Blackburn Park Road F.C. was a football team formed in 1875. They played in Blackburn, Lancashire, near to the railway station. History The club was formed in 1875 out of the Park Road cricket club. Lancashire Senior Cup runners-up Despite some good results they were rarely a match for the two major town teams of that time, Blackburn Rovers and Blackburn Olympic, largely because the Roadsters relied solely on local players. The club did however reach the final of the Lancashire Senior Cup in 1881, in part thanks to an argument between Blackburn Rovers and Darwen F.C. over their quarter-final tie which saw them both expelled from the competition; Park Road beat Bolton Wanderers 6-1 in the semi-final but lost 6-4 to Accrington F.C. in the final at Darwen. The Roadsters walked off the field with five minutes to go in protest at the refereeing, and put in an unsuccessful protest, one reporter stating that the second Accrington goal was seen as handball "by every reporter present" and the sixth Accrington goal was so far offside that "the referee William Peirce-Dix of Sheffield was obviously bribed or neglecting his duty as a final judge", another stating that "the greatest wrongdoer in this last piece of business connected with the already ugly career of the Lancashire Association Challenge Cup is the referee of Saturday last". FA Cup appearances In 1883–84 Park Road beat Clitheroe Low Moor 6–0, all of the goals coming in the first half, anf Holden scoring a hat-trick. This proved to be the Roadsters' only victory in the main draw of the competition. In the second round, the club lost 3-2 to Accrington to a late goal, having come from 2-0 down, in front of 1,000 spectators. The Owd Reds were consequently disqualified because one of the club's players (Beresford) was a professional, but Park Road declined the invitation to participate in the third round, as the club faced a likely defeat against Blackburn Olympic. In the 1885–86 competition the club lost 4–2 at Scottish side Third Lanark, having been 2-0 up; the tie only went ahead on the Football Association confirming to the Scottish side that none of the Roadsters was a registered professional, the fear being that the Scottish Football Association's antagonistic attitude to professionalism would lead to a sanction for the Hi-Hi for playing against professional players. In 1887–88, the club beat (Northern) Irish invitee