Daniel Taylor soccer The first bouquets started arriving just before 11am. It started as a slow trickle, followed by a steady flow. Very soon, as the news reverberated across the old cotton town, Ewood Park had become the focal point for the mourning of a club and its community. Not only Blackburn but English football had lost one of its greatest fans when it was announced with great sadness that Jack Walker had lost his lengthy battle with cancer. “We never met … but I always felt I knew you,” read one floral tribute. “Thanks, Jack, for everything,” said another.
Robert Coar, the Blackburn chairman, summed up the mood. “No tribute from us, no matter how long or how detailed, could ever do justice to Jack Walker’s achievements here. “Jack was our number one supporter in every possible sense. His love for Rovers knew no boundaries; his loyalty and commitment were never in question. It goes without saying how much we will miss him but he has left us with some fantastic memories.” The tributes were led by Alan Shearer, the former Rovers striker who, perhaps above all, had the closest relationship of anyone to the man known throughout Blackburn simply as Uncle Jack. Before every game of their 1994/95 title- winning season Walker summoned a bookmaker to his office to find out the odds on his most prized asset scoring the first goal. “Alan never lets me down,” he would chuckle. And his affection for Shearer never diminished even after he had departed for Newcastle.
“Football has lost a true friend,” the retired England captain said. “Jack was a kind, generous and emotional man. He gave pride to the town of Blackburn. Those memories of winning the Premiership will stay with me forever.” An adversary then but sharing in the tributes now was Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who said: “If ever there was someone who lifted a club by its bootlaces it was Jack Walker with Blackburn Rovers. Nobody there will ever forget him.” Walker was just as generous in Jersey, where he lived and successfully established his own airline. For many years he subsidised and supported the local First Tower United team, happy to sit among the fans to watch their amateur endeavours. “I get just as much enjoyment from First Tower as I do from watching Rovers,” he said. “I’m just a dedicated supporter. I’ve travelled to matches with them on the coach, when the windows have been frozen outside and in. I come to every game and reserve games. I just love it. I even get drunk with them.” Typically, Walker had made contingency plans to safeguard Blackburn’s financial future. When the gravity of his illness became clear he instigated a board meeting in which he announced he would be leaving a significant part of his fortune to a special trust fund. “We know he is looking after us,” said Pauline Perkins, of the club’s supporters’ association. “He was Blackburn through and through. His influence on this club cannot be overstated.”
The association plans to fund its own memorial. “We have already discussed the idea and hopefully we can raise the money by arranging a match against a top team,” she said. “They have a statue for Bill Shankly at Liverpool and it would be lovely to have something similar at Ewood Park for the man who made it all possible for Blackburn.” For manager Graeme Souness, the best tribute possible would be promotion. “When death comes along it doesn’t matter when it comes or how it comes, it’s always a very hard time, always a very hard thing to accept,” he said. “Jack has put down the foundations for the club to sustain Premiership status and, make no mistake, we will be trying our damnedest to get there for him.” Blackburn Rovers were unable to win for their late boss, however, playing to a goalless draw with Crewe onSaturday.