2010–11 Blackpool F.C. season
Encyclopedia
The 2010–11 season was Blackpool F.C.
s debut season in the Premier League, after winning the 2009–10 Championship
play-off Final
in what was their 100th consecutive season in the Football League
. It was also their 28th overall season in English football
's top tier, but their first since 1971. It was Ian Holloway
's second season as manager. The club finished 19th and were relegated back to The Championship.
for the forthcoming season. After the release of five players, plus the sale of Ben Burgess
to Notts County and the forced retirement of Stephen McPhee
, coupled with the departure of the five loan players who finished the 2009-10 campaign at the club, Ian Holloway had just fifteen senior players at his disposal. On 11 August, however, the club replaced those five players with a quintet
of new faces. A sixth, Chris Basham
from Bolton Wanderers, followed two days later. On 13 August, the eve of the new term, Blackpool had a first-team squad of 26; however, the advent of a new Premier League rule meant that, between 1 September and 1 January, the maximum number of players a club could pick from for Premier League games was 25. Eight of these must have been home-grown players. According to the Premier League: "A home-grown player means a player who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the Season during which he turns 21)." Additionally, the club may have selected as many under-21 players as they wanted during the campaign who were not in the locked-in squad. On 1 February, clubs named another 25-man squad to see them through to the end of the Premier League season.
On 18 August, Israeli international centre back Dekel Keinan
was finally able to complete a deal that was set up earlier in the close season, after receiving his work permit. He arrived on a free transfer. He left the club in the January transfer window, however, for Cardiff City.
Several players, including Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Jason Euell and Charlie Adam, kept the squad number assigned to them for the 2009-10 season despite their number not falling inside the traditional 1 to 11. Paul Rachubka retained the number 1 shirt despite being second choice to Matthew Gilks the previous campaign and the start of the new one.
On 1 September, the club submitted their squad (of 24, not the maximum 25) to the Premier League. It was:
Source
Seventeen of the squad were home-grown (HG), while seven players that were not listed were still eligible due to their being under the age of 21 on 1 January 2010. They were: Louis Almond
, Thomas Barkhuizen
, Craig Cathcart
, Ashley Eastham
, Mark Halstead
, Stephen Husband
and Matt Phillips
.
The injured duo of Billy Clarke and Paul Rachubka
were not selected in the 24-man squad and were over the age of 21 and, thus, were ineligible to appear in the Premier League until at least January.
Rachubka was added to the squad in January, having recovered several weeks earlier from his injury. The squad could be changed throughout January, providing the club give the Premier League 24 hours notice when doing so.
Also in January, sixteen youth-team players were added to the first-team squad. They were Matthew Challoner, Adam Dodd, Ryan Gratton, Kingsley Francis-Reynolds, Pa Modou Jobe, Christopher Kettings, Joseph MacDonald, Jamie Menagh, Adam Mitter, Dillan O'Connor, Josh Roberts, Elliott Tarney, Garen Tchobanian, Curtis Thompson, Liam Tomsett
and Biko Younda. They joined Louis Almond, Thomas Barkhuizen, Craig Cathcart, Ashley Eastham, Mark Halstead, Stephen Husband and Matt Phillips as the under-21 options.
A 25-man squad, which was in place until the end of the season, was named at the beginning of February. The changes from the September squad were the additions of recent signing Salaheddine Sbaï
and transfer-deadline day arrivals Andy Reid
, James Beattie
, Jason Puncheon
and Sergei Kornilenko
. Meanwhile, Dekel Keinan joined Cardiff City
on 21 January. Omitted were Danny Coid, Ishmel Demontagnac, Jason Euell and Malaury Martin. As in the original squad list, Billy Clarke also did not feature. There were eighteen home-grown players in the 25-man squad.
Source
At the end of the campaign, nine players were released. These were goalkeepers Paul Rachubka and Richard Kingson, defenders Danny Coid, Rob Edwards and David Carney, midfielders Malaury Martin, Ishmel Demontagnac and Jason Euell, and forward Marlon Harewood. On-loan Salaheddine Sbaï was not taken on permanently, while Andy Reid's season-long deal was not extended. Meanwhile, twelve-month options were activated on seven players: defenders Neal Eardley and Ian Evatt, midfielders Charlie Adam, Keith Southern and Gary Taylor-Fletcher, and forwards Billy Clarke and Louis Almond. Six players were offered new contracts. These were goalkeepers Matt Gilks and Mark Halstead, defenders Stephen Crainey and Ashley Eastham, midfielder David Vaughan, and forward Brett Ormerod. Ormerod accepted a one-year contract, but Vaughan turned down his offer, stating that he wanted to continue playing in the Premier League.
, and won the competition.
at the DW Stadium on 14 August, a result that briefly put them top of the entire English football pyramid for the first time since the opening day of the 1957–58 season, Blackpool earned the League Managers Association
's "Performance of the Week Award".
Seven days later, they suffered their first defeat, 6–0 at Arsenal
. Theo Walcott
opened the scoring on twelve minutes. Just after the half-hour mark, Ian Evatt
brought down Marouane Chamakh
inches outside the penalty area, but the referee, Mike Jones, awarded a penalty and dismissed the Blackpool defender. Andrei Arshavin doubled the Gunners lead from the spot. Walcott netted his second of the half to make it 3–0 at the break. Abou Diaby
made it 4–0 four minutes after the restart, and Walcott completed his hat-trick inside an hour. Chamakh completed the scoring with seven minutes remaining. The result saw Blackpool drop to tenth place in the table.
On 24 August, Blackpool were knocked out of the League Cup
in the second round by MK Dons.
Three days later, Luke Varney
joined Blackpool on a season-long loan from Derby County
, with a view to a permanent deal. Varney scored on his debut in the following day's fixture: a 2–2 draw with Fulham
at Bloomfield Road, in what was the first-ever Premier League game played at the ground.
