“My worry for Blackburn is that if you replace Venky’s with someone else, are they going to be willing to put £1million in a month into essentially subsiding the club?”- Finance expert Kieran Maguire issues Blackburn Rovers, Venkys verdict

The owners of the club aren’t well liked but they are actually helping the club in a big way, according to Maguire.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes that Blackburn Rovers are actually better off with their current owners, the Venkys, than without them.

The feeling towards the Indian owners from the club’s fans is not one that is filled with love and joy, as the many protests over their years in charge have shown.

Not only is the feeling of unhappiness present towards them, but also one of confusion.

This venture hasn’t been at all profitable for the Venkys. In fact the Lancashire Telegraph have said that they lose £20 million per season by owning the club, and have lost £200 million since they took over in 2010.

They have had issues with getting money out of India and to the club because of investigations into their global company, but there haven’t been any issues with missed payments and things of that nature.

Previous reports have said that they do not want to sell the club, and Maguire, a football finance lecturer at the University of Liverpool, thinks that Blackburn are better off for having them in charge.

The football finance expert believes that Rovers need owners like the Venkys because of the money that they continually put into the club every single season.

Maguire said to Benjamin Bloom: “Blackburn and Venky’s, we have this conversation every year, nobody knows why they’re doing it.

“They haven’t attended a match at Ewood Park for around a decade. Do they have challenges in India? Yes, they do but the club still seems to be paying the bills on a month-by-month basis.

“What the long-term ambition for Blackburn Rovers are is open to question. My worry for Blackburn is that if you replace Venky’s with someone else, are they going to be willing to put £1million in a month into essentially subsiding the club?

“It looks like a delicate position with Sam Szmodics. There will be people sniffing around in the Championship and elsewhere.”

Some of the figures from Rovers’ latest set of accounts, from the 2022/23 campaign, made for grim reading. On top of the £23 million in losses, they also showed that the club had borrowed over £140 million. Wages had also gone up by six per cent from the previous season to £26 million.

The club could see a nice boost in its bank balance if they sell the aforermentioned 23/24 Championship top goalscorer, Szmodics. The Irish international has had a mammoth £20 million price tag placed on him. They will also be feeling the benefits of selling Adam Wharton to Crystal Palace for £18 million in January, which could rise to £22 million, as per Alan Nixon.

But, even with these extra influxes of cash, there is still a lot of uncertainty around just how long the Venkys can continue to operate at such a loss, and take the brunt of it. If they pull the plug, Blackburn may be sucked down the drain.