Blackburn Rovers

2025–26 season
Owner	Venkys London Ltd.
CEO	Steve Waggott
Head Coach	Valérien Ismaël
Stadium	Ewood Park
Championship	18th
EFL Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Andri Guðjohnsen Yūki Ōhashi (4 goals each) All: Andri Guðjohnsen Yūki Ōhashi (4 goals each)
Home colours Third colours
← 2024–25 2026–27 →

The2025–26 season is the 138th season in the history ofBlackburn Rovers Football Club and their eighth consecutive season in theChampionship. In addition to thedomestic league, the club would also participate in theFA Cup, and theEFL Cup.

On 19 May 2025, Rovers announced their retained list, The club confirmed they activated the one-year options in the contract ofRyan Hedges, Under-21s players Harrison Wood, Zack Stritch & Adam Khan have also been informed that the club has taken up the option to extend their contract by a further year.Tyrhys Dolan,Danny Batth,Andi Weimann,Jake Batty &Felix Goddard have been offered new contracts while Lorenze Mullarkey-Matthews has been offered his 1st professional contract,Dilan Markanday,Jack Vale,Zak Gilsenan, Patrick Gamble,Tom Bloxham, Jordan Eastham, Rhys Doherty, Isaac Whitehall, Jalil Saadi, Alex Baker, Adam Caddick, Paul Murphy-Worrell, Lewis Bell, Bradley Taylor, Jackson Shorrocks, Nathan Willis, Stephen Edmondson & Teddy Ramwell will not be retained by the club upon the expiration of their current agreements, the club will keep close contact withAdam Forshaw.^[1]

On 4 June 2025, Rovers announced u21 goalkeeperFelix Goddard had signed a new 2-year contract until 2027, with the option of a further 12 months.^[2]

On 19 June 2025, Rovers announcedAdam Forshaw had re-joined the club on a 1-year contract.^[3]

On 1 July 2025, Rovers announcedJake Batty had signed a new contract until 2026 with the option of a further 12 months.^[4]

On 2 July 2025, Rovers announced u21 midfielder Lorenze Mullarkey-Matthews had signed his 1st professional contract until 2026.^[5]

On 7 July 2025, Rovers announced highly regarded defender Silver Eze had signed a 2-year scholarship with the club. Rovers also announced David Odogun had joined as a scholar fromWolverhampton Wanderers.^[6]

On 14 July 2025, it was confirmed that first team coachDavid Lowe will be leaving the club.^[7]

On 23 July 2025, it was announced Rovers have appointed Nacho Sancho, who is a strength and conditioning coach. He replaces Karl Hodges, Lead Sports Scientist, who has left to join Derby County.^[8]

On 12 August 2025, Rovers announced highly rated young goalkeeper Nicolas Michalski has committed his long-term future to the club, new four-year contract at Ewood Park through to June 2029, with a one-year option.^[9]

On 15 August 2025, Rovers announcedPaul Butler will be the new Under-18s Lead Coach for the upcoming season, He'll be assisted byRyan Kidd and takes over the role from Darragh Tuffy, who steps up as the new Under-21s assistant coach to support the long-servingMike Sheron, who'll continue as Under-21s Lead Coach for the coming campaign.^[10]

On 3 September 2025, Rovers announced u18 defender Silver Eze had signed his 1st professional contract until 2028,^[11] Rovers also announced former forwardJordan Rhodes had rejoined the club as a loan manager.^[12]

On 19 September 2025, Rovers announced under 21 head coachMike Sheron had left the club.^[13]

On 10 November 2025, Rovers announced the appointment ofGrégory Vignal as the under 21 head coach, it was confirmedDanny Ventre as a set piece coach.^[14][15]

As of 19 May 2025^[16]

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Valérien Ismaël
Head of Football Operations	Rudy Gestede
Head of Recruitment
Head of Technical	Adam Owen
Assistant Head Coach	Dean Whitehead
First-Team Coach
Goalkeeping Coach	Ben Benson
First Team Technical Coach & Head of Player Development	Damien Johnson
Head of Performance	Nacho Sancho
Consultant	Dr. Chris Dalton
Head of Medical Services	Andrew Procter
Head of Performance Analysis	Adam Collins
Kit Manager	Paul Schofield

