The Bollywood Billionaires of Blackburn ; One Brother Wears His Hair in a Pony-Tail, Owns a F Leet of 51 Cars and Carries a Loaded Revolver Another Brother Insists: 'Money's No Problem; If We Have to Spend Pounds 10m, Pounds 15m, Pounds 20m, We Will' and, Yes, the Sister Who Heads the Family Firm Really Does Know the Name of the Rovers Left-Back

Mail on Sunday › January 16, 2011

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Summary

IT WAS the question that infamously stumped Sven Goran Eriksson when he arrived as England manager all those years ago. But Anuradha Desai, the Indian businesswoman who heads the conglomerate behind the takeover of Blackburn Rovers, answers it effortlessly. 'Gael Givet,' she says, when asked if she can identify the Blackburn left- back. Just for good measure, she throws in the name of their centre- half -- the much-coveted Chris Samba -- as well, adding that he is a player she desperately wants Rovers to retain.

Back in October 2000, Eriksson found just one name -- Michael Gray's -- impossible to conjure when his appointment as England manager was met with the question: 'Who is the Sunderland left- back?' The woman who heads the VH Group, the first Indian company to buy a Premier League football club, is not about to be caught out like that. Desai, chair of the family firm who own Rovers via a subsidiary, Venky's London Ltd, displays a forensic knowledge of her latest acquisition. The details of pretty much every Blackburn footballer, the names of their agents, their contract lengths and terms are at her fingertips.

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The Bollywood Billionaires of Blackburn ; One Brother Wears His Hair in a Pony-Tail, Owns a F Leet of 51 Cars and Carries a Loaded Revolver Another Brother Insists: 'Money's No Problem; If We Have to Spend Pounds 10m, Pounds 15m, Pounds 20m, We Will' and, Yes, the Sister Who Heads the Family Firm Really Does Know the Name of the Rovers Left-Back

The Venky's buy-out of Rovers -- they paid the Jack Walker Trust Pounds 23million for the club and are believed to have taken on Pounds 20m of debt -- raised the hopes of Rovers fans that the good times are coming back to the old textile town.

Blackburn were Premier League champions in 1995, thanks to Walker's riches. Since those heady days, Rovers have never finished better than sixth and the title has been the preserve of just three clubs, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea -- all now under wealthy foreign control.

Four years after...

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