Blackburn Rovers appoint Denmark legend Jon Dahl Tomasson as new head coach on three-year deal

Blackburn Rovers have confirmed the appointment of Denmark legend Jon Dahl Tomasson as their new head coach on a three-year deal.

Tomasson arrives in Lancashire alongside assistant coach Remy Reijnierse and performance director Ben Rosen, who will work with the existing backroom staff of David Lowe, Damien Johnson and Ben Benson.

The 45-year-old enjoyed a glittering playing career, which included league titles in the Netherlands and Italy with Feyenoord and AC Milan respectively.

He tasted Champions League success with the Rossoneri and won the UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) during his spell with Feyenoord.

The former Denmark international also enjoyed spells with Newcastle United, Heerenveen, VfB Stuttgart and Villarreal, and scored 52 goals in 112 caps for his country.

After a successful playing career, the Dane moved into coaching and began his journey back in the Netherlands as head coach of Excelsior and Roda JC, before moving onto assistant manager roles with Vitesse Arnhem and the Denmark national team.

But it was in Sweden where Tomasson tasted his first success, after leading Malmo FF to successive Allsvenskan titles and an appearance in the Champions League group stages following his appointment in January 2020.

Following confirmation of the appointment, Blackburn CEO Steve Waggott said in a club statement: “It has been a long process, but we are really pleased to have eventually secured the services of such a young and ambitious coach in Jon.

“His work around developing players, along with demanding a culture of giving everything to the club, is exactly what we need at this juncture.

“His passion, purpose and humility shone through in his interviews and we obviously have high hopes that he will build on the platform that has been established over the last five years.

“Jon will work closely with Gregg Broughton, myself and the board in what we all hope will be an exciting chapter in the club’s history.”

Tomasson added: “I’m really proud and excited to be taking over as head coach of Blackburn Rovers – a club with a lot of tradition and also great ambition.

“We have a young team here, and also a great academy, and the owners have a clear vision, which is to develop players and become a sustainable Premier League club over time, so I’m really happy to be involved in this exciting new chapter for the club.

“Since leaving Malmo, I have been looking for the right club and I had a lot of options, but after speaking to Steve and Gregg I got a really good feeling about the club and I knew that I had found my next opportunity.”

Tomasson replaces Tony Mowbray in the post, who departed the club following the conclusion of last season, ending a five-year spell in charge at Ewood Park.

He will find out his first opponents in the 2022/23 Championship campaign when the new fixtures are released on June 23.