Position	Staff
Head of Academy	Paul Gray
Head of Academy Coaching	John Prince
Under-21s Lead Coach	Grégory Vignal
Under-21s Assistant Coach	Darragh Tuffy
Under-18s Lead Coach	Paul Butler
Under-18s Assistant Coach	Ryan Kidd
Head of Academy Sports Science and Medical	Russ Wrigley
Head of Academy Recruitment	Michael Cribley
Academy Secretary	Dawn Dunn

Players and squad numbers last updated on 19 May 2025. List is representative of players who have made an appearance for the first-team this season and of information available on Rovers.co.uk.^[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined underFIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Date of birth & age	Year joined	Contract expires	Joined from	Other	Ref
Goalkeepers
34	GK		Jack Barrett	(2002-06-04)4 June 2002 (age 23)	2024	2027 (+1)	Everton	On loan atTranmere Rovers, Option for 12-month extension	[18]
37	GK		Felix Goddard	(2004-03-09)9 March 2004 (age 21)	2020	2027 (+1)	Academy	Option for 12-month extension	[2]
35	GK		Nicholas Michalski	(2007-03-14)14 March 2007 (age 18)	2023	2029 (+1)	Academy	Option for 12-month extension	[9]
1	GK		Aynsley Pears	(1998-04-23)23 April 1998 (age 27)	2020	2027	Middlesbrough		[19]
22	GK		Balázs Tóth	(1997-09-04)4 September 1997 (age 28)	2024	2027	Fehérvár		[20]
Defenders
38	DF		Tom Atcheson	(2006-10-22)22 October 2006 (age 19)	2023	2028 (+1)	Academy	Option for 12-month extension	[21]
2	DF		Ryan Alebiosu	(2001-12-17)17 December 2001 (age 23)	2025	2028 (+1)	Kortrijk	Option for 12-month extension	[22]
33	DF		Jake Batty	(2005-04-05)5 April 2005 (age 20)	2021	2026 (+1)	Academy	Option for 12-month extension	[4]
17	DF		Hayden Carter	(1999-12-17)17 December 1999 (age 25)	2014	2027	Academy		[23]
40	DF		Matty Litherland	(2005-10-31)31 October 2005 (age 20)	2011	2027 (+1)	Academy	Option for 12-month extension	[24]
15	DF		Sean McLoughlin	(1996-11-13)13 November 1996 (age 29)	2025	2027 (+1)	Hull City	Option for 12-month extension	[25]
12	DF		Lewis Miller	(2000-08-24)24 August 2000 (age 25)	2025	2028 (+1)	Hibernian	Option for 12-month extension.	[26]
26	DF		Connor O'Riordan	(2003-10-19)19 October 2003 (age 22)	2024	2028	Crewe Alexandra	On loan atDoncaster Rovers	[27]
3	DF		Harry Pickering	(1998-12-29)29 December 1998 (age 26)	2021	2027 (+1)	Crewe Alexandra	Option for 12-month extension	[28]
43	DF		George Pratt	(2003-09-17)17 September 2003 (age 22)	2021	2026 (+1)	Academy	Option for 12-month extension	[29]
4	DF		Yuri Ribeiro	(1997-01-24)24 January 1997 (age 28)	2025	2027 (+1)	Braga	Option for 12-month extension	[30]
16	DF		Scott Wharton	(1997-10-03)3 October 1997 (age 28)	2010	2028 (+1)	Academy	Option for 12-month extension	[31]
Midfielders
24	MF		Moussa Baradji	(2000-11-20)20 November 2000 (age 25)	2025	2026	Yverdon Sport	On loan with an option for the move to be made permanent.	[32]
10	MF		Todd Cantwell	(1998-03-27)27 March 1998 (age 27)	2024	2027	Rangers		[33]
14	MF		Dion De Neve	(2001-06-12)12 June 2001 (age 24)	2025	2028 (+1)	Kortrijk	Option for 12-month extension.	[34]
36	MF		James Edmondson	(2005-11-01)1 November 2005 (age 20)	2011	2027	Academy	On loan atMacclesfield	[35]
28	MF		Adam Forshaw	(1991-10-08)8 October 1991 (age 34)	2025	2026	Plymouth Argyle		[3]
30	MF		Jake Garrett	(2003-03-10)10 March 2003 (age 22)	2013	2027	Academy		[36]
5	MF		Taylor Gardner-Hickman	(2001-12-30)30 December 2001 (age 23)	2026	2027	Birmingham City	On loan with an option for the move to be made permanent.	[37]
18	MF		Axel Henriksson	(2002-04-16)16 April 2002 (age 23)	2025	2029 (+1)	GAIS	Option for 12-month extension	[38]
31	MF		Kristi Montgomery	(2004-05-31)31 May 2004 (age 21)	2013	2026 (+1)	Academy	Option for 12-month extension	[39]
25	MF		Ryōya Morishita	(1997-04-11)11 April 1997 (age 28)	2025	2028 (+1)	Legia Warsaw	Option for 12-month extension	[40]
41	MF		Lorenze Mullarkey-Matthews			2026	Academy		.[5]
8	MF		Sidnei Tavares	(2001-09-29)29 September 2001 (age 24)	2025	2028	Moreirense		[41]
6	MF		Sondre Tronstad	(1995-08-26)26 August 1995 (age 30)	2023	2026	Vitesse		[42]
Forwards
9	FW		Makhtar Gueye	(1997-12-04)4 December 1997 (age 27)	2024	2027 (+1)	RWD Molenbeek	Option for 12-month extension	[43]
11	FW		Andri Guðjohnsen	(2002-01-29)29 January 2002 (age 23)	2025	2028 (+1)	Gent	Option for 12-month extension	[44]
19	FW		Ryan Hedges	(1995-07-08)8 July 1995 (age 30)	2022	2026	Aberdeen		[45]
7	FW		Augustus Kargbo	(1999-08-24)24 August 1999 (age 26)	2025	2027	Cesena		[46]
23	FW		Yūki Ōhashi	(1996-07-27)27 July 1996 (age 29)	2024	2027 (+1)	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Option for 12-month extension	[47]
32	FW		Igor Tyjon	(2008-03-20)20 March 2008 (age 17)	2023	2026	Academy		[48]