As the first transfer window of the season came to a close, four players were added to the squad. On deadline day itself, Matt Phillips
arrived from Wycombe Wanderers for a £325,000 fee. The same day, the club tied-up the deal that had been hinted at since the end of the previous campaign. D. J. Campbell, whose hat-trick in the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Nottingham Forest helped put Blackpool in the final, was signed on a permanent basis after his two loan spells during the 2009–10 campaign. On 1 September, the Seasiders also finalised deals with Australian midfielder David Carney
and Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Kingson
, giving Ian Holloway thirty available players to work with until January.
After a two-week international break, Blackpool returned to Premier League duty on 11 September with a visit to Newcastle United
. A penalty from Charlie Adam just before half-time was the difference until D. J. Campbell, with his first goal as a permanent Blackpool player, scored in injury time to seal the Tangerines second Premier League victory in four games. The result put them fourth in the table, behind Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.
Eight days later, they made their second trip to the capital in a month, where they faced Chelsea
. Salomon Kalou
opened the scoring for the hosts inside two minutes, and ten minutes later Florent Malouda
doubled the lead. Didier Drogba
made it 3–0 on the half-hour, before Malouda netted his second four minutes before the break to complete the scoring.
On 25 September, Blackpool faced Blackburn Rovers
at Bloomfield Road in only their second home Premier League game of the opening six. The fixture saw Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce
's first return to the club since his sacking fourteen years earlier. Charlie Adam gave Rovers the lead with an own-goal after twenty minutes, and that is how the score remained until the 85th, when Matt Phillips equalised one minute after coming on as substitute for Neal Eardley. Brett Emerton
scored the winner for Rovers three minutes into injury time.
Eight days later, Blackpool faced Liverpool
at Anfield
for the first time in a league game since 9 January 1971. Charlie Adam put the visitors ahead with a 29th-minute penalty after Luke Varney was felled by Glen Johnson. It was Varney himself who doubled Blackpool's lead in first-half injury time. Sotirios Kyrgiakos
gave the hosts hope with a header on 53 minutes, but the Seasiders held on for their third victory in seven Premier League outings.
After another international break, Blackpool played only their third home Premier League match of the season, against Manchester City
. Carlos Tevez
put the visitors ahead after 67 minutes. Marlon Harewood, on as substitute for Elliot Grandin
, restored parity with his first goal at Bloomfield Road as a Blackpool player. Tevez put City ahead again after 79 minutes, before David Silva
extended the lead in the final minute. Gary Taylor-Fletcher pulled one back three minutes into injury time, but Roberto Mancini
's side held on for the three points.
On 23 October, Blackpool faced Birmingham City
at St Andrew's. Liam Ridgewell
put the Blues ahead after 34 minutes. A Charlie Adam error inside the visitors' six-yard box allowed Nikola Žigić
to double their lead just before the hour mark, and that is how the score remained. It was Blackpool's fourth defeat in five Premier League games.
Blackpool obtained their fourth Premier League victory on 1 November with a 2–1 result against West Bromwich Albion
at Bloomfield Road. It was their first home win of the campaign. The visitors were reduced to nine men inside half an hour. Charlie Adam, with his third League goal of the season, put Blackpool ahead from the penalty spot on twelve minutes. Luke Varney doubled the lead just after the hour mark, also his third of the campaign, before the Baggies scored what proved to be a consolation goal six minutes from time. The result moved Blackpool up to ninth in the table.
Everton were the visitors to Bloomfield Road on 6 November. Neal Eardley
gave the Tangerines the lead with a free-kick on ten minutes. It was his first goal for the Seasiders since his move from Oldham Athletic at the start of the previous season. David Moyes
' men hit back three minutes later with a header from Tim Cahill
. Blackpool re-took the lead three minutes into the second half via David Vaughan
, with his first goal of the season. The lead, once again, lasted only a few minutes. Séamus Coleman
, making his first appearance against Blackpool since he helped the club to promotion during his loan spell the previous season, stroked the ball under the body of Matthew Gilks
. It was his first League goal for the Toffees. With a point, Blackpool dropped two places to eleventh.
Four days later, Blackpool travelled to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa. Ian Holloway made ten changes to the team that faced Everton, with only Keith Southern
retaining his place. Richard Kingson
was given a debut in goal, and there was a rare start for club captain Jason Euell
. Villa opened the scoring just before the half-hour through Stewart Downing
. Marlon Harewood put Blackpool level in first-half injury time, his fourth of the Premier League campaign. Nathan Delfouneso
restored Villa's lead on the hour mark, but three minutes from time, substitute D. J. Campbell found the net for the first time in two months to level the score again. Two minutes later, however, James Collins scored what proved to be the winner. The defeat, their third in five games, saw Blackpool slip two places to fourteenth.
West Ham
were the opposition on 13 November. In front of a crowd of 31,000 at Upton Park
, the two teams held out for a goalless draw, a result that dropped Blackpool a place in the table to fifteenth. Blackpool goalkeeper Matthew Gilks
injured his patella during the match, and was replaced by Richard Kingson. Gilks subsequently missed much of the remainder of the season. After stirring-up controversy with his team selection in the previous match, Ian Holloway made eleven changes to the team that started against Aston Villa.
Seven days later, Wolves
visited the seaside. In front of the watching Prince William, Luke Varney put the Tangerines ahead with a "spectacular" long-range volley. Marlon Harewood doubled their lead just before half-time. It was Harewood's fifth League goal of the season, and made him the club's top scorer. Kevin Doyle
pulled one back for Wolves in the final minutes, but Blackpool held on for the victory. The three points moved the Seasiders up four places to eleventh.
November was closed out with a short trip to the Reebok Stadium
to face Bolton Wanderers
. Ian Evatt
opened his account for the season with a header from Elliot Grandin's 28th-minute corner. Luke Varney doubled the visitors' lead twelve minutes into the second half with his fifth League goal of the season, which made him the club's joint-top scorer with Marlon Harewood. Martin Petrov
volleyed home a reply for Wanderers on 76 minutes. With one minute to go, Mark Davies completed the hosts' comeback. The match finished 2–2, a result that lifted Blackpool two places to tenth.
