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After a relatively busy week off the pitch, Town head to the bright lights of Blackpool for Saturday's lunchtime kick off.

Both sides had a quiet weekend with neither side being in action due to the weather, which has given both sides chance to marshall the troops, town have managed to hopefully reinvigorate the strike force with the signings of Joe Taylor and Dion Charles, but look set to lose Michal Helik. The tangerines meanwhile have used this lull to sign Tom Bloxham from Shrewsbury and Sammy silvera from Middlesbrough to add to their wide areas, they've also extended the deal of talented but injury prone Josh Onomah until the end of the season. They too could be losing a central figure, as leading goal scorer Kyle Joseph is wanted by championship side hull, but nothing has been confirmed there. They are set to allow Ollie Norburn to leave on loan as he moves to Wigan and have already lost Dom Ballard who's loan was cut short by Southampton.

Steve Bruce is still at the helm of the seaside club sitting in 16th position, and their form since the 2-0 win last time we played them has been a little bit hit and miss, more miss. They followed the victory at our spot with a positive 3-0 win at home over Burton, Ode Offiah, Rob Apter and Lee Evans on the scoresheet there, they then hosted Lincoln who struck late to leave with a share of the spoils despite being reduced to 10 men, Kyle Joseph opened the scoring just after the sending off but a 95th minute equaliser took the wind out of the Seasiders sails. Evidently so, as they traveled to Mansfield and lost 2-0 before losing 2-1 at home to Barnsley, with the Tykes scoring an injury time winner after Oliver Casey looked to have rescued a point for the home side. The dip in form continued as they were thrashed by Peterborough 5-1, Joseph scored for Blackpool to make the score 2-1, but the Posh were rampant and truly put them to the sword. They had a bit of a let off when facing local rivals Wigan as they drew 2-2, with the Latics scoring all 4 goals. Wigan went 2-0 up but an own goal in each injury time saw the Tangerines gain a fortunate point. The FA Cup saw them avoid a mini upset as they beat Gillingham 2-0, but league form continued to abandon them as they lost 3-0 away in the capital at Leyton Orient, they followed it up with a drab 0-0 against struggling Northampton, before losing 2-1 at the Toughsheet Stadium as Bolton completed a turnaround victory after Joseph gave the Tangerines a first half lead, once again it would be an injury time goal that cost the seaside club. The wait for a win finally ended when they beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 at the Memorial Ground, an own goal got them on their way before a second half penalty from Lee Evans sealed the win. They departed the FA Cup, as Birmingham knocked them out, but they registered another league win next time out away at Shrewsbury, with two second half goals sealing a 2-1 win. Their form on the road continued as they beat Reading 3-0, with goals from Apter, Ashley Fletcher and Albie Morgan, at home though it was still bleak as they approached Christmas with a 0-0 draw to Stevenage. Boxing Day saw them travel to Wrexham and whilst they took the lead through Fletcher, former Terrier Paul Mullin and former Owl Steven Fletcher saw the Welsh side take the spoils. Then in the build up to this game came three consecutive draws, they held Brum 0-0 at St Andrews, drew 1-1 at home to Shrewsbury with Apter scoring for Blackpool and future Blackpool player Tom Bloxham scoring for the Shrews, their last action came on the 4th of January when they drew 1-1 away at 10 man Wycombe, Joseph scoring in the 93rd minute for the Tangerines.



Founded in 1887, Blackpool became founder members of the Lancashire League. In their first season in the competition, the club finished fifth out of the 13 member clubs, before winning the championship themselves on their fourth attempt. After struggling to repeat the success of the 1893–94 season, the Blackpool board decided it was time to leave local football behind, so on 13 May 1896 the club became a limited company and applied for entry to the Football League.Their application was successful, and for the club's debut season, 1896–97, they joined the 16-team Second Division. Blackpool's first-ever Football League game took place on 5 September 1896, at Lincoln City, which they lost 3–1 in front of around 1,500 spectators. After finishing third-bottom the season before, the club were not re-elected at the end of the 1898–99 season, and spent the 1899–1900 term back in the Lancashire League. They finished third, and after the Football League's annual meeting, on 25 May 1900, were permitted back into Division Two. It was during this season out of the League that Blackpool amalgamated with local rivals South Shore and moved to Bloomfield Road.

