"DAD will be ecstatic!" Uncle Jack's son summed up the mood of all Rovers fans when his thoughts turned to the man who made the Ewood Park dream a reality.

Ross Walker revealed that the family had made a pact to watch the last home game of the season from their box at the ground and said the only regret over Rovers' promotion was that Mr Blackburn was not here to see it.

Jack's second wife Carol added from her Jersey home: "It was Jack's greatest wish to see his beloved Blackburn Rovers back in the Premier League. He was always confident they would be back, that's the man he was, and he would have been the proudest man in Blackburn today."

Ross Walker who goes to games with brother Howard and sisters Michaela and Lynda said: "My dad would have been ecstatic.

"It was quite emotional watching them on Saturday and I could imagine my dad sat there in his seat watching it with us and it was unfortunate that he was not there to see it.

"My dad will always have a presence at Ewood Park and he used to love it when they would sing "There's Only One Jack Walker. I still feel he will always be there somewhere.

"He will probably be up there now organising their football squad and looking down. He would have been so pleased."

Jack transformed his town's club when he poured in millions he earned from his steel empire. In the 1994/95 season all his dreams were realised when Rovers were crowned Premier League Champions.

Ross said: "The way he was when they won was great to see. You can see from all the pictures with him with his scarf on, holding the trophy, how pleased he was. I thought 'good on you dad.'"

The dream soured when the team was relegated only four years later. Jack Walker was gutted. Stony-faced pictures were of the man regarded as Uncle Jack were spread over the national papers' sports pages.

Ross said: "He was hysterical, unapproachable really. Football and Rovers was his thing, it wasn't like a big businessman who wanted do something with his millions, this was his genuine passion.

"He used to say to all the family 'we will be up next year' and he would be over the moon about it."

Ross, who owns a garage on Livesey Branch Road, has always admitted to being more of a rugby fan than a football fan but said the promotion means a lot to him.

He said he will always have enduring memories of his father who he said lived and breathed football.

He said: "I will never forget when Rovers made it to the Premiership last time and I had been away skiing. I came back and went in the Woodlands pub (in Preston New Road, Blackburn)and my dad was sat there with everybody else having a few beers. He was always one of the lads and very hands on."