After a two-week break due to their scheduled home fixture against Manchester United
being postponed due to a frozen Bloomfield Road pitch, Blackpool travelled to Stoke City
on 11 December. D. J. Campbell's third goal of the season on 48 minutes proved to be the winner. The result moved the visitors up to ninth in the table, but they dropped one place by the end of the day.
Their two subsequent home fixtures — against Tottenham Hotspur on 19 December and Liverpool seven days later — were postponed, the first due to unsafe conditions around the stadium and the second due to a frozen pitch. As a result, Blackpool slipped into the bottom half of the table.
On 28 December, after seventeen days without a game, Blackpool travelled to face Sunderland
at the Stadium of Light
, their first-ever visit to the ground and their first league fixture against Sunderland in 22 years. D. J. Campbell opened the scoring five minutes into the second half. The forward, who was once signed to Birmingham by Sunderland manager Steve Bruce
, doubled the visitors' lead in injury time with his fifth goal of the season, joining Marlon Harewood and Luke Varney at the top of the club's scoring chart. The Seasiders, who were without the suspended Charlie Adam, moved up three places to eighth with their victory, their fifth on the road.
Blackpool rang in the new year with a visit to the City of Manchester Stadium
to face Manchester City, their first return fixture of the campaign. Adam Johnson put the hosts ahead on 34 minutes with a shot from the edge of the box that deflected off Stephen Crainey
's leg. Less than a minute later, Luke Varney brought down Carlos Tevez in the area to give away a penalty; however, the Argentine put the ball wide of Richard Kingson
's right-hand post to keep the score 1–0. City held on for the remainder of the game to complete their double over the Seasiders and inflict only Blackpool's second defeat in nine matches. Blackpool dropped two places to tenth after the result.
A second-successive defeat ensued three days later when Birmingham City visited Bloomfield Road for what was Blackpool's first home game in seven weeks. Alexander Hleb put City ahead after 24 minutes. D. J. Campbell equalised 23 minutes into the second half, making himself the club's outright leading goalscorer for the campaign, before Scott Dann
scored what proved to be the winner on 89 minutes. Blackpool remained eleventh in the table despite the reversal.
At the halfway stage of their Premier League season, Blackpool had played nineteen games, of which they had won seven, drawn four and lost eight, giving them 25 points. They had gained victories over Wigan Athletic (away), Newcastle United (away), Liverpool (away), West Bromwich Albion (home), Wolves (home), Stoke City (away) and Sunderland (away). Draws had occurred against Fulham (home), Everton (home), West Ham (away) and Bolton Wanderers (away). Their defeats came at the hands of Arsenal (away), Chelsea (away), Blackburn Rovers (home), Manchester City (home and away), Birmingham City (away and home) and Aston Villa (away).
Blackpool's FA Cup campaign ended where it started after a 2–0 defeat at Southampton
on 8 January. Ian Holloway made nine changes to the team that started against Birmingham City — with only Neal Eardley and Matt Phillips retaining their places — as a weakened team was fielded for the third-round tie.
Premier League duty resumed on 12 January, with a midweek visit of Liverpool to Bloomfield Road, a rescheduled fixture after the previous month's postponement. It was returning Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish
's first League game in charge of the Anfield club. Fernando Torres
put the visitors ahead on three minutes. Gary Taylor-Fletcher, a self-confessed Liverpool fan, equalised nine minutes later. D. J. Campbell put the Seasiders ahead with a 69th-minute header, his fifth goal in five League games and seventh overall for the season, and it proved to be the game-winner. It completed Blackpool's first double over Liverpool since the 1946–47 campaign, shortly before the Reds won their fifth First Division championship, and it elevated them to ninth place in the table.
A defeat, at West Bromwich Albion, ensued on 15 January. David Vaughan opened the scoring on eleven minutes, with his second goal of the campaign. Peter Odemwingie
equalised for the Baggies eight minutes before the break. James Morrison
put the hosts ahead for the first time on 52 minutes, but Gary Taylor-Fletcher brought the Seasiders level, with his second goal in as many games, with ten minutes remaining. Odemwingie scored his second and West Brom's third with three minutes of normal time remaining, and Roberto Di Matteo
's men held on for the three points. It was the tenth time this season that Blackpool have conceded a goal in the final ten minutes of a Premier League game. Seven of these occurrences saw them drop points by doing so.
On 21 January, Dekel Keinan left Bloomfield Road for Cardiff City
after finding his chances with the Seasiders limited due to the pairing of Ian Evatt and Craig Cathcart in central defence.
The following day, Blackpool hosted Sunderland at Bloomfield Road. Kieran Richardson
scored twice in the first half, before a second-half Charlie Adam penalty, to give the Wearsiders the three points. It was Blackpool's fourth Premier League defeat in five games and saw them drop one place to eleventh.
On 25 January, Manchester United visited Bloomfield Road for the first time since 1975 for a rescheduled fixture after their December postponement. Former United player Craig Cathcart
put the Seasiders ahead with a fifteenth-minute header from a Charlie Adam corner. D. J. Campbell doubled their lead two minutes before the break with his eighth goal of the campaign. Dimitar Berbatov
, fresh off a hat-trick over Birmingham the previous weekend, pulled one back for Alex Ferguson
's side on 72 minutes. Javier Hernández levelled proceedings two minutes later, and Berbatov completed the comeback to score with two minutes of normal time remaining. Ten minutes of injury time were played, but United held on for a victory that put them five points clear at the top of the table. Blackpool, meanwhile, remained twelfth.
On 27 January 2011, the Premier League fined Blackpool £25,000 for fielding what they believed to be a weakened team against Aston Villa
on 10 November. The club had fourteen days to appeal the decision, but decided not to, for fear of being docked points.
