Play-Off Final - full match report Bloomfield Road, Blackpool Lancashire England
Play-Off Final - full match report
Published: 28th June 2010
The most important match in Blackpool FC's history
Blackpool 3 Cardiff 2 - full match report...
IT'S May 22, 2060. A bloke with a microphone stands in the sponsors lounge of the Charlie Adam East Stand and shouts: "And ladies and gentleman, please welcome onto the stage, the Blackpool squad who won promotion to the Premier League exactly 50 years ago!"
A group of doddery old fellas step forward to rapturous applause.
But the biggest cheer of all is for the man coming in last, Ian Holloway, as he totters forward and waves to the adoring public. He'll be 97 then but will no doubt grab the mic, rattle off a few one-liners and leave everyone in stitches.
Make no mistake, for those still around it will happen.
For this manager, these players, this day, will go down as one of the greatest the club has ever experienced.
We're lucky to be here, witnessing history being made.
Blackpool, a small seaside resort in Northern England (as the radio commentator sitting behind me so patronisingly put it), are heading to Stamford Bridge, the Emirates and Old Trafford.
And this most glorious of promotions, achieved against all the odds, isn't just a wonderful, beautiful moment for the people of the Fylde, it is a much-needed triumph for the world of football.
It is proof that in this depressing era – when money speaks loudest and the weak keep getting weaker, the rich richer – the mould can still occasionally be broken, the underdog can still make it, David can still whack Goliath on the chin and knock him cold.
Words can't describe how Blackpool fans are feeling today.
Their club is in the Premier League.
That sentence once seemed as fanciful as saying Gordon Brown's divorcing Sarah and hitching up with Gillian Duffy. Not any more.
Blackpool have made it.
They've reached the Holy Grail.
It is what every single fan of a lower league club dreams of but never believes will actually happen.
The Seasiders were hammered 7-0 by Barnet less than a decade ago for heaven's sake.
You name me one Blackpool supporter back then who thought they'd be in the top flight this soon after.
When Valery Belokon appeared from Latvia, waving a bit of money and uttering statements about being in the Premier League in five years, he was almost drowned out by the howls of laughter. Well blow me – he's done it in four.
The present team, along with their terrific manager Ian Holloway – who has changed the entire mindset and fortunes of the club – better keep their diaries free for the next 50 years for they will be invited to dinners and anniversaries galore for their exploits this season.
Savour this thought: at Bloomfield Road next season we will be watching Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Robin Van Persie.
When you watch the World Cup in the summer, think of this: about a third of those superstars on the TV screen will be heading up the M55 from August onwards.
It's frightening, but oh so marvellous.
Alan Hansen will be making caustic remarks about the Seasiders offside trap every week on Match of the Day.
We'll have to go to games on a Sunday lunchtime or a Monday night (assuming Sky bother to show us live next season).
Who'd have thought it?
It is a return to the top flight for the first time since 1971.
Back then, when petrol cost 33p a gallon and no one had heard of the mobile phone (now those really were the days…), Blackpool's last game in the top division was against Manchester United. It was Jimmy Armfield's final match before retiring and he was given a guard of honour by both teams, United were captained by Bobby Charlton.
Blackpool boss Bob Stokoe said afterwards "it's disappointing to be relegated, but we'll be back".
Well the late Mr Stokoe was correct, though he probably didn't envisage it would take 39 years for this proud club to become one of the big boys once again.
The fans, who looked so wonderful as they turned Wembley tangerine, deserve it – especially the hardcore who have unswervingly supported the club through the last three difficult and often downright depressing decades.
Season ticket sales will now hit a record high. Bloomfield Road will be full to the rafters every week and Karl Oyston needs to get the East Stand built sharpish to capitalise on the interest.
Speaking of the chairman, let's finally give him some credit.
There are still folk who say this success has occurred despite Oyston not because of him.
Rubbish. He has done a fine job for the club.
So too has his father Owen. He has pumped money in for the last 23 years in the hope of witnessing this day. He deserves great credit for supporting his hometown with such dedication.
Then there's Belokon. His money and enthusiasm have proved pivotal.
He's also an example of what a foreign investor should be. He doesn't interfere, just listens, and if he agrees with the plans of the manager and the chairman, he stumps up some cash.
Next on the list of those due a hearty slap on the back are the players. How they deserve the plaudits for the season that was.
They are all cracking, down-to-earth lads and that has been crucial in the club's rise.
They aren't stuck-up prima donnas. They work hard for each other and never give in. Just look at the last three matches. Has a team ever in the history of the play-offs come from behind in each game, semi-final and final, to win promotion? I'd wager not, yet this bunch of lads did, twice against Nottingham Forest and again against Cardiff.
Potent
Finally, take a bow Mr Ian Holloway.
