In 1992, Rovers gained promotion to the new Premier League via the play-offs, a year after being taken over by local entrepreneur Jack Walker, who installed Kenny Dalglish as manager.

[15] The club claimed the trophy for the fourth time, by beating Sheffield Wednesday a hefty 6–1 with left forward William Townley scoring three goals and becoming the first player to achieve a hat-trick in the FA Cup final.

[17] During the 1897–98 season the club were relegated but were elected back into the first division at the Football League's AGM along with Newcastle United.

Blackburn Rovers continued to struggle during the early years of the 20th century, but the results began a gradual improvement.

Major renovations were made to Ewood Park: in 1905 the Darwen End was covered at a cost of £1680 and the new Nuttall Stand was opened on New Year's Day 1907.

Blackburn Rovers maintained a respectable mid-table position in the First Division until they were finally relegated (along with Aston Villa) from the top flight (for the first time since the foundation of the league) in the 1935–36 season.

During this time, they seldom made a serious challenge for a major trophy – although they did reach the 1960 FA Cup Final when managed by Scot Dally Duncan.

There were brief hopes of a return to glory in the 1963–64 season, when a remarkable 8–2 away win over West Ham United in east London on Boxing Day took them to the top of the league.

A second successive promotion was nearly achieved the following year, but the club missed out on goal difference, and promotion-winning manager Howard Kendall moved to Everton that summer.

Saxton was replaced by Don Mackay, who steered them to a decent finish that season and also victory in the Full Members Cup.

A defeat in the 1989–90 Second Division playoff semi-finals brought more frustration to Ewood Park, but the following season saw the club taken over by local steelworks owner and lifelong supporter Jack Walker (1929–2000).

[19] Following the Walker takeover Rovers finished 19th in the Second Division at the end of the 1990–91 season, but the new owner had made millions of pounds available to spend on new players and appointed Kenny Dalglish as manager in October 1991.

[21] Rovers made headlines in the summer of 1992 by paying an English record fee of £3.5million for the 22-year-old Southampton and England centre forward Alan Shearer.

[25] The title chase went down to the last game of the season, but despite Rovers losing to Liverpool they edged out rivals Manchester United to win the championship.

Kenny Dalglish moved upstairs to the position of Director of Football at the end of the Premier League winning season, and handed over the reins to his assistant Ray Harford.

[27] A poor start to the 1996–97 Premier League campaign saw Harford resign in late October with the club bottom of the division, having failed to win any of their first ten games.

In 1999–2000 Rovers began the season as promotion favourites, but with the club hovering just above the Division One relegation zone Brian Kidd was sacked in October[31] and replaced in March by Graeme Souness.

[32] Jack Walker died just after the start of the 2000–01 season,[33] and the club dedicated its promotion challenge in memory of their benefactor.

Souness left just after the start of 2004–05 to take charge at Newcastle,[36] and he was replaced by Welsh national coach Mark Hughes.

[41] Sam Allardyce was appointed as Ince's replacement[42] and in 2009–10 he led the team to a tenth-place finish and a League Cup semi-final.

In November 2010, the Indian company V H Group bought Blackburn Rovers under the name of Venky's London Limited for £23 million.

[43] The new owners immediately sacked manager Sam Allardyce and replaced him with first-team coach Steve Kean, initially on a temporary basis, but by January 2011 he had been awarded a full-time contract until June 2013.

[44][45] Kean's appointment was shrouded in controversy since his agent Jerome Anderson had earlier played a major role in advising Venky's during the takeover of the club in the preceding months.

[49] On 7 May 2012, Blackburn were relegated to the Championship after being defeated at home by Wigan Athletic in the penultimate game of the season, ending eleven years in the Premier League.

From 1875 to approximately 1882 The Maltese Cross was present on the club's first ever home kit and was worn by both the Shrewsbury and Malvern school teams.

[58] Due to the increasing demand in football in the area and in particular for Blackburn Rovers the committee felt that a private ground was more fitting.

Therefore, in 1881 the club moved to Leamington Road, Blackburn Rovers' first purpose built ground including a 700-person capacity seated grandstand, costing £500.

Whilst at Leamington Road and under James Fielding[62] the club won three FA Cups and was inaugurated into the Football League as a founding Member in 1888.

The first game played at the new Ewood Park ground was on 13 September 1890 against Accrington, the 0–0 draw was viewed by 10,000 people and on 31 October 1892 artificial lights were installed.

Other rivalries for Rovers include Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic, all by proximity.