On the same day, after suffering six defeats in seven games, Ian Holloway brought in Moroccan defender Salaheddine Sbaï
on loan from Nîmes
until the end of the season, with an option to extend the deal for another year in the summer.
Four days later, transfer-deadline day in the UK, Blackpool signed Andy Reid
from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee until the end of the season. He was joined by loan signings James Beattie
from Rangers
, Jason Puncheon
from Southampton, and Sergei Kornilenko
from Zenit St. Petersburg.
On 2 February, Blackpool hosted bottom club West Ham. Victor Obinna put Avram Grant's team ahead in the 24th minute. Robbie Keane
, who joined the Hammers on loan from Tottenham two days earlier, doubled the visitors' lead after 36 minutes. Charlie Adam pulled one back with his first goal of the season from open play, but Obinna got his second and West Ham's third just before the break. It proved to be the final goal of the game. West Ham moved off the foot of the table, while Blackpool dropped one place to thirteenth.
Three days later, Blackpool travelled to Goodison Park
to take on Everton. Louis Saha
opened the scoring after nineteen minutes. Alex Baptiste, with his second goal of the campaign, levelled matters on 37. Two minutes after the break, Saha got his and the Toffees second. Jason Puncheon, on his full debut for the Seasiders, equalised just after the hour mark. Two minutes later, Charlie Adam put Blackpool ahead for the first time with a diving header after D. J. Campbell's strike came back off the underside of the crossbar. Saha completed his hat-trick on 76 minutes to restore the balance. Jermaine Beckford
put David Moyes
's side ahead again in the 80th minute, before Saha scored his fourth and Everton's fifth to round out the scoring. Blackpool, with their fifth successive Premier League defeat and their eighth game of nine overall, dropped two places to fifteenth.
On 12 January, the Tangerines hosted Aston Villa. The visitors' Gabriel Agbonlahor
opened the scoring in the tenth minute, but Elliot Grandin, with his first goal for Blackpool, equalised matters four minutes later. Grandin, however, limped off injured six minutes before the break. The match finished 1–1, stemming Blackpool's run of defeats, but they dropped one place to sixteenth, their lowest placing of the season to date.
Ten days later, Blackpool welcomed Tottenham Hotspur, conquerors of Milan
the previous week, to the seaside for their fixture rescheduled from 19 December. Charlie Adam put the Seasiders ahead from the penalty spot on eighteen minutes after D. J. Campbell was felled in the box. It was Adam's eighth overall goal of the campaign, his sixth from the spot. Campbell himself doubled the lead just before the break, volleying in James Beattie's cross from the right, for his ninth goal of the season. Substitute Brett Ormerod
made it 3–0 ten minutes from time with his first League goal of the season. With that strike, Ormerod became the first Blackpool player to have scored in all four top divisions of English football. Roman Pavlyuchenko
pulled one back for Harry Redknapp
's men three minutes into injury time. Blackpool would have jumped five places to eleventh if they had kept the clean sheet, but instead had to settle for twelfth.
On 25 February, Marlon Harewood joined Barnsley
on loan until the end of the season in a bid to get more playing time.
The following day, Blackpool travelled to bottom club Wolves. With Charlie Adam sitting out the first of two games due to suspension, having picked up ten disciplinary points, David Vaughan captained the Seasiders. Matthew Jarvis put Wanderers ahead inside two minutes. Blackpool were reduced to ten men when D. J. Campbell was dismissed for violent conduct before half-time. Jamie O'Hara doubled Wolves' lead on 54 minutes, before a Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
double rounded out the scoring. With their defeat, Blackpool dropped two places to fourteenth.
Nine days later, Chelsea, fresh off a victory over Manchester United less than a week earlier, visited Bloomfield Road. Former England
captain John Terry
opened the scoring for the visitors with a 20th-minute header. Frank Lampard
doubled their lead with a penalty after Ian Evatt fouled Salomon Kalou in the box. Lampard got his and Chelsea's third four minutes later. Jason Puncheon pulled one back for Blackpool on 86 minutes. Richard Kingson left the field with a hamstring injury after Chelsea's second goal. He was replaced by Mark Halstead
, who became the fourth goalkeeper used by Blackpool during the campaign. With their defeat, Blackpool remained fifteenth.
On 19 March, after an eleven-day break, Blackpool travelled to Lancashire neighbours Blackburn Rovers. A first-half Charlie Adam double gave the visitors the half-time lead; however, strikes from Christopher Samba
and, in injury time, Junior Hoilett, meant the honours were shared. Blackpool remained fifteenth, with eight League games remaining.
After a two-week break, due to FA Cup and international football, Blackpool travelled to London to face Fulham. A Bobby Zamora double inside half an hour, plus a second-half strike by Dickson Etuhu, condemned Ian Holloway's men to their eighth defeat in eleven Premier League games. They had dropped two places to seventeenth — one place and one point above the relegation zone — during their break, and they remained there with this defeat.
A second-successive Sunday afternoon fixture ensued against Arsenal at Bloomfield Road, the first of four home games in a row for Blackpool. Abou Diaby opened the scoring for the Gunners on eighteen minutes. Emmanuel Eboue
doubled the visitors' lead three minutes later. Gary Taylor-Fletcher brought the Tangerines back into the game seven minutes into the second half, but Robin van Persie
sealed the points for Arsenal, who remained seven points behind leaders Manchester United. Blackpool, meanwhile, remained seventeenth.
On 16 April, Blackpool hosted Wigan Athletic. The home side conceded a goal inside three minutes, scored by Hugo Rodallega
, after a wayward free-kick and subsequent slip by Craig Cathcart. Charles N'Zogbia
doubled the lead in first-half injury time. Neal Eardley deflected in a third for the visitors, before D. J. Campbell netted a consolation, his tenth goal of the League campaign. With the defeat, Blackpool dropped into the relegation zone for the first time.
