IT'S official! Blackburn Rovers are not only one of the best performing teams in the Premier League on the pitch, they are also right up there off it as well.

That's the verdict of the Premier League's annual national fan survey, which shows Rovers are a top six club in a variety of different categories.

From stadium facilities and fan safety to customer service and ticketing arrangements, Rovers were rated one of the best clubs in the Premier League by fans.

However, the results of the survey also showed the matchday atmosphere at Ewood remains a cause for concern, with Rovers rated 18th out of the 20 member clubs.

The National Fan Survey, conducted annually by the Premier League, investigates fan attitude and behaviour among season ticket holders and non-season ticket holders at all of its 20 member clubs.

Those results are then compiled and each club is rated out of 20 in various different categories to give supporters an indication of how they compare to their rivals.

From those findings, Rovers were ranked fourth overall for stadium facilities, fifth for customer service and sixth for ticketing, while overall matchday experience' was rated the 12th best in the league.

Ewood Park actually came out top in terms of toilet facilities, cleanliness and facilities to bring children, but it remains in the bottom three for atmosphere.

Stadium safety also saw Rovers score highly as they finished first for fan safety', second for behaviour of people' and policing', and fourth for stewarding'.

But work on community activities and education programmes showed a drop in rankings compared to last year with Rovers ranked 12th and ninth respectively.

Chairman, John Williams, said: "Overall, we are pleased with the results.

"In the majority of categories we've made improvements but there's never room for complacency and the underlining concern here is the attendance levels, so anything that relates to customer service and the way we wrap the product up is particularly sensitive for us.

"We have to be good at it to entice more people down to Ewood so, whilst we are always pleased when we're in the top third of the scores, our focus is on the areas where we don't score so well.

"So I guess the overall findings are a bit like most peoples' school reports - pretty good, but could do better."

Referring to Rovers' work in the community, managing director Tom Finn added: "We've won a lot of awards for the work we do in the community. We were the first club to achieve the preliminary level of the racial equality standard, for instance, so our work is being recognised nationally.

"But if it's something that's not as obvious to our own fans then we need to work harder at getting the message across."

As regards improving the general matchday atmosphere at Ewood, Williams added: "I'm a firm believer, and I know players and managers are too, that crowds can lift teams.

"It's not just a question of what music you play when the team runs out, it's everything; from how the seating is arranged, to how many drummers you have, or should you have one at all?"