After the turn of the century, Blackpool struggled to finish above 12th in the league, with one season seeing them finishing 7th, in the lead up to WW1 they generally bounced around in mid table. The outbreak of war forced the cancellation of League football for four years, when normality resumed, in 1919–20, Blackpool had appointed their first full-time manager in the form of Bill Norman. Norman guided the club to fourth-placed finishes in his first two league seasons in charge. The club's form nosedived in the 1921–22 season, with a finishing position of 19th, before bouncing back to a fifth-placed finish the following campaign. After 4 years Norman was replaced by Frank Buckley and Blackpool finished fourth that season. The 1924–25 season was not as successful; a 17th-placed finish tempered only slightly by the club reaching the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time. A single-goal defeat at fellow Lancastrians Blackburn Rovers ended the Seasiders' run. Buckley guided Blackpool to top-10 finishes in his final two seasons as manager before he left to take the helm at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Buckley's replacement was Sydney Beaumont, who took charge for the 1927–28 season, but he lasted only until the spring after the club finished in 19th position. Harry Evans was installed as the new Blackpool manager, in an honorary capacity, for the 1928–29 campaign. Due in no small part to Jimmy Hampson's 40 goals, the club finished eighth. In his second season, Evans guided Blackpool to the Division Two championship, finishing ahead of promotion rivals Chelsea and Oldham Athletic by three and four points respectively. Hampson had bagged 45 of the club's 98 league goals.

Blackpool lasted only three seasons in the First Division. Two third-bottom finishes were followed by a last-placed finish, and the club returned to the Second Division. The club's relegation prompted the Blackpool board to install a recognised manager, and they opted for Sandy MacFarlane. MacFarlane occupied the Bloomfield Road hot seat for just two seasons, in which the club finished 11th and fourth.
Joe Smith was appointed Blackpool's sixth manager in August 1935, a role in which he remained for the next 23 years. The club finished 10th in Smith's first season. It was Smith's second season in charge, however, that marked the starting point of the success to come. Blackpool finished the 1936–37 season as runners-up in the Second Division to Leicester City and were promoted back to the First Division.

Two seasons of Division One football were played before the Second World War intervened. Blackpool sat atop the table at the time the abandonment occurred. Regional competitions were implemented again between 1939 and 1945. For the 1945–46 season, after the war's conclusion, Blackpool spent one season in the Football League North.

Post-war Blackpool reached the FA Cup final on three occasions, losing to Manchester United in 1948 and Newcastle United three years later, and winning it in 1953. For the first and only time in the club's history, four Blackpool players (Harry Johnston, Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen and debutant Ernie Taylor) represented England in the infamous 6–3 defeat by Hungary at Wembley on 25 November 1953. Of the four, only Matthews would ever represent his country again.

In 1955–56, Blackpool attained their highest-ever finish in the Football League: runners-up to Manchester United, despite losing their final four league games. It was a feat that could not be matched or bettered over the following two seasons, with fourth and seventh-placed finishes, and Smith left Blackpool as the club's most successful and longest-serving manager. Smith was succeeded, by Ron Suart, the first former Tangerine to return to the club as manager. In his first season, he led the club to eighth in the First Division and the sixth round of the FA Cup. The League Cup came into existence in 1960–61 and Blackpool were knocked out in the second round, the round in which they entered. The club's First Division status came under threat, but they managed to avoid relegation by one point, at the expense of Newcastle United. Local arch-rivals Preston North End were the other club to make the drop. In October 1961, Matthews, now aged 46, was sold back to Stoke City. Mid-table finishes in 1961–62 and 1962–63 (and an appearance in the League Cup semi-finals during the former) were offset by another lowly finish of 18th in 1963–64, much of the same ensued over the following two seasons, before relegation finally occurred in 1966–67. Blackpool finished bottom of the table, eight points adrift of Aston Villa. Suart had resigned four months before the end of the season. His replacement was another former Blackpool player, Stan Mortensen.



