Image source, ShutterstockImage caption, Tony Mowbray won 108 of his 267 games in charge of Blackburn first time around
ByGary SmeeBBC Sport England- Published5 June 2026, 20:05 BST
Blackburn Rovers have appointed Tony Mowbray as their new head coach for a second spell in charge.
Mowbray, 62, spent more than five years managing Rovers between 2017 and 2022.
He replaces Michael O'Neill who decided not to take the job on a permanent basis following an interim role during the second half of last season.
Mowbray has been in management for more than two decades and most recently led Sunderland, Birmingham and West Brom after his first spell at Blackburn ended.
When he took over at Ewood Park initially in February 2017 he could not save Rovers from relegation to League One, but then won promotion back to the Championship in his first full campaign in charge.
After re-establishing them in the second tier, Mowbray left at the end of the 2021-22 season and was replaced by Jon Dahl Tomasson.
This time around he arrives at a club who endured a turbulent 2025-26 campaign.
They hovered around the relegation places for much of the year and sacked Valerien Ismael in February before appointing Northern Ireland boss O'Neill.
O'Neill managed to keep them up as they finished 20th in the Championship and five points above the drop zone.
Blackburn said Mowbray would "lead a new chapter for the club" and brings "a wealth of experience, strong footballing principles and a clear understanding of the club's identity and ambitions".
Mowbray stepped away from the game while Birmingham boss in early 2024 following a health scare, and later revealed he had been undergoing treatment for bowel cancer.
He returned as Baggies head coach in January 2025, but was sacked just three months later.
'A sensible reset'
Analysis - Andy Bayes, BBC Radio Lancashire sports editor
Image source, ShutterstockImage caption, Tony Mowbray was replaced by Jon Dahl Tomasson in 2022
Tony Mowbray was always going to come back to the game.
For all the well-documented health issues he's battled, there's something about him that makes you feel he'd never drift away from football.
Give him the all-clear, put the right opportunity in front of him, and it was only ever a matter of time.
And crucially, he walks back into it with something very few in modern football possess - universal respect. You'll struggle to find anyone with a bad word to say about Mowbray.
In an era of short-term thinking and frayed relationships, that matters. It mattered in his first spell at Rovers, and it's going to matter even more now.
Last time, he inherited the toughest of tasks and left having given Blackburn Rovers stability. He stayed longer than any other head coach that the Venkys have appointed, which again tells you a lot.
He's able to come in immediately, and yes, that's a boost. But he won't need long to realise the scale of the task ahead.
This squad needs work - serious work - and it needs it quickly.
Leave it until late in the window, drift into pre-season unprepared, and Rovers risk sleepwalking into the same problems that defined last season.
The names may have shifted since he was last here, but not entirely. Pears, Pickering, Wharton, Carter, Garrett - familiar faces. The rest will soon find out the Mowbray way.
Mowbray is experienced enough to understand the dynamics of the club, including the delicate relationship between the fanbase and the ownership. He managed that aspect of the role with care and professionalism during his first spell, and it is something he'll encounter again.
The decision to turn to Mowbray, following the positive impact Michael O'Neill had towards the end of last season, suggests a desire for stability and experience. It is not a radical appointment, but could be seen as a logical one - a move towards reliability at a time when the club could benefit from it.
Of course, familiarity alone will not be enough. Progress will depend on what happens next - particularly in terms of recruitment, support, and alignment behind the scenes.
But there is a sense that this is a sensible reset. Mowbray knows the club, understands the expectations, and has proven before that he can navigate difficult circumstances.
If anyone's earned a second crack at it, it's him.
