Blackburn Rovers backroom staff
We hold the names of 60 people on Blackburn Rovers's staff for 2025/26, beyond the players. Michael O'Neill manages the first team. Blackburn Rovers's is the joint 2nd longest staff list of the 24 Championship clubs we hold.
Coaching staff
The manager, the assistants and the coaches at every level of the club, 16 people
| NAME | ROLE | TEAM | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael O'Neill | Manager | First team | 56 | Northern Ireland |  |
| Grégory Vignal | Manager | Under-21s | 43 | France |  |
| Paul Butler | Manager | Under-18s | 39 | England |  |
| Darragh Tuffy | Assistant manager | Under-21s | 35 | Ireland | - |
| Ryan Kidd | Assistant manager | Under-18s | 53 | England | - |
| Damien Johnson | Coach | First team | 46 | Northern Ireland | - |
| John Prince | Coach | First team | 44 | England | - |
| Phil Jones | Coach | First team | 33 | England | - |
| Steven Davis | Coach | First team | 40 | Northern Ireland | - |
| Daniel Stubberfield | Coach | Under-18s | 32 | England | - |
| Patrik Donev | Coach | Under-18s | 30 | England | - |
| Danny Ventre | Set-piece coach | First team | 39 | England |  |
| Ben Benson | Goalkeeping coach | First team | 34 | England | - |
| Chris Renshaw | Goalkeeping coach | Under-21s | 27 | England | - |
| Charlie Andrew | Goalkeeping coach | Under-18s | 25 | England |  |
| Sam Ashworth | Fitness coach | Under-18s | 24 | England | - |
Medical and sports science
Doctors, physios and sports scientists, 15 people
| NAME | ROLE | TEAM | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Dalton | Chief doctor | Club-wide | 39 | England | - |
| Andy Procter | Head physio | Club-wide | 42 | England |  |
| Emily Benn | Physio | First team | 23 | - | - |
| Harry McNeilly | Physio | First team | 27 | England |  |
| Robert Artingstall | Physio | First team | 39 | England | - |
| David Pinckard | Physio | Under-21s | 45 | England | - |
| Elliot Falkner | Physio | Under-21s | 30 | England | - |
| Freya Hunt | Physio | Under-18s | 25 | - | - |
| Scott Baulcombe | Physio | Under-18s | 38 | England | - |
| Nacho Sancho | Head of sports science | Club-wide | 47 | Spain |  |
| Adam Yates | Sports scientist | First team | 35 | England |  |
| Diarmaid Doherty | Sports scientist | First team | 26 | Northern Ireland | - |
| Rob Pulling | Sports scientist | Under-21s | 35 | England | - |
| Ross Knight | Sports scientist | Under-18s | 26 | England | - |
| Sophie Leigh | Sports scientist | Under-18s | 24 | - | - |
Scouting and analysis
Scouts, recruitment analysts and performance analysts, 15 people
| NAME | ROLE | TEAM | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Cairney | Chief scout | Club-wide | 32 | Scotland |  |
| Barry Harrison | Scout | Club-wide | 47 | England | - |
| Finn O'Leary | Scout | Club-wide | 30 | Ireland |  |
| Michael Cribley | Scout | Club-wide | 35 | England | - |
| Raphaël Scherrer | Scout | Club-wide | 42 | France | - |
| Richard Briers | Scout | Club-wide | 42 | England | - |
| Asher Hines | Recruitment analyst | Club-wide | 25 | England | - |
| Josh Smith | Recruitment analyst | Club-wide | 28 | England | - |
| Karthick Hariharan | Recruitment analyst | Club-wide | 29 | India |  |
| Sean Cookson | Recruitment analyst | Club-wide | 21 | England | - |
| Joseph Robinson | Head performance analyst | Club-wide | 26 | England |  |
| Dan Towers | Performance analyst | First team | 28 | England | - |
| Jack Percy | Performance analyst | Under-21s | 25 | England | - |
| James Molloy | Performance analyst | Under-21s | 30 | England |  |
| Matt Dixon | Performance analyst | Under-18s | 25 | England |  |
Football management
The people who run the football side, from the sporting director to the academy, 3 people
| NAME | ROLE | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Owen | Technical director | 44 | Wales |  |
| Paul Gray | Head of youth development | 37 | England | - |
| Jordan Rhodes | Loan manager | 35 | Scotland | - |
Owners and directors
Who owns Blackburn Rovers and sits on its board
| NAME | ROLE | AGE | NATIONALITY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balaji Rao | Owner | 52 | India |
| Venkatesh Rao | Owner | 60 | India |
| Anuradha Desai | Chair | 63 | - |
| Brett Baker | Director | 48 | England |
| Gandhi Babu | Director | 53 | India |
| Lynsey Talbot | Director | 53 | - |
| Matt Wright | Director | 52 | England |
| Robert Coar | Director | 77 | England |
| Rudy Gestede | Director | 36 | Benin |
| Sreenivasa Rao | Director | 39 | India |
| Suhail Shaikh | Director | 56 | India |
Backroom staff at every Championship club
The names we hold at each club in the division, 2025/26
Blackburn Rovers's list is the joint 2nd longest of the 24, against a median of 45 across the division. Southampton names the most, 61. Wrexham names the fewest, 29.