Mortensen picked up the pieces for the club's first season back in the Second Division in 30 years, guiding them to a third-placed finish. They had gone into the final game of the season at Huddersfield Town knowing that a win would likely secure a return to the First Division. They won 3–1, but once the premature celebrations had ended, they discovered that their nearest rivals, Queens Park Rangers, had scored a last-minute winner at Aston Villa. Q.P.R. were promoted by virtue of a better goal-average: 1.86, to Blackpool's 1.65. At the end of the following 1968–69 campaign, the Blackpool board made the decision to sack Mortensen after just over two years in the job. Their decision was met by fans with shock and anger, as Mortensen was as popular a manager as he was a player. Les Shannon, who spent the majority of his playing career with Blackpool's Lancashire rivals Burnley, was installed as manager for the 1969–70 season. In his first season, he succeeded where Mortensen had failed, by guiding the club back to the top flight as runners-up behind Huddersfield Town. As quickly as Shannon had taken Blackpool up, he saw them return. The club finished at the foot of the table and were relegated back to Division Two, along with Burnley. Before the season's conclusion, Shannon was briefly replaced by Jimmy Meadows as caretaker manager, who in turn was permanently replaced by Bob Stokoe. On 12 June 1971, well over a month after the conclusion of the League season, Blackpool won the Anglo-Italian Cup with a 2–1 victory over Bologna in the final. Blackpool finished amongst the top 10 teams in the Second Division for six consecutive seasons, under three different managers: Stokoe, Harry Potts and Allan Brown. Twice Blackpool narrowly missed promotion to Division One, by two points in 1974 and 1977.

In February 1978, midway through 1977–78, Brown's second season at the helm, Blackpool were seventh in the division. Having just beaten local rivals Blackburn Rovers 5–2, on 6 February 1978, Brown was sacked by chairman Billy Cartmell for personal reasons. The team won only one more game that season, which ended with their relegation to the Division Three for the first time in their history. On 1 April 1978, with six games to go, Blackpool were in eighth place, nine points off the third relegation slot. On 25 April, with one game to go, Blackpool were 14th, three points above Cardiff City in the third relegation slot. Four days later, Blackpool completed their programme and were 16th with 37 points – two points clear of Leyton Orient in the third relegation slot, with a vastly superior goal difference. By the end of the season they were relegated and wouldn't return to the second division for a further 29 years.

Bob Stokoe returned for a second stint as manager for the 1978–79 campaign, at the end of which Blackpool finished mid-table. Stokoe resigned during the summer. Former Town manager, Stan Ternent became Blackpool's seventh manager in nine years, only to be replaced in February 1980 by Alan Ball, the popular former Blackpool midfielder who left the club for Everton 14 years earlier. Ball himself only lasted a year in the job, and departed when the club were relegated to the League's basement division. Allan Brown had taken over from Ball in February 1981, and he remained in charge for the following 1981–82 term. Blackpool finished twelfth in their first season in Division Four and Brown resigned during the close season.

Sam Ellis took over from Brown in June 1982, three years after he finished his playing career with Watford. His first season saw Blackpool finish 21st. It was Ellis's third season, however, that brought the success the club had been looking for. Blackpool finished second behind Chesterfield and were back in Division Three. The club managed to finish in the top half of the table for their first three seasons in the Third Division, but slipped to 19th in Ellis's seventh and final season in charge. On 17 April 1986, the board of directors put the club on the market after councillors rejected plans to sell Bloomfield Road for a supermarket site in a £35 million redevelopment scheme. The club was then sold to Owen Oyston for £1. For the 1989–90 season, Blackpool appointed Jimmy Mullen as manager. Mullen's reign last only 11 months, however, and he left the club after their relegation back to Division Four. Graham Carr replaced Mullen, but his spell in the manager's seat was even shorter – just four months. He was sacked in November 1990 with Blackpool in 18th place. Carr's replacement was his assistant, Billy Ayre. Ayre guided the team to a fifth-placed finish and qualification for the play-offs. They lost only five of their 30 league games that remained at the time of Ayre's appointment. The run included 13 consecutive home league wins in an eventual 24–game unbeaten run at Bloomfield Road. The run was extended to 15 consecutive home wins at the start of the 1991–92 campaign, which remains the club record. After beating Scunthorpe United in the two-legged semi-finals of the play-offs, Blackpool lost to Torquay United in the Wembley final, on penalties after the score was tied 2–2 after regular and extra time. The following 1991–92 season finished with Blackpool in fourth place, missing out on automatic promotion by one point, which meant another play-offs experience. This time they met Barnet in the semi-finals and won 2–1 on aggregate. They returned to Wembley, where they faced Scunthorpe United in the final, the team they knocked out of the play-offs 12 months earlier. Again the score was tied at the end of regular and extra time, but Blackpool were victorious in the penalty shootout and booked their place in the new Division Two.