A week later, Newcastle United visited Bloomfield Road, looking to avenge their defeat at St. James' Park earlier in the season. A wreath in memory of former Blackpool player and manager Allan Brown, who died earlier in the week, was laid behind the South Stand goal. Peter Lovenkrands put Alan Pardew
's men ahead in the seventeenth minute. D. J. Campbell equalised fifteen minutes later. The match finished 1–1. With the point, the Seasiders moved out of the relegation zone, on goal difference, at the expense of Wigan Athletic, who lost 4–2 at Sunderland.
On 30 April, Blackpool took on Stoke City at Bloomfield Road. A goalless draw ensued — the first clean sheet seen at the ground this season. Blackpool remained seventeenth, after Wigan Athletic drew at Everton.
Blackpool travelled to White Hart Lane
on 7 May to face Tottenham Hotspur. The Seasiders had slipped into the relegation zone earlier in the day after Wigan Athletic drew with Aston Villa. Charlie Adam put the visitors ahead with a 76th-minute penalty, his eleventh goal of the season, less than a minute after missing from the spot. Jermain Defoe
equalised in the final minute of normal time. With the draw, Blackpool edged out of the relegation zone again, but they dropped into it again the following day, when Wolves beat West Brom.
Seven days later, Blackpool played their final home fixture of the campaign. Bolton Wanderers were the visitors, and it was they who took the lead, in the sixth minute, via Kevin Davies
. D. J. Campbell equalised three minutes later, before Jason Puncheon put the hosts ahead just inside twenty minutes. Bolton pulled level five minutes later with a strike from Matthew Taylor
. Just before the break, D. J. Campbell put Blackpool back in front with his second of the game and thirteenth of the campaign. On 63 minutes, Charlie Adam fired in his eleventh League goal for what proved to be the winner. It was a repeat scoreline of the 1953 "Matthews Final", and the late winger's first and last club, Stoke City, appeared in their first FA Cup Final
, against Manchester City, later in the day. It was Blackpool's first victory for three months; however, they remained in the relegation zone after Wolves won 3–1 at Sunderland.
On 22 May, exactly 365 days since their Wembley promotion, Blackpool travelled to Old Trafford
to face Manchester United, who were crowned champions a week earlier with their draw at Blackburn Rovers. In front of 75,000 fans, Park Ji-Sung
put the home side ahead after 21 minutes. Charlie Adam equalised with a free-kick just under twenty minutes later. It was the Scot's thirteenth goal of the campaign, in all competitions, making him the club's joint-top-scorer with D. J. Campbell. Blackpool went ahead twelve minutes into the second half, via Gary Taylor-Fletcher. United pulled level on 74 minutes, when Ian Evatt sliced the ball into his own net. Substitute Michael Owen
scored what proved to be the final goal of the game with nine minutes of normal time remaining. The result, combined with favourable results for Wolves and Wigan, meant Blackpool finished in nineteenth position and were relegated, by one point and three goals, back to The Championship. They were joined by West Ham, who were relegated the previous week, and Birmingham City.
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Players used: 29
Players used: 14
Players used: 14
League goals scored: 54 (plus one own-goal)
League Cup goals scored: 3
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
s debut season in the Premier League, after winning the 2009–10 Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
play-off Final
2010 Football League Championship play-off Final
The 2010 Football League Championship play-off Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium in London on 22 May 2010 to decide the third team to be promoted from The Championship to the Premier League for the 2010–11 season....
in what was their 100th consecutive season in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
. It was also their 28th overall season in English football
Football in England
Association football is a national sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game...
's top tier, but their first since 1971. It was Ian Holloway
Ian Holloway
Ian Scott Holloway is an English football manager and former player. He became the manager of Blackpool in May 2009. Holloway is well-known amongst football fans for his off-the-wall interviews, with a wide selection of quotes and soundbites being printed. Holloway's playing career spanned 18...
's second season as manager. The club finished 19th and were relegated back to The Championship.
Squad
The talk during the build-up to the new season was mainly centred around the club's lack of activity in the transfer market. Indeed, 81 days passed between the play-off Final and the first arrivals at Bloomfield RoadBloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is an all-seater football stadium in the English town of Blackpool, Lancashire. It has been the permanent home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901 and is named after the road on which the stadium's main entrance used to stand. The stadium has been in a process of redevelopment since 2000...
for the forthcoming season. After the release of five players, plus the sale of Ben Burgess
Ben Burgess
Benjamin Kieron "Ben" Burgess is an English-born Irish footballer who currently plays for Notts County. He has been capped twice by the Republic of Ireland at Under-21 level.-Early career:...
to Notts County and the forced retirement of Stephen McPhee
Stephen McPhee
Stephen McPhee is a Scottish former footballer. In a ten year career he has played for clubs in Scotland, England and Portugal. And has been capped for his country at under-21 level. A forward, he scored 55 goals in 249 games in all competitions.Starting his career at Coventry City, following a...
, coupled with the departure of the five loan players who finished the 2009-10 campaign at the club, Ian Holloway had just fifteen senior players at his disposal. On 11 August, however, the club replaced those five players with a quintet
Quintet
A quintet is a group containing five members.It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
of new faces. A sixth, Chris Basham
Chris Basham
Christopher Paul "Chris" Basham is an English footballer who plays for Blackpool. He can play in defence or midfield....
from Bolton Wanderers, followed two days later. On 13 August, the eve of the new term, Blackpool had a first-team squad of 26; however, the advent of a new Premier League rule meant that, between 1 September and 1 January, the maximum number of players a club could pick from for Premier League games was 25. Eight of these must have been home-grown players. According to the Premier League: "A home-grown player means a player who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the Season during which he turns 21)." Additionally, the club may have selected as many under-21 players as they wanted during the campaign who were not in the locked-in squad. On 1 February, clubs named another 25-man squad to see them through to the end of the Premier League season.