Date	Pos.	Player	From	Fee	Ref.
10 June 2025	LM	Dion De Neve	Kortrijk	£800,000	[34][49]
20 June 2025	CM	Sidnei Tavares	Moreirense	£2,000,000	[41][50]
7 July 2025	RB	David Odogun[a]	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Free Transfer	[6][51]
10 July 2025	RB	Ryan Alebiosu	Kortrijk	£500,000	[22][52]
19 July 2025	CB	Sean McLoughlin	Hull City	£500,000	[25][53]
4 August 2025	RB	Lewis Miller	Hibernian	£1,000,000	[26][54]
6 August 2025	CAM	Axel Henriksson	GAIS	£1,500,000	[38][55]
25 August 2025	LM	Ryōya Morishita	Legia Warsaw	£1,700,000	[40][56]
31 August 2025	CF	Andri Guðjohnsen	Gent	£1,700,000	[44][57]

Expenditure: ~ £9,700,000

Date	Pos.	Player	To	Fee	Ref.
11 July 2025	CM	Joe Rankin-Costello	Charlton Athletic	£1,000,000	[58][59]
4 August 2025	RB	Callum Brittain	Middlesbrough	£3,500,000	[60][61]
26 August 2025	CM	John Buckley	Al-Kholood	£1,000,000	[62][63]
27 August 2025	CDM	Lewis Travis	Derby County	£3,000,000	[64][65]
1 September 2025	CF	Harry Leonard	Peterborough United	£1,000,000	[66]
1 September 2025	CB	Dominic Hyam	Wrexham	£2,700,000	[67]

Income: ~ £12,200,000

Date	Pos.	Player	From	Date until	Ref.
22 August 2025	CM	Moussa Baradji	Yverdon Sport	31 May 2026	[32]
1 September 2025	CM	Taylor Gardner-Hickman	Birmingham City	31 May 2026	[37]