Blackpool struggled in their first term back in the third tier of English football but pulled to safety in 18th place by the end. In late 1993 they were as high as fourth but tumbled down the table in the second half of that season to miss the drop by a whisker in 20th, avoiding relegation by virtue of a 4–1 victory over Leyton Orient on the final day of the season. Ayre was sacked in the summer of 1994 and was replaced by another former Town man, Sam Allardyce. Allardyce led Blackpool to a mid-table finish in his first season and saw the club knocked out of both cup competitions at the first hurdle. The 1995–96 season saw Blackpool finish third and claim a place in the play-offs for the third time in six seasons. In the semi-finals, Blackpool travelled to Bradford City and won 2–0. Three days later, they hosted the Yorkshiremen at Bloomfield Road and lost 3–0. Blackpool remained in Division Two, and Allardyce was sacked not long afterwards. In 1996, owner Oyston was convicted of the rape of a 16-year-old girl and Former Norwich City manager Gary Megson replaced Allardyce, attaining a seventh-placed finish in his only season in charge. Nigel Worthington succeeded Megson in the summer of 1997, and in the Northern Irishman's two full campaigns in the hot seat, Blackpool finished 12th and 14th. Worthington resigned towards the end of the 1999–2000 season, and his seat was filled by the former Liverpool and England midfielder Steve McMahon.



McMahon arrived too late to save the club from relegation to the Third Division (fourth tier) after a 22nd-placed finish in the table. In his first full season in charge, Blackpool were promoted to Division Two by winning the play-offs. They also gained the first of two Football League Trophy wins in 2002 as Blackpool beat Cambridge United 4–1 at the Millennium Stadium. Their second win was in 2004, this time beating Southend United 2–0 again in Cardiff. In the summer following the Trophy win, McMahon resigned, believing he could not take the club any further with the budget he was being offered. Colin Hendry became the new manager, but was replaced by yet another future Town manager, Simon Grayson in November 2005 after an unsuccessful stint which left Blackpool languishing just above the relegation zone of League One (third tier).

In the 2006–07 FA Cup Blackpool reached the fourth round for the first time in 17 years, after beating Aldershot Town 4–2 at Bloomfield Road, but were knocked out by Norwich City, 3–2 after a replay at Carrow Road. They finished in third place, and qualified for the play-offs, and after beating Oldham Athletic 5–2 on aggregate in the semi-final, they met Yeovil Town in the final at the new Wembley Stadium, their first appearance at England's national stadium in 15 years. Blackpool won 2–0, and were promoted to the Championship in their 100th overall season in the Football League. The promotion marked their return to English football's second tier for the first time in 29 years.

Blackpool finished the 2007–08 season in 19th place, escaping relegation by two points and ensuring their safety in a 1–1 draw with Watford on the final day of the Championship season. On 23 December 2008, Simon Grayson left the club to join League One club Leeds United after just over three years in charge at Bloomfield Road. Under the guidance of Grayson's assistant Tony Parkes, as caretaker manager, Blackpool finished the 2008–09 campaign in 16th place. Parkes left the club on 18 May 2009 after a meeting with chairman Karl Oyston about finances.

On 21 May 2009, Ian Holloway was appointed as manager, signing a one-year contract with the club with an option of a further year. On 31 July it was announced that club president Valērijs Belokoņs was setting up a new transfer fund, into which he was adding a "considerable amount" to invest in new players identified by Holloway. Four days later Blackpool broke their transfer record by signing Charlie Adam from Scottish champions Rangers for £500,000, topping the £275,000 paid to Millwall for Chris Malkin in 1996.