On 18 August, Israeli international centre back Dekel Keinan
Dekel Keinan
Dekel Keinan is an Israeli footballer who plays as a central defender for Crystal Palace on loan from Cardiff City.Keinan was previously at Maccabi Haifa and has spent time on loan at Bnei Sakhnin and Maccabi Netanya. He has played for Israel at under-19, under-21 and full levels.-Maccabi...
was finally able to complete a deal that was set up earlier in the close season, after receiving his work permit. He arrived on a free transfer. He left the club in the January transfer window, however, for Cardiff City.
Several players, including Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Jason Euell and Charlie Adam, kept the squad number assigned to them for the 2009-10 season despite their number not falling inside the traditional 1 to 11. Paul Rachubka retained the number 1 shirt despite being second choice to Matthew Gilks the previous campaign and the start of the new one.
On 1 September, the club submitted their squad (of 24, not the maximum 25) to the Premier League. It was:
Source
Seventeen of the squad were home-grown (HG), while seven players that were not listed were still eligible due to their being under the age of 21 on 1 January 2010. They were: Louis Almond
Louis Almond
Louis James Almond is an English professional football player. He plays as a forward for Barrow AFC on loan from Blackpool.-Career:...
, Thomas Barkhuizen
Thomas Barkhuizen
Thomas John Barkhuizen is an English footballer who plays for Hereford United as a forward on loan from Blackpool.-Career:Born in Blackpool, Barkhuizen played junior football on the Fylde coast with Blackpool Rangers....
, Craig Cathcart
Craig Cathcart
Craig George Cathcart is a Northern Irish footballer who plays as a centre back for Blackpool and the Northern Ireland national team...
, Ashley Eastham
Ashley Eastham
Ashley Thomas J. Eastham is an English professional football player. He plays as a defender for Blackpool. His main position is centre-back.-Early career at Blackpool; Loan move to Hyde United:...
, Mark Halstead
Mark Halstead
Mark James Halstead is an English footballer who plays for Stockport County on loan from Blackpool as a goalkeeper.-Blackpool:...
, Stephen Husband
Stephen Husband
Stephen Husband is a Scottish footballer who plays in England for Blackpool.-Early career in Scotland:Kelty-born Husband began his career at Scottish Second Division side Cowdenbeath, where he was at their Youth Academy where he played centre midfield...
and Matt Phillips
Matt Phillips
Matthew "Matt" Phillips is an English professional footballer who plays for Blackpool.Phillips is a winger and previously played for Wycombe Wanderers...
.
The injured duo of Billy Clarke and Paul Rachubka
Paul Rachubka
Paul Stephen Rachubka is an American-English professional Association football goalkeeper who plays for Leeds United after joining the club from Blackpool ....
were not selected in the 24-man squad and were over the age of 21 and, thus, were ineligible to appear in the Premier League until at least January.
Rachubka was added to the squad in January, having recovered several weeks earlier from his injury. The squad could be changed throughout January, providing the club give the Premier League 24 hours notice when doing so.
Also in January, sixteen youth-team players were added to the first-team squad. They were Matthew Challoner, Adam Dodd, Ryan Gratton, Kingsley Francis-Reynolds, Pa Modou Jobe, Christopher Kettings, Joseph MacDonald, Jamie Menagh, Adam Mitter, Dillan O'Connor, Josh Roberts, Elliott Tarney, Garen Tchobanian, Curtis Thompson, Liam Tomsett
Liam Tomsett
Liam Richard Tomsett is an English footballer who plays for Blackpool as a midfielder.-Blackpool:In May 2009, Tomsett signed on as a first year scholar with Blackpool's youth department...
and Biko Younda. They joined Louis Almond, Thomas Barkhuizen, Craig Cathcart, Ashley Eastham, Mark Halstead, Stephen Husband and Matt Phillips as the under-21 options.
A 25-man squad, which was in place until the end of the season, was named at the beginning of February. The changes from the September squad were the additions of recent signing Salaheddine Sbaï
Salaheddine Sbai
Salaheddine Sbaï is a Moroccan footballer who currently is a free agent.-Club career:Sbaï began his career for the youth side at Charleroi and was loaned out for the 2004/2005 season to Ronse...
and transfer-deadline day arrivals Andy Reid
Andy Reid (footballer)
Andrew Matthew "Andy" Reid is an Irish footballer who currently plays for Nottingham Forest in the Football League Championship. He plays as a midfielder and has also represented the Republic of Ireland.-Personal life:...
, James Beattie
James Beattie (footballer)
James Scott Beattie is an English footballer who currently plays for Sheffield United as a striker.Born in Lancaster, Lancashire he came through the ranks at Blackburn Rovers eventually signing professionally for them in 1995...
, Jason Puncheon
Jason Puncheon
Jason David Ian Puncheon is an English professional footballer who is currently contracted to Queens Park Rangers. He is able to play on the left or right wing and sometimes plays just behind the striker...
and Sergei Kornilenko
Sergei Kornilenko
Sergei Aleksandrovich Kornilenko is a Belarusian professional footballer who plays for FC Krylia Sovetov Samara.- Career :Vitebsk-born Kornilenko began his career in his native Belarus as a trainee with FC Dinamo Minsk before joining his hometown club...
. Meanwhile, Dekel Keinan joined Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
on 21 January. Omitted were Danny Coid, Ishmel Demontagnac, Jason Euell and Malaury Martin. As in the original squad list, Billy Clarke also did not feature. There were eighteen home-grown players in the 25-man squad.