Blackburn Rovers against the Championship, department by department
Names held in each department, beside the average and the most at any one club
| DEPARTMENT | BLACKBURN ROVERS | AVERAGE | MOST | AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coaching | 16 | 14 | 20 |  |
| Medical and sports science | 15 | 10 | 15 | |
| Scouting and analysis | 15 | 12 | 28 |  |
| Football management | 3 | 2 | 3 | |
| Owners and directors | 11 | 6 | 11 | |
Backrooms the size of Blackburn Rovers's, in every league
Blackburn Rovers's 60 names make the joint 39th longest staff list of the 815 clubs we hold one for
| # | CLUB | LEAGUE | STAFF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 |  | Super Liga | 63 |
| 29 |  | Primeira Liga | 63 |
| 31 |  | Serie A | 62 |
| 31 |  | Serie A | 62 |
| 31 |  | Premier League | 62 |
| 31 |  | Serie A | 62 |
| 35 |  | Ligue 1 | 61 |
| 35 |  | Super Liga | 61 |
| 35 | | Championship | 61 |
| 35 |  | Serie A | 61 |
| 39 | | Championship | 60 |
| 39 |  | Bundesliga | 60 |
| 39 |  | Serie A | 60 |
| 39 |  | Championship | 60 |
| 43 |  | Serie A | 59 |
| 43 |  | Danish Superliga | 59 |
| 43 | GNK Dinamo Zagreb | Croatian First League | 59 |
| 43 |  | La Liga | 59 |
| 47 |  | La Liga | 58 |
| 47 |  | Serie B | 58 |
| 47 |  | Serie B | 58 |
Where Blackburn Rovers's staff come from
9 nationalities across the 55 staff whose nationality we hold
England supplies 36 of the 55, 65%. The median age is 36. The oldest is Robert Coar, director, at 77, and the youngest Sean Cookson, recruitment analyst, at 21. 16 members of staff came from another club.
Where Blackburn Rovers's former staff work now
On Blackburn Rovers's staff in an earlier season and at another club in 2025/26, 34 people
Frequently asked questions
Who is Blackburn Rovers's manager?
Michael O'Neill is the Blackburn Rovers first-team manager, aged 56.
Who is the goalkeeping coach at Blackburn Rovers?
Ben Benson coaches the Blackburn Rovers first-team goalkeepers.
Who is Blackburn Rovers's head physio?
Andy Procter is head physio at Blackburn Rovers.
Who is Blackburn Rovers's chief scout?
Michael Cairney is chief scout at Blackburn Rovers.
Who is Blackburn Rovers's technical director?
Adam Owen is technical director at Blackburn Rovers.
How many backroom staff do Blackburn Rovers have?
We hold the names of 60 people on Blackburn Rovers's staff for 2025/26: 16 in coaching, 15 in medical and sports science, 15 in scouting and analysis, 3 in football management and 11 owners and directors. That is the joint 2nd longest list of the 24 Championship clubs we hold, against a median of 45. Across every league we hold, that list is the joint 39th longest of 815.
Where to next
For what Blackburn Rovers pays its squad, see Blackburn Rovers player wages. What each of these jobs pays across football is on backroom staff wages. Every club in the division is on Championship wages.