He will never have to buy a drink in Blackpool again.
They should rename the tower after him, and who'd complain if they did?
The simple truth is that he has done a quite magnificent job, rethinking and refining his approach after a year out of the game and turning Pool into a potent, attacking force.
They are reborn under Holloway – the man has worked wonders.
He couldn't have done it without his trusted number two Steve Thompson, there every day on the training ground to oversee matters and keep the squad happy. Then there's the likes of long-serving physio Phil Horner and goalkeeping coach Peter Fox.
They have all played a part and deserve rich and full praise during these heady and exhilarating times.
Mind you, we could quite easily be recounting a sob story here for there wasn't too much in a Championship play-off final which ebbed and flowed at an astonishing rate, especially during a frantic first half when it rained goals.
Nine minutes in, Michael Chopra buried a low, right footed shot past Matt Gilks after Peter Whittingham's pass caught Pool's defence napping.
Charlie Adam levelled on 23 minutes, curling a splendid free-kick into the corner from distance. It fizzed into the goal, David Marshall didn't have a chance. Neither would any Premier League keeper, which bodes well.
Cardiff went ahead again on 37 minutes, Joe Ledley exchanging passes with Whittingham and sliding the ball past Gilks, the Pool keeper perhaps getting his angles slightly wrong – though he will rightly ask where the defence in front of him disappeared to.
But no matter. The wonderful way Blackpool play, they simply back themselves to score more.
This they did. Five minutes before the break, Ian Evatt's spectacular shot from a corner was cleared off the line by Mark Kennedy but Gary Taylor-Fletcher bravely stuck his head on the ball and nodded in from close range. It was just reward for hitting the post moments earlier.
And then the winner. On the stroke of half time, DJ Campbell showed some wonderful skill and control on the edge of the area, the ball eventually ran for Brett Ormerod and he poked the ball through Marshall's legs.
How wonderfully appropriate that it was Ormerod who scored – nine years after firing the fourth in the Seasiders 4-2 League Two play-off final win over Leyton Orient.
Cardiff had a goal correctly disallowed for offside moments later and Chopra hit the woodwork for a second time after the interval, but Pool – despite getting understandably twitchy the longer the context went – held on.
They are the first club ever to win promotion from the bottom to the top divisions via the play-offs each time.
They now become the 44th team to have played in the Premier League since it began in 1992.
And there, in the stand, watching it all unfold, was Jimmy Armfield. Was that a tear in his eye at the end? It looked like it. And who can blame him? Many a grown man will have shed tear at this result, tears of joy.
Bring on Chelsea and Man U, and embrace next season rather than fear it – it's going to be an absolute blast, whatever happens.
But the biggest cheer of all is for the man coming in last, Ian Holloway, as he totters forward and waves to the adoring public. He'll be 97 then but will no doubt grab the mic, rattle off a few one-liners and leave everyone in stitches.
Make no mistake, for those still around it will happen.
For this manager, these players, this day, will go down as one of the greatest the club has ever experienced.
We're lucky to be here, witnessing history being made.
Blackpool, a small seaside resort in Northern England (as the radio commentator sitting behind me so patronisingly put it), are heading to Stamford Bridge, the Emirates and Old Trafford.
And this most glorious of promotions, achieved against all the odds, isn't just a wonderful, beautiful moment for the people of the Fylde, it is a much-needed triumph for the world of football.
It is proof that in this depressing era – when money speaks loudest and the weak keep getting weaker, the rich richer – the mould can still occasionally be broken, the underdog can still make it, David can still whack Goliath on the chin and knock him cold.
Words can't describe how Blackpool fans are feeling today.
Their club is in the Premier League.
That sentence once seemed as fanciful as saying Gordon Brown's divorcing Sarah and hitching up with Gillian Duffy. Not any more.
Blackpool have made it.
They've reached the Holy Grail.
It is what every single fan of a lower league club dreams of but never believes will actually happen.
The Seasiders were hammered 7-0 by Barnet less than a decade ago for heaven's sake.
You name me one Blackpool supporter back then who thought they'd be in the top flight this soon after.
When Valery Belokon appeared from Latvia, waving a bit of money and uttering statements about being in the Premier League in five years, he was almost drowned out by the howls of laughter. Well blow me – he's done it in four.
The present team, along with their terrific manager Ian Holloway – who has changed the entire mindset and fortunes of the club – better keep their diaries free for the next 50 years for they will be invited to dinners and anniversaries galore for their exploits this season.
Savour this thought: at Bloomfield Road next season we will be watching Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Robin Van Persie.
When you watch the World Cup in the summer, think of this: about a third of those superstars on the TV screen will be heading up the M55 from August onwards.
It's frightening, but oh so marvellous.
Alan Hansen will be making caustic remarks about the Seasiders offside trap every week on Match of the Day.