Source
At the end of the campaign, nine players were released. These were goalkeepers Paul Rachubka and Richard Kingson, defenders Danny Coid, Rob Edwards and David Carney, midfielders Malaury Martin, Ishmel Demontagnac and Jason Euell, and forward Marlon Harewood. On-loan Salaheddine Sbaï was not taken on permanently, while Andy Reid's season-long deal was not extended. Meanwhile, twelve-month options were activated on seven players: defenders Neal Eardley and Ian Evatt, midfielders Charlie Adam, Keith Southern and Gary Taylor-Fletcher, and forwards Billy Clarke and Louis Almond. Six players were offered new contracts. These were goalkeepers Matt Gilks and Mark Halstead, defenders Stephen Crainey and Ashley Eastham, midfielder David Vaughan, and forward Brett Ormerod. Ormerod accepted a one-year contract, but Vaughan turned down his offer, stating that he wanted to continue playing in the Premier League.
Pre-season
In July, Blackpool partook in the pre-season South West Challenge Cup, in DevonDevon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, and won the competition.
Season proper
Following an opening-day 4–0 win over Wigan AthleticWigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
at the DW Stadium on 14 August, a result that briefly put them top of the entire English football pyramid for the first time since the opening day of the 1957–58 season, Blackpool earned the League Managers Association
League Managers Association
The League Managers Association is the organisation which collectively represents all Premiership and Football League managers in English football...
's "Performance of the Week Award".
Seven days later, they suffered their first defeat, 6–0 at Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
. Theo Walcott
Theo Walcott
Theo James Walcott is an English footballer of Jamaican descent who plays for Arsenal and the England national team. Walcott is a product of the Southampton F.C. Academy. He is a striker who is usually deployed on the right wing as a wide forward to exploit his speed...
opened the scoring on twelve minutes. Just after the half-hour mark, Ian Evatt
Ian Evatt
Ian Ross Evatt is an English footballer who currently plays for Blackpool.He began his professional career in 1999 at Derby County and has also played for Northampton Town , Chesterfield and Queens Park Rangers.-Early life:...
brought down Marouane Chamakh
Marouane Chamakh
Marouane Chamakh is a French-Moroccan footballer who plays for English club Arsenal in the Premier League and the Moroccan national team as a striker. He is described as a prototypical target man and is noted for his "tall stature" and "excellent heading ability".Chamakh started his career...
inches outside the penalty area, but the referee, Mike Jones, awarded a penalty and dismissed the Blackpool defender. Andrei Arshavin doubled the Gunners lead from the spot. Walcott netted his second of the half to make it 3–0 at the break. Abou Diaby
Abou Diaby
Vassiriki Abou Diaby , commonly known as Abou Diaby, is a French footballer who plays for English club Arsenal in the Premier League and the France national team...
made it 4–0 four minutes after the restart, and Walcott completed his hat-trick inside an hour. Chamakh completed the scoring with seven minutes remaining. The result saw Blackpool drop to tenth place in the table.
On 24 August, Blackpool were knocked out of the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
in the second round by MK Dons.
Three days later, Luke Varney
Luke Varney
Luke Ivan Varney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Portsmouth. He started his career with non-league Quorn, a club in his home county of Leicestershire, before moving to league football with Crewe Alexandra...
joined Blackpool on a season-long loan from Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
, with a view to a permanent deal. Varney scored on his debut in the following day's fixture: a 2–2 draw with Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
at Bloomfield Road, in what was the first-ever Premier League game played at the ground.
As the first transfer window of the season came to a close, four players were added to the squad. On deadline day itself, Matt Phillips
Matt Phillips
Matthew "Matt" Phillips is an English professional footballer who plays for Blackpool.Phillips is a winger and previously played for Wycombe Wanderers...
arrived from Wycombe Wanderers for a £325,000 fee. The same day, the club tied-up the deal that had been hinted at since the end of the previous campaign. D. J. Campbell, whose hat-trick in the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Nottingham Forest helped put Blackpool in the final, was signed on a permanent basis after his two loan spells during the 2009–10 campaign. On 1 September, the Seasiders also finalised deals with Australian midfielder David Carney
David Carney
David Raymond Carney is an Australian football player who plays left winger for Spanish club AD Alcorcón and as a left-back or left winger for the Australian national team.- Junior career :...
and Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Kingson
Richard Kingson
Richard Paul Franck Kingson is a Ghanaian professional football goalkeeper, who is currently a free agent. He is also known as Faruk Gürsoy and is frequently misnamed Kingston due to "irregularity on his identity documents"...
, giving Ian Holloway thirty available players to work with until January.
After a two-week international break, Blackpool returned to Premier League duty on 11 September with a visit to Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
. A penalty from Charlie Adam just before half-time was the difference until D. J. Campbell, with his first goal as a permanent Blackpool player, scored in injury time to seal the Tangerines second Premier League victory in four games. The result put them fourth in the table, behind Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.
Eight days later, they made their second trip to the capital in a month, where they faced Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
. Salomon Kalou
Salomon Kalou
Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a striker for Chelsea in the Premier League.He is often used on the wings at Chelsea. He has a preference for playing on the left wing as this gives him opportunities to cut inside and take shots with his favoured right foot...
opened the scoring for the hosts inside two minutes, and ten minutes later Florent Malouda
Florent Malouda
Florent Johan Malouda is a French footballer who plays as a left winger for Chelsea and the French national team.-Châteauroux:A street footballer in his teen years, Malouda gradually developed into an interesting, new football talent, able to penetrate defenses with his technical skills and...
doubled the lead. Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he is deputy vice-captain, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team...
made it 3–0 on the half-hour, before Malouda netted his second four minutes before the break to complete the scoring.
On 25 September, Blackpool faced Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
at Bloomfield Road in only their second home Premier League game of the opening six. The fixture saw Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce
Sam Allardyce
Samuel "Sam" Allardyce , nicknamed "Big Sam", is an English football manager and former professional player. In June 2011 he was appointed as manager of West Ham United....
's first return to the club since his sacking fourteen years earlier. Charlie Adam gave Rovers the lead with an own-goal after twenty minutes, and that is how the score remained until the 85th, when Matt Phillips equalised one minute after coming on as substitute for Neal Eardley. Brett Emerton
Brett Emerton
Brett Michael Emerton is an Australian football player who plays for Sydney FC and the Australia national team...
scored the winner for Rovers three minutes into injury time.
