John Lewis

It may suprise many Rovers supporters that John Lewis the founding father of Blackburn Rovers was a former Darwen FC player, he played in the FA cup campaign of 1877/78 as a centre forward, he holds the distintion of scoring the first ever FA cup goal for the Darreners when in the first round that year Darwen were drawn against Manchester played on the 7th November 1877 at the Barley Bank he scored in the first half and Darwen went on to win 3-0. It was the experience he gained during this period with Darwen that he took back with him to the Rovers who he rejoined in 1878. the Rovers first entered the FA cup in 1879 and in the next twelve years would win the cup five times. An accident whilst skating in 1880 finished his playing career and he devoted all his time to the running of the Rovers. Around this time he met and married the daughter of the former Mayor of Darwen. In his memoirs the reason he gave for playing with the Salmoners was that he loved playing the game so such, that he would have turned out for anybody that asked him (and Darwen asked!)
John Lewis was born in Shropshire in 1855 the son of a Preacher, The family moved to Blackburn around 1860. he attended Blackburn Grammar school, and was a keen sportsman. It was whilst at Grammar school that John met Arthur Constantine the year was 1874 and together they formed a "Gentlemens club" called Blackburn Rovers. His association with the Rovers was to last a lifetime. He upset many people in Darwen when Fergie Suter a former teammate of John Lewis at Darwen FC signed for the Rovers in 1881, they believed he was responsible for Fergies move to the "enemy" (which he probably was). Whilst at the Rovers Fergie would win three FA cup winners medals. When the Football League was formed in 1888 John was elected on behalf of the Rovers to the League committee, he became a Management committee member in 1894/95 and 1900/01, then becoming Vice President of the Football League from 1901 to 1925. It was as a referee that John Lewis became best know throughout football in the early days of the Football League, it was a labour of love to him, for he travelled thousands of miles around the country refereeing matches anywhere at anytime. Some of the games that he officiated included: The first FA cup final at Crystal Palace in 1895. The 1897 and 1898 FA cup finals. The Olympic games final of 1908 in London. A Soldiers international in Blackpool in 1917. A ladies match played on Christmas Day 1917 at Deepdale watched by 10,000 spectators. The Olympic games final of 1920 in Antwerp (he was sixty-five years old) John Lewis returned to the Barley Bank football ground many times to referee Darwen games. He was the last serving Football League referee to ever hold a Football League office. He died on the 13th January 1926 aged 71.

Acknowledgements for the history in this section are made to :  Darwen RBL -- who originally published this page in 2002