After back-to-back seasons of struggle, many expected Blackburn Rovers to be amongst the clubs towards the bottom of the Barclays Women’s Championship table again this year.
Competing in the second tier is a constant battle for the Lancashire club given the amount of investment made by many of their rivals in the Barclays Women’s Championship and the ever-growing number of full-time teams.
The financial challenges are forever increasing but Gemma Donnelly’s side are winning the battles and they are heading towards the Christmas break as the most-improved side in the Barclays Women’s Championship.
FAWSL Full-Time have been looking at the facts and figures behind Rovers’ impressive start. Here are three statistics which highlight the club’s progress.
Improved points-per-game
Blackburn Rovers’ average points-per-game rate of 1.33 in 2022/2023 is the highest of their four seasons in the second tier. Rovers collected 0.9 points-per-game in 2020/2021 and 0.83 points-per-game in the curtailed 2019/2020 season. Last season produced Rovers’ lowest points-per-game rate so far at just 0.77. Donnelly’s side are on course to average more than a point-per-game in elite football for the very first time.
Jordan’s on fire
Club legend Saffron Jordan has been a reliable source of goals for Rovers in the Barclays Women’s Championship but you couldn’t really class the forward as ‘prolific’ in her first three seasons in the second tier. It is no coincidence that Rovers’ improved form this season has coincided with Jordan becoming one of the most feared forwards in the Barclays Women’s Championship.
Jordan has netted six goals in just nine league outings. Prior to this season, the forward had never managed more than four goals in the second tier in a single season. Having the league’s joint-top scorer on their books is a major plus for Blackburn Rovers. If other players can contribute more goals too, the sky is the limit for the Lancashire club.
Improvements at the back
One of the hardest things to achieve in the Barclays Women’s Championship is defensive solidity but Blackburn Rovers are doing very well in that area. Rovers have conceded just 1.44 goals-per-game so far this season, their best record in the Barclays Women’s Championship, beating their previous best of 1.55 goals-per-game in the 2020/2021 season. Donnelly’s side conceded 1.86 goals-per-game last term while their worst defensive record came in 2019/2020 when they were breached on 2.08 occasions on average each game.
The statistics above highlight the fact that Blackburn Rovers are heading in the right direction under manager Donnelly. It is a slow growing process but Donnelly and her team are doing a great job.
Blackburn Rovers will contest their final Barclays Women’s Championship fixture of 2022 when Birmingham City are the visitors to The Sir Tom Finney Stadium next weekend.
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