Date	Pos.	Player	To	Date until	Ref.
27 June 2025	CB	Connor O'Riordan	Doncaster Rovers	31 May 2026	[68]
11 August 2025	CB	Charlie Olson	Oldham Athletic		[69]
20 August 2025	RB	Leo Duru	San Diego	31 December 2025	[70]
1 September 2025	GK	Jack Barrett	Tranmere Rovers	1 January 2026	[71]
2 September 2025	CM	Harley O'Grady-Macken	Oldham Athletic		[72]
4 September 2025	CM	James Edmondson	Macclesfield		[73]
6 September 2025	CB	George Pratt	Chorley	8 November 2025[a]	[74][75][76][77]
7 October 2025	RW	Harrison Wood	Warrington Rylands	3 January 2026	[78]
10 October 2025	CM	Patrik Farkas	Prescot Cables	11 January 2026	[79]
14 November 2025	CF	Joe Boggan	FC United of Manchester	11 December 2025	[80]
	CF	Jayden Sergeant	Bootle		[80]
	GK	Blake Wolsoncroft	Hyde United		[80]

Date	Pos.	Player	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
30 June 2025	CB	Danny Batth	Derby County	1 July 2025	[81][82]
	GK	Jordan Eastham	Ashton United		[1][83]
	RW	Dilan Markanday	Chesterfield		[1][84]
	CF	Andreas Weimann	Derby County		[81][85]
	DM	Jalil Saadi	Ethnikos Achna		[1]
	AM	Zak Gilsenan	Grimsby Town	2 July 2025	[1][86]
	CM	Nathan Willis	Barnsley	15 July 2025	[1][87]
	CM	Paul Murphy-Worrell	Southport	16 July 2025	[1][88]
	RW	Tyrhys Dolan	Espanyol	25 July 2025	[1][89]
	CM	Adam Caddick	Warrington Rylands	30 July 2025	[1][90]
	RW	Lewis Bell	Marine	30 July 2025	[1][91]
	CB	Rhys Docherty	King's Lynn Town	1 August 2025	[1][92]
	CM	Jackson Shorrocks	Huddersfield Town	6 August 2025	[1][93]
	CM	Bradley Taylor	Ashton United	8 August 2025	[1][94]
	CB	Patrick Gamble	Warrington Town	16 August 2025	[1][95]
	AM	Daniel Shaw	Rugby Town	18 August 2025	[1][96]
	CB	Teddy Ramwell	Almunecar City	28 August 2025	[1][97]
	CF	Jack Vale	Northampton Town	18 September 2025	[1][98]
	LW	Tom Bloxham	Grasshoppers	22 September 2025	[1][99]
	CM	Stephen Edmondson	Bootle	8 November 2025	[1]
	CF	Alex Baker			[1]
	DM	Isaac Whitehall			[1]
20 August 2025	CF	Exaucé Mafoumbi	Lausanne Ouchy	21 August 2025	[100][101]

Date	Pos.	Player	Contract expiry	Ref.
4 June 2025	GK	Felix Goddard	30 June 2027[a]	[2]
19 June 2025	CM	Adam Forshaw	30 June 2026	[3]
1 July 2025	LB	Jake Batty	30 June 2027[a]	[4]
2 July 2025	CM	Lorenze Mullarkey-Matthews	30 June 2026[b]	[5]
12 August 2025	GK	Nicholas Michalski	30 June 2029[a]	[9]
3 September 2025	CB	Silver Eze	30 June 2028[b]	[11]
3 October 2025	CB	Scott Wharton	30 June 2028[a]	[31]

On 23 April, Blackburn Rovers announced they would spend a week in Spain as part of their pre-season preparations, which would also includes two friendlies at thePinatar Arena againstQatar andElche.^[102][103] Then on 3 June, the first two oppositions were added to the schedule, againstEverton andAccrington Stanley.^[104] A fifth friendly was later added in July, againstNEC Nijmegen.^[105]

  Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

On 26 June, theEFL Championship fixtures were announced, with Blackburn visitingWest Bromwich Albion on the opening weekend.^[108]

  Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

Blackburn Rovers vBirmingham City

16 August 20252	Blackburn Rovers	1–2	Birmingham City	Blackburn
15:00BST	Cantwell 50' McLoughlin 90+8'	Report	Osayi-Samuel 30' Iwata 76' Stansfield 90' (pen.) Dykes 90+8'	Stadium:Ewood Park Attendance: 19,552 Referee: Oliver Langford

