BLACKBURN: THE RISE AND FALL

12 October 1991 Kenny Dalglish replaces Don Mackay as Blackburn manager, with Ray Harford as his assistant. Blackburn lie 11th in the Second Division.

22 February 1992 Blackburn top of the Second Division having lost only three of their 21 league matches since Dalglish's appointment.

25 May 1992 Blackburn clinch promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs with a 1-0 win over Leicester at Wembley, Mike Newell scoring the decisive penalty.

27 July 1992 Blackburn sign Alan Shearer from Southampton for pounds 3.3m. He scores 22 goals in his first season at Ewood Park as Blackburn finish fourth in the Premier League and reach sixth round of the FA Cup.

14 March 1993 Blackburn denied a second successive Wembley appearance by Sheffield Wednesday, who win their Coca-Cola Cup semi-final 2-1.

7 May 1994 Blackburn finish their second season in the Premier League in second place, eight points adrift of the champions Manchester United, and qualify for Europe.

13 July 1994 Dalglish takes his spending to pounds 27m in two and a half years by signing the versatile Chris Sutton from Norwich City for pounds 5m.

27 September 1994 Blackburn suffer a shock Uefa Cup first-round defeat by the Swedish part-timers, Trelleborgs, losing the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

14 May 1995 Despite losing 2-1 at Liverpool, Blackburn celebrate their first championship for 81 years, largely thanks to their SAS (Shearer and Sutton) strike force, which yields 56 goals.

25 June 1995 Dalglish stands down as manager to become director of football, Harford stepping into the breach.

6 December 1995 Blackburn finish two points adrift at the foot of their Champions' League group, having lost four of their six matches.

16 January 1996 Blackburn crash out of the FA Cup in the third round, defeated 1-0 at home by First Division Ipswich Town.

5 May 1996 Blackburn complete a disappointing season by finishing seventh in the Premiership.

29 July 1996 Shearer sold to Newcastle for pounds 15m.

21 August 1996 Dalglish leaves his post as director of football by "mutual consent", though rumours abound that he has been sacked.