Rovers have delighted their supporters after releasing the news that midfield maestro, Lewis Travis has extended his stay at Ewood Park until at least June 2026.
After the academy graduate became a mainstay in the Rovers side under Tony Mowbray, the Whiston-born midfielder agreed to a new four-and-a-half-year deal, that will extend his Rovers romance until the hard-tackler is 29-years of age.
Despite being poached from Liverpool during his teenage years, Travis has been educated with the Rovers mentality and has become another example of the important work that is done behind the scenes in the youth setup. After breaking into the Rovers first-team during the 2017-18 League One promotion campaign, the defensive-minded midfielder was set to depart the club on-loan in January 2018, before proving his worth during the second-half of the promotion season, and the first-half of Rovers’ Championship return to nail down a first-team position within Rovers’ ranks.
Since being awarded with the vice-captaincy, when club captain, Darragh Lenihan is absent from matchdays, ‘Trav’ has shown his natural leadership qualities, marshalling Rovers’ midfield and proving his worth in gold for Tony Mowbray’s side. After netting his first goal for the club in a 2-1 defeat away to Norwich City, towards the end of the 2018-19 campaign, the midfielder netted in Rovers’ 1-1 friendly draw against Rangers at Ibrox in July 2019, before adding competitive goals in a 2-1 home loss to Luton Town in September 2019, before opening Rovers’ account in an eventual 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough, away at the Riverside in February 2020.
Although his goals are a rarity, his influence, both in the dressing room and on the field for Rovers has been Travis’ shining quality, with Tony Mowbray once stating back in January 2019 that his ‘midfield menace’, who seamlessly made the transition from youth to professional football, had potentially ‘saved the club some money with me not needing to go out and spend a midfield player from somewhere else.’
After being injured away at Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup, which was Rovers’ second game of the 2019-20 season, Travis was sidelined for four months as Rovers’ season unravelled despite their outstanding attacking talent. Since returning and accumulating a full pre-season under his belt, ‘Trav’ hit the ground running in 2021-22 and has since shown his importance to the side, having played in 38 of Rovers’ 39 games this season, in all competitions, with his absence being felt, as Rovers fell to a 2-0 defeat away at Hull City.
After putting pen-to-paper, the midfielder disclosed his delight at signing his new deal and his ambitions going forwards, to RoversTV:
“It means the world to stay with the club that gave me my chance in the game. This club means everything to me, I owe a lot to Rovers and the fact that the club wanted to keep me for another four years was an opportunity that I wanted to take.
“We’ve got a young team, a really good gaffer, we’re in a good position in the league and the aim is to kick on from here. There was no reason for me to not want to stay here. I’m an established player in the team now and the aim is to show what we can do and end the season as strongly as possible.
“I’d be massively disappointed if this club doesn’t make it to the Premier League over the next four years. I hope I can play a massive part in getting us there and that’s the aim.”
