Ever since Blackpool won promotion in that pulsating Championship Play-Off Final back in May, things have been a little quiet in the North West. Even Ian Holloway, the manager who is known and loved for his bizarre and occasionally weird post match comments has been a little shy. There is no doubt that everyone involved in the club is so excited for the new season regardless of the sniping of footballs elite.
Every bookmaker and betting shop in the UK has them as firm favourites to go down, fans of other clubs are simply marking 6 points down for the two fixtures they have against them and the club are rushing to get temporary standing ready for the third game of the season as the opening day match has been switched to Wigan Athletic to allow them more time to complete the work. Football snobs don’t want teams like Blackpool in the Premiership, but they got promoted because they deserved it.
Of course clubs such as Blackpool, Wigan, Stoke, Bolton and Blackburn will always be looked down upon. Certain people will often point to attendances and performances and claim these clubs have no right to be in the top flight. Yet, all of them are here on merit, they didn’t win a raffle to gain promotion. All suffer from public relation assassination in sections of the media, because they’re classed at little clubs who diminish the Premiership brand.
Whilst clubs with much larger fanbases, such as Leeds United, Sheffield United, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday are in the lower leagues, there are reasons for that. It’s not bad luck, it’s not unfortunate. All of them lost their Premiership places through bad decisions, poor management and boardroom suicide. They all deserved relegation, its a harsh reality but it’s true.
Blackpool know that everyone outside of Bloomfield Road seems them as cannon fodder, though a similar train of thought may have been there last season. They were heavily tipped to go down out of the Championship last season as were Scunthorpe and Barnsley and none of them did. No-one of course, apart from the most optimistic of Blackpool fans could have envisaged a situation that occurred, but promotion was achieved and that is that.
The club have absolutely nothing to lose and Holloway said after the Play-Off final victory that this promotion could be the making of the club. They’ve suddenly found themselves with £100 million on their doorsteps, an unimaginable figure for such a club that nearly went of business 25 years ago. For them, regardless of the results, being a Premiership side has completely changed the clubs future from hoping to get by to being able to do everything they never thought they could.
Holloway wants to completely rebuild the clubs infrastructure to support its future. He knows that he cannot spend millions on players because some players and agents will simply not give them the time of day. He will be scouring the free agent lists and looking to Championship clubs to see what he can get to strengthen the club and get value for money. Frittering it away on stupid wages for players who don’t care what happens is not they way they are going. Blackpool can now write their own future free of worrying. Having a player of the calibre of Charlie Adam can only help the cause.
Of course they face a massive task ahead to keep themselves in the league, but so what. They can’t let the pressure, the odds and the snobbery get to them. They need to simply go out and enjoy the experiences, everyone thinks they’ll get hammered every week, so why play with fear. The squad can relax and play football and give it 100% knowing that every point will be a very important and proud achievement for the fans, the club and the manager. No guts, no glory.
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Of course there’s something to lose. There always is. I doubt a club could be worse and I wish Blackpool all the best, but another embarrassing season from a lower playoff Championship side ever could do all sorts of damage to the promotion system as it stands. If the Premiership gets fed up with the Derbys and Burnleys not providing adequate competition, they could close off the only realistic opportunity smaller clubs have to reach the brass ring.
Even clubs who were lauded for their “slow and steady” responsible approach to development and promotion have found themselves in situations where relegation from the Premiership sent them further down the league ladder. For ever WBA that bounces up and down, there is a Southampton that drops and drops and drops…
There are plenty of clubs where the worst thing that could have happened was big time success. I hope Blackpool don’t follow that trend. More stable clubs have.
“Of course clubs such as Blackpool, Wigan, Stoke, Bolton and Blackburn will always be looked down upon. Certain people will often point to attendances and performances and claim these clubs have no right to be in the top flight. Yet, all of them are here on merit, they didn’t win a raffle to gain promotion. All suffer from public relation assassination in sections of the media, because they’re classed at little clubs who diminish the Premiership brand.”
Probably the most sensible thing that’s been written on here in a long time and the shame is it’ll disappear off into the ether and not got the response it deserves. Why? Because most of the people who frequent this site have bought into football through following one of the top four sides and are too short sighted to look beyond that.
In terms of attendance Stoke sell out almost every home game, as I’m sure Blackpool will. In some eyes we don’t deserve to be here yet we’ve finished mid-table both seasons after 25+ years out of the top flight. We’re founder members of the football league, we’ve spent most of our existence in the top flight and in 2013 will be holding embarking on our 150th year in existence.
I hope Blackpool bore the arse off everyone and stop up too.
All the various commentators on the merits of Blackpool’s promotion to the Premier league make extremely good points about Holloway’s influence and the commitment of the players. However, the view that we were lucky seems to prevail in some quarters. The truth is that we were fortunate to land Holloway who had suffered a number of disapointment previously and the nature of his appointment is typical of both Ian Holloway and Blackpool’s chairman Owen Oyston. Oyston contacted Holloway’s agent to set up an interview and the agent alegedly insisted on a receiving a fee for arranging the meeting. Oyston refused and phoned Holloway to let him know why he was not being interviewed.
Holloway’s reaction was typical of him and bodes well for his management of the Seasiders. After Oyston hung up, he decided he wasn’t going to let the matter lie there and got in his car and drove the 200 odd miles to Blackpool and the rest is history fortunately for us. Many events since his appointment have confirmed how luck we have been to get him. I’ll mention just two of them. Ian Holloway arranged a ‘meet the players’ opportunity for our young supporters and I took my grand-daughter Claudia along and was most impressed. Ian and all of the players were seated in a long line and the youngsters worked there way along the row getting autographs and talking to their idols. The sheer accessability of these seemingly distant heroes left a lasting and valuable impression on these young supporters. My other example is more general. Ian Holloway helped to arrange the team’s ‘homecoming’ event when they returned from Wembley. The entire team plus Holloway and Oyston travelled down the entire length of the Blackpool promenade on an open-topped tram and then gathered on the beach opposite the tower, where all the fans joined them for their expression of thanks to the excited supporters. Holloway continues to take an interest on many of the vaious charity money raising events, etc. He is accessible and commited in a way which outshines any previous manager – long may he continue.
Dr. Fred Fawbert (lire-long fan).
“Of course clubs such as Blackpool, Wigan, Stoke, Bolton and Blackburn will always be looked down upon.”
Blackburn? 1994/95 Premiership Champions.
That was a long time ago, and you had that wealthy owner who has sadly passed. Blackburn will be out of the Show in no time, I’m afraid, and likely will struggle to get back in it.
Great job, Paul.
Stoke has the best supporters in the Premier League.
I’m just a Yank who loves to root for the underdogs. Go, Blackpool! May you surprise everyone!
Praise Jesus that Ian Holloway is in the Premier League at least. I look forward to Blackpool having an interesting season up in the big time.
nothing to lose esp. if you believe Ian Holloway – the most dour interview in the premier league. he’s no Neil Warnock