Luton's Championship rivals Blackburn appoint former Newcastle and Milan forward to replace Tony Mowbray

Town’s Championship rivals Blackburn Rovers have announced the appointment of former Newcastle United and AC Milan forward Jon Dahl Tomasson as the club’s new head coach.

The 45-year-old had a fine playing career, with spells at Heerenveen, Newcastle United, Feyenoord, AC Milan, VfB Stuttgart and Villarreal, also scoring a record 52 goals in 112 caps for Denmark.

Since retiring, Tomasson had a brief time as head coach of Dutch clubs Excelsior and Roda JC, before taking up assistant manager roles with Vitesse Arnhem and the Denmark national team.

He was then appointed manager of Swedish club Malmo FF in January 2020 and during a two-year period, led them to successive Allsvenskan league titles, as well as to the group stages of the Champions League.

Speaking to the Rovers’ official website, Tomasson, who has signed a contract to June 2025, and takes over from Tony Mowbray after he left last month following five years in charge, said: “I'm really proud and excited to be taking over as head coach of Blackburn Rovers – a club with a lot of tradition and also great ambition.

“We have a young team here, and also a great academy, and the owners have a clear vision, which is to develop players and become a sustainable Premier League club over time, so I’m really happy to be involved in this exciting new chapter for the club.

“Since leaving Malmo, I have been looking for the right club and I had a lot of options, but after speaking to Steve (Waggott, Rovers CEO) and Gregg (Broughton, director of football) I got a really good feeling about the club and I knew that I had found my next opportunity.

“I grew up watching English football, so I know all about the passion for football here and how special football fans are in England, so it’s great to come to such a big club as Blackburn Rovers and to be involved with such passionate fans and in a really good league, which the Championship is.

"It will be a great challenge, but it’s something I’m really looking forward to being a part of.

“For a head coach, the best thing is to work with the players and the staff, to show a direction and to work together to create an environment for the staff and the players to be successful, because at the end of the day it’s about being successful, winning as many games as possible and also develop the players, the team and the club in a positive direction.”

Tomasson will be joined by assistant coach Remy Reijnierse and performance director Ben Rosen, as Rovers CEO Steve Waggott added: “It has been a long process, but we are really pleased to have eventually secured the services of such a young and ambitious coach in Jon.

“His work around developing players, along with demanding a culture of giving everything to the club, is exactly what we need at this juncture.

“His passion, purpose and humility shone through in his interviews and we obviously have high hopes that he will build on the platform that has been established over the last five years.

“Jon will work closely with Gregg Broughton, myself and the Board in what we all hope will be an exciting chapter in the club’s history.”