Blackpool finished the 2009–10 regular season in sixth place in the Championship, their highest finish in the Football League since 1970–71, and claimed a spot in the play-offs. On 2 May 2010, the 57th anniversary of Blackpool's FA Cup final victory, Blackpool hosted Bristol City for the final League game of the season. They needed to match or better Swansea City's result in their match at home to Doncaster Rovers. Both matches ended in draws, with Swansea's Lee Trundle having a late goal disallowed for handball, which meant Blackpool secured the remaining play-off place.

On 8 May, Blackpool beat Nottingham Forest 2–1 at Bloomfield Road in the semi-final first leg. Three days later, they beat them 4–3 (6–4 on aggregate) at the City Ground in the second leg to progress to the final against Cardiff. Blackpool defeated Cardiff City 3–2 on 22 May in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium to earn promotion to the Premier League. It was Blackpool's debut appearance in the Premier League in its 18-year existence and their first appearance in English football's top flight in 39 years. Blackpool had now, uniquely, been promoted through all three tiers of the Football League via the play-off system. Furthermore, they won all nine play-off games they were involved in during the 10 seasons between 2001 and 2010.



In their first-ever Premier League match on 14 August 2010, Blackpool defeated Wigan Athletic 4–0 at the DW Stadium. The result saw the Seasiders at the top of the entire English football pyramid until Chelsea's 6–0 victory over West Bromwich Albion later in the day. It was the first time they had been in such a position since they won their opening game of the 1957–58 top-flight campaign. On 22 May 2011, exactly 365 days after their promotion, Blackpool were relegated back to the Championship after losing 4–2 at champions Manchester United on the final day of the season, seven of their 10 overall wins were obtained before the new year, and at the end of 2010 they sat in eighth place; however, seven defeats in the opening eight fixtures of 2011 saw them drop down the table. The next match, a draw at home Aston Villa, left them in 15th, their lowest placing of the campaign to date. Another run of defeats – this time five in six – put them in the relegation zone for the first time. They climbed out of the bottom three, at the expense of Wigan Athletic, with successive home draws against Newcastle United and Stoke City. Blackpool dropped back into the relegation zone after conceding a late equaliser to draw at Tottenham, switching places with Wolves; they were level on points with Wigan and three ahead of bottom club West Ham United. A victory, their first in three months, over Bolton Wanderers, in their penultimate league fixture, was not enough to change the position as Wolves won at Sunderland. Blackpool went to Old Trafford for the final match and were leading 2–1, 12 minutes into the second half, but Manchester United, who were crowned champions a week earlier, took control and won 4–2 to condemn 19th-placed Blackpool to relegation along with Birmingham City and West Ham United.

On 9th May 2012, Blackpool secured their place in the Championship play-off final in their second consecutive season in the division after beating Birmingham City 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals. They met West Ham United in the final at Wembley on 19 May, losing 2–1, conceding a last-gasp goal to the Hammers' Ricardo Vaz Tê, their first play-off final reversal in 21 years. On 3 November 2012, Ian Holloway decided to leave Blackpool after accepting an offer from fellow Championship club Crystal Palace to be their manager. He was replaced four days later by Michael Appleton, who left League One side Portsmouth to take up the position; however, after being in charge for just two months, Appleton left for Lancashire neighbours Blackburn Rovers, becoming the shortest-serving manager in Blackpool's history. On 18 February, after just over a month without an appointment, the club made former England captain Paul Ince their third manager of the campaign.

It was under Ince that the club made their best-ever start to a league season. Their victory at AFC Bournemouth on 14 September 2013 gave them 16 points out of a possible 18. The sequence of results was two wins, a draw, and three wins. This was countered by a run of nine defeats in 10 games, which resulted in Ince being sacked on 21 January 2014, 11 months into his tenure. Barry Ferguson was named caretaker manager upon Ince's dismissal. Of Ferguson's 20 league games in charge, Blackpool won just three and finished the 2013–14 season in 20th place. On 11 June 2014, almost five months after Paul Ince's dismissal, the club appointed Belgian José Riga as manager. He was Blackpool's first ever overseas manager. Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season Blackpool suffered a major crisis with some 27 players leaving the club; just two weeks before the season started, the club had only eight outfield players and no goalkeeper. Riga was able to assemble a squad in time for Blackpool's first game against Nottingham Forest, but could still only name four substitutes instead of the permitted seven. Blackpool lost the match 2–0. On 27 October 2014, after 15 games in charge, Riga was sacked and replaced by ex Town boss Lee Clark.

