Johnny Carey was installed as the manger of Blackburn Rovers at the start of the 1970-71 season and their campaign proved to be their worst in the history of the club, a 21st position finish condemned the club to third division foot ball, the first time in the history of the football side they reached such a low level. They had only won 6 of their matches during the entire season, the worst record the club has ever endured in English football. They also crashed out of the FA cup in the third round, suffering defeat against Everton.
Ken Furphy was installed as the new manager of Blackburn at the start of the 1971-72 campaign and he knew after the debacle of the previous season, he would have to be patient within regards to improvement. They made a small but significant improvement, finishing the season off in tenth place. However they endured their worst FA Cup campaign in 48 years, it was the first time since 1924 that they only managed to reach the first round of the FA Cup, suffering a 3-1 defeat against Port Vale. Worse was to follow in the league cup as they suffered a humiliating 4-1 thrashing against Lincoln City.
The 1972-73 season witnessed the improvement that Furphy and Blackburn were looking for; they endured a great league campaign that saw the club finish the season off in a reasonable third place, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion. They were poor in the cup competitions once again as they crashed out of the FA Cup in the second round and faced a first round exit in the league cup, losing 1-0 against Rochdale. Don Martin was outstanding for the club through out the campaign.
The 1973-74 campaign once again saw a change in managers, despite Furphey doing a decent job at the club. Gordon lee was installed as the new manager; however they could only manage a disappointing 13th position finish in the heart of the mid table. They suffered another negative cup campaign, crashing out of the League cup in the second round, losing against Leyton Orient and the FA Cup witnessed them exit the tournament in the third round. The 1974-75 campaign was a fantastic one for the Blue and hights as they finished the season off at the top of the third division. Don Martin was in inspirational form once again for Rovers during the campaign and they won 22 of their 46 matches. They were most unfortunate in the cup competitions, reaching the third round respectively in both competitions suffering defeats against Hartlepool and Bristol Rovers.