Flitcroft in the spotlight

Garry Flitcroft is the Blackburn Rovers captain

By BBC Sport Online's James Standley

Garry Flitcroft has had a solid career in the upper reaches of English football without ever really hitting the headlines, until now.

A box-to-box midfielder, he was appointed Blackburn captain by Graeme Souness, who clearly saw some of his own competitive nature in the Bolton-born player.

Flitcroft started his career at Manchester City and came through the ranks from the youth set-up to make his debut in 1991.

Apart from a brief loan spell at Bury, Manchester City and Blackburn are the only two clubs he has played for.

Flitcroft (right) was suspended for the Worthington Cup final

When he joined Rovers from struggling City in 1995/96 for £3.2m, he was being tipped as a possible England player.

He soon made a name for himself at the club, getting sent off within five minutes of his debut, and things soon went from bad to worse.

Serious knee injuries ruined his first two years at Blackburn and put paid to any international chances.

Flitcroft fought his way back to full fitness and played a major part in Rovers' promotion back to the Premiership last season.

He has now played more than 150 games for Blackburn and has become a firm favourite among the Rovers' fans.

Vocal captain

When he was sent off in the second leg of the Worthington Cup semi-final win against Sheffield Wednesday, they launched a petition demanding that the FA rescind the decision.

However, the red card stood and Flitcroft was forced to watch from the stands as Rovers beat Spurs 2-1 in the final to win their biggest bit of silverware since the Premiership title in 1994/95.

Souness considers Flitcroft an excellent captain and says that he hardly has to say anything in the dressing room because Flitcroft speaks so much.

The errant footballer is now regretting that some of his acquaintances also proved more than happy to talk.