JACK'S ROVERS DREAM

MICHAEL STEWART RECALLS BLACKBURN'S PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE TRIUMPH 30 YEARS AGO...

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IT ALL started with a dream. Think big. That was his motto. And boy, did he reach for the stars.

Jack Walker took a small family-owned business and created a colossal empire with it. When he finally sold Walkersteel in 1989, there were over 50 different departments all over the country. Selling for £330m, it was, at the time, the largest sale of a privately owned company.

But Walker wasn't finished making an impact on the world. In 1991 he purchased Blackburn Rovers. The team he had supported all his life. The team he had been watching since 1946.

Now it was time to turn them into what he believed they were - the best team in the country.

He set about to do just that. Blackburn were in the Second Division and had just avoided relegation the previous season. In October 1991, Don Mackay was let go and now the search was on for a manager with the vision and acumen to take the team all the way to the title.

The stage was set for the shock return of Kenny Dalglish into management. The press and public were amazed at the appointment of the most successful manager in recent years.

It was a sign of intent. Walker meant every word he had said - now the fans and the country could see that.

If people thought he was like a lot of chairmen of the time - eccentric but all talk - then the appointment of Dalglish began to silence the doubters. His cheque book was the next sign of his desire for success as the manager was told to sign the people he needed to get them promoted.

Colin Hendry, Mike Newell and Gordon Cowans were three of the many early signings as Dalglish spent several million pounds buying the players he felt could win them promotion.