On 6 April 2015, with six league fixtures remaining, Blackpool were relegated to League One. On 2 May 2015, the final match of the Championship season against Huddersfield Town was abandoned in the 48th minute following an on-pitch protest by hundreds of Blackpool supporters regarding the actions and management style of the directors and owners. The Football League subsequently declared the result the 0–0 scoreline it was at the time of abandonment, which meant Blackpool finished the season with 26 points. Following the resignation of Lee Clark on 9 May 2015, Blackpool appointed Neil McDonald as manager on 2 June. In May 2016, a second successive relegation occurred, which put Blackpool in the bottom tier of English professional football for the first time in 15 years. Less than two weeks later, Neil McDonald was sacked as manager. He was replaced by Gary Bowyer, the club's eighth manager in three-and-a-half years. In May 2017, under Bowyer, Blackpool won promotion to League One after beating Exeter City 2–1 at Wembley in the play-off final. The victory meant that Blackpool became the most successful side in English play-off history, winning their fifth final.



On 10 November 2017, Blackpool was put up for sale by the Oyston family. The sale included the club itself and the properties division that owns Bloomfield Road stadium. Owen Oyston relieved Karl Oyston of his role as chairman and appointed his 32-year-old daughter, Natalie Christopher, in his place, just two weeks after appointing her to the club's board. Gary Bowyer resigned in August 2018 after two years in charge, after the first game of the season for undisclosed reasons. He was replaced with his assistant Terry McPhillips as caretaker manager. McPhillips was made the permanent manager a month later.

Simon Sadler was announced as the new owner of the club, officially ending the Oystons' 32-year tenure. Sadler was born and raised in Blackpool and has worked in asset management in Hong Kong since 2007. He is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Segantii Capital Management. Terry McPhillips resigned as Blackpool manager on 5 July 2019, having informed the club's board that he had no long-term desire to be a manager. He was replaced by Simon Grayson, who returned for a second spell in charge; however, after a long run of defeats, he was sacked on 12 February 2020. Grayson's last game in charge was a 3–2 home loss to Gillingham. Liverpool U23s manager Neil Critchley was appointed head coach – the first such role for the club – as his replacement on 2 March 2020. After a curtailed regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Blackpool finished the 2019–20 season in 13th position after standings were amended to reflect a points-per-game ratio. At the end of the following campaign, Blackpool were promoted back to the second tier of English football, after a six-year absence, after winning the 2021 EFL League One play-off final. It was Blackpool's sixth victory in a play-off final in eight such appearances. The 2021-22 season saw Blackpool secure a sixteenth-place finish in the Championship. On 2 June 2022, Neil Critchley resigned from his role as head coach and joined Aston Villa as assistant head coach. Just over two weeks later, the club appointed its former manager Michael Appleton as Critchley's successor.

Appleton was sacked seven months later, on 18 January 2023, after the club managed one win in eleven games. Veteran Mick McCarthy was appointed to oversee the rest of the season, but an Easter Monday defeat at home to fellow strugglers Cardiff City ended his spell in charge. Interim manager and former Seasiders striker Stephen Dobbie could not keep them in the division. Blackpool were relegated to League One after a home defeat to Millwall on 28 April 2023. Neil Critchley returned for a second spell as manager in the summer, and the following 2023–24 season saw an eighth-placed finish in League One, two places outside the play-off positions. He was sacked in August 2024 and replaced by one final former Town man Steve Bruce.Recently, it was revealed that Sadler was looking to sell the club as he faces accusations of insider trading with Segantii.