We'll have to go to games on a Sunday lunchtime or a Monday night (assuming Sky bother to show us live next season).
Who'd have thought it?
It is a return to the top flight for the first time since 1971.
Back then, when petrol cost 33p a gallon and no one had heard of the mobile phone (now those really were the days…), Blackpool's last game in the top division was against Manchester United. It was Jimmy Armfield's final match before retiring and he was given a guard of honour by both teams, United were captained by Bobby Charlton.
Blackpool boss Bob Stokoe said afterwards "it's disappointing to be relegated, but we'll be back".
Well the late Mr Stokoe was correct, though he probably didn't envisage it would take 39 years for this proud club to become one of the big boys once again.
The fans, who looked so wonderful as they turned Wembley tangerine, deserve it – especially the hardcore who have unswervingly supported the club through the last three difficult and often downright depressing decades.
Season ticket sales will now hit a record high. Bloomfield Road will be full to the rafters every week and Karl Oyston needs to get the East Stand built sharpish to capitalise on the interest.
Speaking of the chairman, let's finally give him some credit.
There are still folk who say this success has occurred despite Oyston not because of him.
Rubbish. He has done a fine job for the club.
So too has his father Owen. He has pumped money in for the last 23 years in the hope of witnessing this day. He deserves great credit for supporting his hometown with such dedication.
Then there's Belokon. His money and enthusiasm have proved pivotal.
He's also an example of what a foreign investor should be. He doesn't interfere, just listens, and if he agrees with the plans of the manager and the chairman, he stumps up some cash.
Next on the list of those due a hearty slap on the back are the players. How they deserve the plaudits for the season that was.
They are all cracking, down-to-earth lads and that has been crucial in the club's rise.
They aren't stuck-up prima donnas. They work hard for each other and never give in. Just look at the last three matches. Has a team ever in the history of the play-offs come from behind in each game, semi-final and final, to win promotion? I'd wager not, yet this bunch of lads did, twice against Nottingham Forest and again against Cardiff.
Potent
Finally, take a bow Mr Ian Holloway.
He will never have to buy a drink in Blackpool again.
They should rename the tower after him, and who'd complain if they did?
The simple truth is that he has done a quite magnificent job, rethinking and refining his approach after a year out of the game and turning Pool into a potent, attacking force.
They are reborn under Holloway – the man has worked wonders.
He couldn't have done it without his trusted number two Steve Thompson, there every day on the training ground to oversee matters and keep the squad happy. Then there's the likes of long-serving physio Phil Horner and goalkeeping coach Peter Fox.
They have all played a part and deserve rich and full praise during these heady and exhilarating times.
Mind you, we could quite easily be recounting a sob story here for there wasn't too much in a Championship play-off final which ebbed and flowed at an astonishing rate, especially during a frantic first half when it rained goals.
Nine minutes in, Michael Chopra buried a low, right footed shot past Matt Gilks after Peter Whittingham's pass caught Pool's defence napping.
Charlie Adam levelled on 23 minutes, curling a splendid free-kick into the corner from distance. It fizzed into the goal, David Marshall didn't have a chance. Neither would any Premier League keeper, which bodes well.
Cardiff went ahead again on 37 minutes, Joe Ledley exchanging passes with Whittingham and sliding the ball past Gilks, the Pool keeper perhaps getting his angles slightly wrong – though he will rightly ask where the defence in front of him disappeared to.
But no matter. The wonderful way Blackpool play, they simply back themselves to score more.
This they did. Five minutes before the break, Ian Evatt's spectacular shot from a corner was cleared off the line by Mark Kennedy but Gary Taylor-Fletcher bravely stuck his head on the ball and nodded in from close range. It was just reward for hitting the post moments earlier.
And then the winner. On the stroke of half time, DJ Campbell showed some wonderful skill and control on the edge of the area, the ball eventually ran for Brett Ormerod and he poked the ball through Marshall's legs.
How wonderfully appropriate that it was Ormerod who scored – nine years after firing the fourth in the Seasiders 4-2 League Two play-off final win over Leyton Orient.
Cardiff had a goal correctly disallowed for offside moments later and Chopra hit the woodwork for a second time after the interval, but Pool – despite getting understandably twitchy the longer the context went – held on.
They are the first club ever to win promotion from the bottom to the top divisions via the play-offs each time.
They now become the 44th team to have played in the Premier League since it began in 1992.
And there, in the stand, watching it all unfold, was Jimmy Armfield. Was that a tear in his eye at the end? It looked like it. And who can blame him? Many a grown man will have shed tear at this result, tears of joy.
Bring on Chelsea and Man U, and embrace next season rather than fear it – it's going to be an absolute blast, whatever happens.
Article Source:
Published Date:
26 May 2010
26 May 2010
