Blackburn Rovers’ position in the Premier League may be somewhat precarious right now, but Garry Flitcroft is no doubt that their 11-year spell in the top flight was inspired by one man.

It was not Graeme Souness, as impressive as his management was during Rovers’ promotion campaign in 2000/01.

Nor was it Matt Jansen, whose goal at Preston ultimately sent the club back into the top flight.

The inspiration was Jack Walker.

Revered as much today as he was during Rovers’ glory days, Walker was the man who made everything happen at Ewood.

A lifelong Blackburn fan, his funds and support helped the club to promotion and then to the Premiership title during his time as owner.

It was a truly incredible era.

And even after his death, in August 2000, Walker proved a driving force for a Rovers side determined to regain their place in the top flight.

Flitcroft, the captain of that team, was as keen as anyone to win promotion that year.

Walker had supported him when he was sent off just three minutes into his Rovers debut in March 1996, having been adjudged to have elbowed Everton’s Duncan Ferguson.

Flitcroft never forgot that.

When promotion was achieved at Deepdale, he donned a T-shirt saying simply, ‘Jack, this is 4 you’.

It was a gesture that symbolised the feeling in the Rovers dressing room that season.

“I was gutted when Jack Walker died,” recalls Flitcroft, now boss of Evo-Stik League Premier Division promotion hopefuls Chorley.

“I remember getting sent off on my debut. I went into the changing room gutted and Jack came in and put his arm round me and said, ‘That was never a sending off’.

“He said, ‘Get your chin up’, and then went back up and watched the game.

“That tells you a lot about Jack. I got on well with him and was the only one who went to his funeral.

“He was a genuine guy who loved Blackburn Rovers Football Club and it showed by everything he did.

“I remember hearing he had died and I was gutted.

“It definitely gave us that extra momentum to get back in the Premier League.

“I had a T-shirt saying I did it for Jack at the end of it, and it was that type of thing. It did drive the lads on.

“Graeme Souness threw that into his team talks and it was a big thing for us.

“Everyone knew how far Jack had taken it and if we could give him anything back it was getting Rovers back in the Premier League.”

Much has been made in recent weeks of Wolves owner Steve Morgan’s decision to enter the dressing room and deliver a stinging rebuke to the playing squad after their home defeat to Liverpool.

Many thought it undermined the authority of manager Mick McCarthy, who was sacked less than two weeks later.

Walker was not a man who shied away from the Rovers dressing room during his time as owner either, but Flitcroft felt it had the opposite effect.

“The lads respected him,” said the 39-year-old.

“He came into the dressing room before games and, all the boots were lined up and he would play a game where you would flick a 50p and bet people 50 quid if he could keep the 50p in the boots. It would just relax everyone.

“He came in before every game but even if we had a bad result he would never roast anyone.

“He would never interfere and even when a manager had not done well, Jack would always treat him well.

“He was down to earth and a big loss.

“You hear people say he probably won the league too early and things were not in place, but it is never too early.”

Flitcroft arrived at Ewood 10 months after their title win, in the season when Ray Harford took over as boss with Kenny Dalglish moving into a director of football role.

Rovers paid £3.5m to sign the Bolton-born midfielder from Manchester City – the club he had started his career with after turning down rivals Manchester United at the age of 12.

Bruce Rioch had been similarly keen to take Flitcroft to Arsenal, but the decision was not a difficult one.

“I got in the Manchester City team when I was 18 and joined Blackburn Rovers when I was 23,” Flitcroft said.

“It was when the takeover was going on between Francis Lee and Peter Swales and they needed money and had to sell a player at the time. I was probably their only saleable asset.

“Even though I was gutted about going, Alan Ball phoned me up one Wednesday morning and said, ‘We’ve had an offer from Blackburn Rovers’.

“Arsenal came in for me but, although I didn’t want to leave at the time, it was a great move for me because Blackburn had just won the league.

“They had some fantastic players. I am a northerner and so I didn’t want to go to Arsenal.

“I talked to Kenny Dalglish and that was that.

“I had been fighting relegation ever since I got in the team at Manchester City.

“There were loads of problems financially and I thought going to the Premier League champions was a great career progression.”

Adjusting to life at Ewood was not easy though for Flitcroft, with Rovers struggling to follow their title success.

They finished seventh in 1995/96, and star striker Alan Shearer left for Newcastle that summer.

“I found it hard to settle in for six months after leaving Man City because that was a big wrench for me,” said Flitcroft.

“My form was not great, I was in and out of the team.

“There was a lot of expectation on me. In first game I had a big price tag on me, £3.5m, and I was up for the game and got sent off. It was disappointing straight away.

“There was a lot of trouble in the dressing room at the time.

“The lads wanted new contracts, Alan Shearer wanted to leave, things had not progressed from winning the league.

“Jack had put a cap on the wages and some of the lads wanted more money.

“It was a disappointment we never kicked on. A big part of it was when Kenny took the back seat. “Ray came in and was a coach and was too good a friend with the lads.

“There was unrest there and it was hard settling in.

“But once I did I loved my time there.”