Blackpool was originally a small hamlet; it began to grow in the mid-eighteenth century, when sea bathing for health purposes became fashionable. Blackpool's beach was suitable for this activity, and by 1781 several hotels had been built. The opening of a railway station in 1846 allowed more visitors to reach the resort, which continued to grow for the remainder of the nineteenth century. In 1876, the town became a borough. Blackpool's development was closely tied to the Lancashire cotton-mill practice of annual factory maintenance shutdowns, known as wakes weeks, when many workers chose to visit the seaside. The town saw large growth during the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. In the late 20th century, changing holiday preferences and increased overseas travel impacted Blackpool's standing as a leading resort. Despite economic challenges, the town's urban fabric and economy remain centred around tourism.

Life itself has been in the area a wee bit longer, The Fylde peninsula was also home to a British tribe, the Setantii (the "dwellers in the water") a sub-tribe of the Brigantes. Some of the earliest villages on the Fylde, which were later to become part of Blackpool town, were named in the Domesday Book in 1086. In medieval times Blackpool emerged as a few farmsteads on the coast within Layton-with-Warbreck, the name coming from "le pull", a stream that drained Marton Mere and Marton Moss into the sea. The stream ran through peatlands that discoloured the water, so the name for the area became "Black Poole". In the 15th century the area was just called Pul, by 1602, entries in Bispham Parish Church baptismal register include both Poole and for the first time blackpoole. Blackpool lost a lot of tourism to people escaping to foreign climes, but still maintained its draw to the older generations who used to go when they were younger. As such it began to develop around shorter breaks rather than week long holidays, with it now being a draw for weekend piss ups amongst certain age groups, whilst still having the theme park, illuminations and knock off Eiffel Tower as a draw for others. Pub sports like darts still use Blackpool as a major venue which in itself brings a large chunk of income into the region over a relatively short time period, if you like strictly, that is often in the same area, but not at the same time. Can you imagine?



For team news, helik was expected to be back for this weekend, but the revelation over a transfer move yesterday probably removes that possibility. Long term injury sufferer Lee Nichols is available but it will be interesting to see if he immediately usurps Jacob Chapman or if he has to bide his time. It will be interesting to see if he even remains at the club as there has long been speculation over nicholls moving to pastures new. The enforced break has allowed town to get Josh koroma over his fatigue/niggle, so he is good to go at the seaside, whilst Spencer is available after being forced off last time out against Wycombe, so will likely be straight back into the fold. The break will also have allowed radino balker a bit more time to play catch up, but whether he is ready for a starting berth remains to be seen. Elsewhere, lasse Sorensen is due back imminently but the games against Bolton and Birmingham appear to be the likely candidates. Rooskens remains suspended with Lonwijk, kasumu, ward and miller remain long term absentees, whilst a manhunt is still on going for ladapo's first touch and footballing ability, speculation suggests that it was a hoax and never existed, with searchers more likely to find Bigfoot or a unicorn first.



Blackpool have been without CJ Hamilton, who tore us apart in the home fixture for a number of weeks, with Steve Bruce lamenting the fact that they only have one naturally wide player available at the moment in Rob Apter, but the signing of Silvera has eased that burden slightly and will allow Bruce to fully embrace his two man strikeforce he has been wanting to play with. They absolutely outplayed us at our spot, using pace out wide and finding an extra man in the middle of the pitch, however, since then we have tweaked our shape so that we don't get outnumbered as much in the middle, and with Hamilton being out, their pacy options are lacking, meaning our 'quicker' players could push them back and force them to defend deeper.

With regards to who to watch, Kyle Joseph is their leading scorer, whilst Rob Apter is one of their more influential players. Elsewhere in the side Albie Morgan offers them a midfield engine, much like Kasumu does for us, but not as robust, Fletcher has struggled to find his goalscoring touch over the recent years, his three goals so far this season is his best return since 2019-20 season, he tends to start and be used as somewhat of a target man before getting hooked in the second half. Would it surprise you if Brucie throws a curve ball and put Rhodes out from the start to try and beat our more stationary defenders on the move in the box, because his strikers shouldn't get much luck aerially.



