Blackpool F.C.
| Full name | Blackpool Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | 'Pool, The Seasiders, The Tangerines | ||
| Founded | 1877 | ||
| Ground | Bloomfield Road South Shore Blackpool Lancashire | ||
| Capacity | 11,295 | ||
| Chairman |  Karl Oyston | ||
| Manager | Simon Grayson | ||
| League | League One | ||
| 2005-06 | League One, 19th | ||
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Blackpool Football Club is an English football club. Their home ground is Bloomfield Road in the seaside resort of Blackpool in north-west England. Their nicknames are "The 'Pool", "The Seasiders" and "The Tangerines", the latter stemming from their home colour. Blackpool have a fierce rivalry with local arch-enemy Preston North End.
The club's most famous achievement is winning the 1953 FA Cup Final (in the so-called "Matthews Final"), when they beat Bolton Wanderers 4-3, overturning a 1-3 deficit in the closing stages of the game.
Although the main entrance to the ground (via the now-demolished South Stand) used to be on Bloomfield Road, since the re-development of the ground, it is now from Seasiders Way in the West (main) Stand.
Blackpool have been outside the top division since 1971, and are currently in League One, the third tier of the English league.
In 1982-83, Blackpool endured the worst season in their history. They finished second from bottom in the English Fourth Division and were only saved from relegation to the Alliance Premier League (now the Conference) because the re-election system voted in their favour. The club recovered two years later to win promotion to the Third Division, only to go down again in 1990.
The club's owners, the Oyston family, announced in December 2005 that they were considering three bids for the club.
In early May 2006, it appeared that Valeri Belokon, a Latvian businessman with connections in both banking and beer, was poised to make a considerable investment in the club, possibly even taking over the chairmanship from Karl Oyston. On May 19, 2006, it was announced that Belokon had agreed to invest £5 million into the club, which will be spread over several years.
On June 29, 2006, Belokon invested in Blackpool, purely on the playing side of the club, of which he now has a newly-issued share holding of 20%, with the option to double the stake at a later date. Belokon became the new president and a director of the club. Coincidentally, the team travelled to Latvia for a three-match pre-season tour in mid-July. Belokon's assistant, Normund Malnacs, is also a director of the club now. Belokon has also bought a football club in Riga, Latvia, with the sole intention of its being a feeder club with the possibility of providing players for the club.[1]
History
Early years (1889-1900)
Blackpool were founder members of Lancashire League in 1889, and finished runners-up in its second season. They repeated this finish over the next two seasons before clinching the title in 1894, but they did not gain election to the Football League until 1896. They were voted out of the league after just three years, and returned to the Lancashire League to be amalgamated with South Shore Football Club.
Early 20th century
Blackpool were re-elected to the Football League after just one season, but did not make many headlines until they were crowned Second Division champions in 1930 and in doing so reached the First Division for the first time in their history.
The 1930s
Blackpool's first spell in the First Division lasted three years before they were relegated back to the Second Division, and it took four years to regain their place among the elite.
Matthews and Mortensen: the Postwar Years
When first-class football resumed in 1946 following the end of the Second World War, Blackpool were soon hitting the headlines with two of the finest players ever to play in England: Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen. The pair nearly brought Blackpool glory in the 1948 FA Cup final, but a highly-competitive game saw them finally lose 4-2 to Manchester United after leading 2-1 at half-time. They were also the losing side, this time against Newcastle United, in the 1951 final.
In 1953, however, it was third time lucky for they Seasiders as they finally won the FA Cup. After trailing 3-0 to Bolton Wanderers, Matthews inspired a remarkable turnaround in fortunes as the Tangerines triumphed 4-3 at Wembley. Three years later, Blackpool attained their highest-ever league finish as they came second to Manchester United and were only denied the title on goal average.
The post-Matthews era
By 1960, Matthews and Mortensen were no longer at Bloomfield Road, and despite a run to the semi-finals of the 1962 League Cup, it was clear that Blackpool's glory days were now in the past. After three decades in the top flight, Blackpool slid into the Second Division in 1967 and the following year they finished third in the league - only missing out on promotion due to goal average. They returned to the top flight in 1970, but went down a year later despite winning the Anglo-Italian Cup. They have not been in the top flight since.
Sharp decline
1978 saw Blackpool slide into the Third Division, and since then their entire existence has been spent in the lower two divisions of the Football League. In 1982, they fell into the Fourth Division for the first time in their history and their first campaign at this level saw them finish 21st. This meant that they had to apply for re-election, but Blackpool and the three teams below them were all fortunate enough to retain their league status.
The yo-yo years (1984-1994)
Blackpool's first success in more than a decade came in 1985 when they finished runners-up in the Fourth Division and were promoted to the Third Division, but they were relegated again in 1990. They drew 2-2 with Torquay in the 1990-91 Fourth Division playoff final, but their promotion dream was ended by a 5-4 shoot-out defeat. This upset came six months after Graham Carr was sacked as manager to be replaced by Billy Ayre.
A year later, Blackpool returned to Wembley for another playoff final appearance. This time they drew 1-1 with Scunthorpe, forcing another penalty shoot-out. And this time they got it right with a 4-3 win on penalties.
Blackpool were founder members of the new Division Two in August 1992, following the formation of the FA Premier League. They narrowly avoided relegation over the next two seasons before chairman Owen Oyston decided it was time for a change and sacked Ayre. Ayre's replacement, in July 1994, was Sam Allardyce.
The end of the century (1995-1999)
In Allardyce's second season in charge, 1995-96, he led the club to a third-place finish in Division Two, but he was sacked after they lost to eventual playoff winners Bradford in the semi-finals.
On 22 May 1996, Owen Oyston was found guilty of raping a 15-year-old girl and received a six-year prison sentence as his punishment. His son, Karl, took over as chairman, and is still in this role a decade later, despite his father's release from custody in 2000.
Nigel Worthington was appointed manager for the 1997-98 season, replacing Stockport-bound Gary Megson, but was relieved of his position two years later with Blackpool heading for relegation to Division Three.
The new millennium (2000 onwards)
Steve McMahon succeeded Worthington in early 2000, but he was unable to stop Blackpool from sliding into Division Three. Promotion, via the playoffs, was attained at the first attempt, and they were still in the league's third tier when McMahon resigned in 2004. They won the Football League Trophy twice in McMahon's final three seasons at the helm.
McMahon's successor was Colin Hendry, who lasted little over a year before being replaced by Simon Grayson. Grayson had previously briefly teamed up with Mike Flynn for the final game of the 2003-04 season, after McMahon's departure. With assistance from experienced coaches Tony Parkes and Asa Hartford, Grayson was able to guide the team to 19th place and safety in his first managerial job.
On January 6, 2007, Blackpool reached the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in seventeen years after beating Aldershot Town 4-2 at Bloomfield Road.
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Current starting eleven
Opposition: Aldershot (h) (FA Cup; January 6, 2007)
Formation: 4-4-2
GK: Evans
RB: Barker
CB: Jackson
CB: Evatt
LB: Tierney
RM: Forbes
CM: Southern
CM: Farrelly
LM: Hoolahan
ST: Vernon
ST: Morrell
Non-playing staff
Honours
Managers past and presentThere have been 27 different Blackpool managers:
Notable former players
Internationals
Blackpool's first full-international representative was F.J. Griffiths, for Wales, in 1899; their most recent was Northern Ireland's James Quinn in 1998.
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