Hull City v Blackburn Rovers

23 August 20253	Hull City	0–3	Blackburn Rovers	Kingston upon Hull
12:30BST	Slater 12' Lundstram 37' McBurnie 90+6'	Report	Hedges 18' Tavares 43' Ōhashi 47' Cantwell 50' Henriksson 85' McLoughlin 90+6'	Stadium:MKM Stadium Attendance: 20,518 Referee: Tom Nield
Note: Fixture was originally scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off, but was moved for liveSky Sports broadcasting.[109]

  Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

Blackburn were drawn at home toBradford City in the first round.^[112][113]

  Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

As of match played 22 November 2025

Players with no appearances are not included on the list

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Championship		FA Cup		EFL Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Aynsley Pears	3	0	2+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
2	DF	ENG	Ryan Alebiosu	16	1	15+0	1	0+0	0	0+1	0
3	DF	ENG	Harry Pickering	3	0	1 +1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
4	DF	POR	Yuri Ribeiro	8	0	7 +1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
5	MF	ENG	Taylor Gardner-Hickman	10	0	9+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
6	MF	NOR	Sondre Tronstad	15	0	14+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
7	FW	SLE	Augustus Kargbo	11	1	4 +6	1	0+0	0	0+1	0
8	MF	CPV	Sidnei Tavares	8	0	4 +3	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
9	FW	SEN	Makhtar Gueye	13	0	0 +12	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
10	MF	ENG	Todd Cantwell	8	3	7 +0	3	0+0	0	0+1	0
11	FW	ISL	Andri Guðjohnsen	11	4	9+2	4	0+0	0	0+0	0
12	DF	AUS	Lewis Miller	15	1	10+4	1	0+0	0	1+0	0
14	MF	BEL	Dion De Neve	11	1	6+4	0	0+0	0	1+0	1
15	DF	IRL	Sean McLoughlin	13	0	13+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
16	DF	ENG	Scott Wharton	10	0	7 +2	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
17	DF	ENG	Hayden Carter	1	0	1 +0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
18	MF	SWE	Axel Henriksson	11	0	5+5	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
19	FW	WAL	Ryan Hedges	15	1	12+3	1	0+0	0	0+0	0
22	GK	HUN	Balázs Tóth	13	0	13+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
23	FW	JPN	Yūki Ōhashi	16	4	13+2	4	0+0	0	0+1	0
24	FW	FRA	Moussa Baradji	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
25	MF	JPN	Ryōya Morishita	11	1	8+3	1	0+0	0	0+0	0
28	MF	ENG	Adam Forshaw	3	0	0 +3	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
31	MF	SCO	Kristi Montgomery	8	0	1+6	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
32	FW	ENG	Igor Tyjon	1	0	0 +0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
35	GK	ENG	Nicholas Michalski	1	0	0 +0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
43	DF	ENG	George Pratt	1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
Player(s) who featured but departed the club permanently during the season:
5	DF	SCO	Dominic Hyam	4	0	4 +0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
21	MF	ENG	John Buckley	1	0	0 +0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
27	MF	ENG	Lewis Travis	1	0	1 +0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0

As of match played 22 November 2025

Rank	No.	Pos.	Name	League	FA Cup	EFL Cup	Total
1	11	FW	Andri Guðjohnsen	4	0	0	4
	23	FW	Yūki Ōhashi	4	0	0	4
2	10	MF	Todd Cantwell	3	0	0	3
3	2	DF	Ryan Alebiosu	1	0	0	1
	7	FW	Augustus Kargbo	1	0	0	1
	12	DF	Lewis Miller	1	0	0	1
	14	MF	Dion De Neve	0	0	1	1
	19	FW	Ryan Hedges	1	0	0	1
	25	MF	Ryōya Morishita	1	0	0	1
Total				16	0	1	17

As of match played 22 November 2025

Rank	No.	Pos.	Name	League	FA Cup	EFL Cup	Total
1	19	FW	Ryan Hedges	2	0	0	2
	25	MF	Ryoya Morishita	2	0	0	2
2	2	FW	Ryan Alebiosu	1	0	0	1
	7	FW	Augustus Kargbo	1	0	0	1
	10	MF	Todd Cantwell	1	0	0	1
	12	DF	Lewis Miller	1	0	0	1
	14	MF	Dion De Neve	1	0	0	1
	23	FW	Yūki Ōhashi	1	0	0	1
Total				10	0	0	10

• Blackburn Rovers F.C. seasons
• 2025–26 EFL Championship by team

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