In terms of played for both, Jordan Rhodes is the obvious one, he had a good year with the Tangerines last season leading to him joining permanently at the end of his contract at Town, this season he has gone back to being more of a bit part player, struggling for game time ahead of Joseph and Fletcher, he will likely be on the bench on Saturday. Current captain James Husband had a loan spell at Town, coming in to replace Ben Chilwell when his loan deal at Town ended. In recent years, Richard Keogh has represented both clubs, having two spells at Town and one at Blackpool, he is now on the coaching team at the club, having stepped in as interim manager before Steve Bruce was appointed. Another left back in Reece James has played for both clubs, he had a brief loan at Town at the start of his career and an injury hit stay at Bloomfield Road more recently, he can be seen playing for Rotherham now. Chris Maxwell had 3 seasons at Blackpool before joining Town, he made over 100 appearances for the Tangerines and could well end up back there in the summer. Town legends Ollie Turton and Peter Clarke both played for both, Turton signed for Town from Blackpool, he made 140 appearances for them scoring twice, including in the play off final, oops wrong goal, he has 73 appearances for Town with one goal, so at least the strike rate is consistent. Clarke had three spells at Blackpool, one on loan from Everton as a youngster in 2002, before joining permanently in 2004, he spent two years before moving south to Southend. After three years there he moved to Town in 2009 and became club captain, spending 5 years at the Terriers before moving back to Blackpool having made 192 appearances in Yorkshire. His third stint at Blackpool lasted a year and he left to gradually drop down the leagues and is still playing at 43 for Warrington, he made 139 appearances for Blackpool in total.

Elsewhere, wingers Sean Scannell, Chris Brandon and Gary Taylor Fletcher both had varied spells on the Fylde coast, current Town man Antony Evans had a loan spell at Blackpool before moving to Germany. Anyone remember Andy Taylor? we loaned him from Blackburn once upon a time early in his career, he had a couple of years at Blackpool but is now a coach at Bolton. Other names include Neil Danns, Martin Paterson, Ishmael Miller, Jack Robinson, Thomas Ince, Nathan Eccleston, Keith Southern, Paul Rachubka, the much lamented Keigan Parker and Michael Flynn. There are plenty of others, it seems to be a well trodden path, probably helped by it being relatively local in footballing terms.

[Lord Snooty]

Nice one jjamez. Another very thorough and detailed write up.

Do we start the new strikers straight away? Taylor for sure, maybe alongside Marshall with Koroma on the left.

I don't know. Nice that the head coach has some selection dilemmas for a change.

[jjamez]

I'll be honest guys, it's brief without quizzes and some of my usual stuff because I forgot I was on duty for it until yesterday morning!

[WakeyTerrier]

Nothing less than 3 points required today if we are to mount pressure on the 3 teams above us.

Is it possible we could return to a 442 formation? The new lads up top with Marshall and Koroma out wide?

[Lord Snooty]

TOWN’S TEAM vs BLACKPOOL (A)

13. Jacob Chapman
4. Matty Pearson
8. Ben Wiles
10. Josh Koroma
15. Dion Charles
16. Herbie Kane
17. Brodie Spencer
20. Ollie Turton
22. Joe Taylor
32. Tom Lees ©
41. Joe Hodge

SUBSTITUTES

Lee Nicholls; Jonathan Hogg, Callum Marshall, Rhys Healey, Antony Evans, Radinio Balker, Neo Eccleston

---

Well that's not a good start.

[Lord Snooty]

Typical Town. Get the feelgood factor back and fack it up again.

---

Taylor. What's a strike. Game on.

---

Get in Brodie

[Lord Snooty]

Well what a crackerjack of a second half.

[SHEP_HTAFC]

Cracking second half that.....either team could have won that.
What a save near the end to deny Lees.
Worried defensively for my lot.....cut open far too often.
Play off bound I think.

[Lord Snooty]

Probably should've been four down at half time and then they missed an absolute sitter just after we equalised.

Balker is a bit of a liability at times and an injury worry. Lees and Pearson are too slow against the ball over the top. Turton ditto.

If we do go up, we'll need an entirely new defence.

[theo_luddite]

Didn't see or hear the game, was looking for a new jalopy. Sounds like it was a cracking 2nd half. Seen the goals on my Sky Sports App. Hmm, well our first was a cracker. Chappers looked like was auditioning for the B Team for theirs. Anyway, got a curry sauce on the boil and just picked up some £8 bottles of Malbec for £5 each at Morrisons, so they should see me through sorting out the predictions thread this evening.