simply a modern-day identity, it is worth reflecting upon how trouble was predicted under the Venky’s.

Blackburn Rovers were warned about their future under the Venky’s a long time ago

In May 2012, The Guardian obtained a leaked letter from then deputy CEO of Blackburn, Paul Hunt, to chairperson of the Venky’s Group Anuradha Desai outlining the issues at the club and perhaps foreshadowing what would be to come.

The letter, written in 2011 and just over a year of the Venky’s takeover of the club, suggested that Rovers were heading towards a financial meltdown and advised Desai and his group to take some clear actions.

Within the letter, Hunt requested a £10 million loan from the group with Barclays ‘very quickly losing patience as we cannot give answers’ and with regards to their financial position, Hunt suggested it was ‘cause for grave concern’.

Hunt said: “With out fiduciary responsibilities as directors, if the club goes under, the directors are all potentially liable for that failing and the courts could take our houses from us. My family do not deserve this.”

The letter, written a day after Blackburn were beaten by local rivals and fellow relegation battlers Bolton Wanderers in December, also urged Hunt to take drastic action in terms of sporting matters – calling for the sacking of then manager Steve Kean.

Hunt also urged the owners to both give more trust and authority to executives at the club, as well as becoming more of a presence with regular meetings between the club and the executives, with Hunt revealing he had not met Desai at the time, as well as turning up for ‘at least a quarter of games’.

Within his desperate plea for the Venky’s to essentially realise the jeopardy Blackburn found themselves in, Hunt also explained that they were in danger of ‘losing sponsors and suppliers’, citing issues with their deal with Umbro.

Venky’s failed to deliver on ambitions at Blackburn Rovers

In November 2010, the Venky’s Group completed a takeover of Blackburn from the Walker’s family trust for around £43 million.

Previous owner Jack Walker, a boyhood Blackburn supporter who had made his money in the steel industry, had bankrolled the club from 1991 up to his death in 2000, delivering that Premier League title.

After the Walker family sold on to the Venky’s, the Indian company, of whom their business is in poultry farming and food processing, the Venky’s suggested they would re-establish Blackburn among the elite.

They talked of wanting to deliver a top four finish in the 2010-11 season, with the January transfer window a couple of months after their arrival.

Linked to David Beckham and Ronaldinho, the Venky’s sacked former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce a few weeks after their takeover and set about their business with Steve Kean at the helm.

Rather than a glut of big-name stars arriving at Ewood Park, Blackburn brought back Roque Santa Cruz and signed Jermaine Jones on loan before the signings of Ruben Rochina and Mauro Formica on the final day of the transfer window.

They narrowly survived the drop on the final day of the campaign but were relegated just a year later – and they have not yet returned to the Premier League.

There has been a prolonged malaise at Blackburn Rovers

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In the 14 seasons since their relegation, Blackburn’s highest finish has been seventh in the Championship – which they have achieved on two occasions in the last few years.

Average attendances have plummeted and now hover around the mid-10,000s, having always been well above 20,000 for the previous ten years before the Venky’s took over.

There has been a push to develop younger players with an impressive academy setup in East Lancashire, but inconsistent results on the pitch has wholly undermined their search for an identity and for supporters to hold onto something.

A club the size of Blackburn falling to where they are now as forgettable Championship also-rans is what Hunt was indicating would happen to a club that not too long ago was a staple of the top-flight.