‘An amazing club’ – Tony Mowbray joy at returning to Blackburn Rovers

Tony Mowbray says he is “really excited” about the upcoming season back at Blackburn Rovers and revealed he rejected “four or five offers” before he returned to Ewood Park in June.

Mowbray, 62, has returned to the club where he had been manager from February 2017 to May 2022, with their opening Championship game at Wolves on Friday.

In February 2024 he was diagnosed with bowel cancer and quit as Birmingham City boss as he underwent treatment.

He has been given the all-clear, and his only job in football since has been a four-month spell at West Brom at the start of 2025.

“It’s great to be back at such an amazing football club,” said Mowbray, speaking to BBC Sport at the EFL launch day in Manchester.

“I had an illness for a few years, and it has been a tough recovery. Even when I had recovered, I found myself walking on the beach with my dog thinking ‘I’m missing football a lot’.

“It’s what I’ve always done. I’ve watched games and thought, ‘Why is the manager doing that or playing like this?’ It’s what I am and who I am.

“During my illness I had four or five offers from teams, but those were not right for me, so I turned down quite a few offers. This job came when I was starting to think whether a job was going to come along that was right for me.”