Eight days later, Blackpool faced Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
at Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...
for the first time in a league game since 9 January 1971. Charlie Adam put the visitors ahead with a 29th-minute penalty after Luke Varney was felled by Glen Johnson. It was Varney himself who doubled Blackpool's lead in first-half injury time. Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Sotirios Kyrgiakos is a Greek international footballer who plays for Wolfsburg as a centre back. He is known for his powerful heading.-Panathinaikos:...
gave the hosts hope with a header on 53 minutes, but the Seasiders held on for their third victory in seven Premier League outings.
After another international break, Blackpool played only their third home Premier League match of the season, against Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
. Carlos Tevez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
put the visitors ahead after 67 minutes. Marlon Harewood, on as substitute for Elliot Grandin
Elliot Grandin
Elliot Grandin is a French footballer of Congolese origin who plays for Blackpool.A winger, Grandin can also play as a central attacking midfielder...
, restored parity with his first goal at Bloomfield Road as a Blackpool player. Tevez put City ahead again after 79 minutes, before David Silva
David Silva
David Josué Jiménez Silva is a Spanish footballer who plays for Manchester City and the Spanish national team. Silva is capable of playing on the wing, as a traditional number 10 and sometimes as a supporting striker...
extended the lead in the final minute. Gary Taylor-Fletcher pulled one back three minutes into injury time, but Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped them win the Serie A league title, four Coppa...
's side held on for the three points.
On 23 October, Blackpool faced Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
at St Andrew's. Liam Ridgewell
Liam Ridgewell
Liam Matthew Ridgewell is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Birmingham City. He is primarily a centre half but can also play at left back. Previously a player for Birmingham's arch-rivals Aston Villa, Ridgewell also spent a spell on loan at A.F.C. Bournemouth in 2002.-Early...
put the Blues ahead after 34 minutes. A Charlie Adam error inside the visitors' six-yard box allowed Nikola Žigić
Nikola Žigic
Nikola Žigić is a Serbian footballer who plays for English club Birmingham City as a centre forward.At , Žigić is among the tallest professional players in the world...
to double their lead just before the hour mark, and that is how the score remained. It was Blackpool's fourth defeat in five Premier League games.
Blackpool obtained their fourth Premier League victory on 1 November with a 2–1 result against West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
at Bloomfield Road. It was their first home win of the campaign. The visitors were reduced to nine men inside half an hour. Charlie Adam, with his third League goal of the season, put Blackpool ahead from the penalty spot on twelve minutes. Luke Varney doubled the lead just after the hour mark, also his third of the campaign, before the Baggies scored what proved to be a consolation goal six minutes from time. The result moved Blackpool up to ninth in the table.
Everton were the visitors to Bloomfield Road on 6 November. Neal Eardley
Neal Eardley
Neal James Eardley is a Welsh international footballer who plays for Blackpool. His predominant position is as a right back...
gave the Tangerines the lead with a free-kick on ten minutes. It was his first goal for the Seasiders since his move from Oldham Athletic at the start of the previous season. David Moyes
David Moyes
David William Moyes is an association football manager and former player, currently managing English Premier League club Everton. He was the 2003, 2005 and 2009 League Managers Association Manager of the Year...
' men hit back three minutes later with a header from Tim Cahill
Tim Cahill
Timothy Filiga "Tim" Cahill is an football player of Australian nationality who plays for Everton and the Australian national football team...
. Blackpool re-took the lead three minutes into the second half via David Vaughan
David Vaughan (footballer)
David Owen Vaughan is a Welsh footballer who plays for Sunderland. He plays as a midfielder.Vaughan previously played for Crewe Alexandra, where he spent seven years between 2000 and 2007...
, with his first goal of the season. The lead, once again, lasted only a few minutes. Séamus Coleman
Séamus Coleman
Séamus Coleman is an Irish footballer who plays for Everton and the Republic of Ireland.- Sligo Rovers :Originally a Gaelic footballer, Coleman was spotted by Sligo Rovers when he lined up for his hometown association football side, St. Catherine’s of Killybegs, in a friendly match against Sligo...
, making his first appearance against Blackpool since he helped the club to promotion during his loan spell the previous season, stroked the ball under the body of Matthew Gilks
Matthew Gilks
Matthew "Matt" Gilks is a football goalkeeper who plays for Blackpool. He previously played for Rochdale for seven years before moving to Norwich City in 2007. He stayed one season with the Canaries without making a first-team appearance...
. It was his first League goal for the Toffees. With a point, Blackpool dropped two places to eleventh.
Four days later, Blackpool travelled to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa. Ian Holloway made ten changes to the team that faced Everton, with only Keith Southern
Keith Southern
Keith William Southern is an English professional footballer who plays for Blackpool. He is a central midfielder and is the longest-serving player currently at Bloomfield Road.-Early career: Everton and loan move to Blackpool:...
retaining his place. Richard Kingson
Richard Kingson
Richard Paul Franck Kingson is a Ghanaian professional football goalkeeper, who is currently a free agent. He is also known as Faruk Gürsoy and is frequently misnamed Kingston due to "irregularity on his identity documents"...
was given a debut in goal, and there was a rare start for club captain Jason Euell
Jason Euell
Jason Joseph Euell is a Jamaican-English football player who plays for Charlton Athletic. He can play as either a forward or a midfielder...
. Villa opened the scoring just before the half-hour through Stewart Downing
Stewart Downing
Stewart Downing is an English footballer who plays for Liverpool and the England national team. Primarily a winger, Downing has previously played for Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Sunderland.-Middlesbrough:...
. Marlon Harewood put Blackpool level in first-half injury time, his fourth of the Premier League campaign. Nathan Delfouneso
Nathan Delfouneso
Nathan Abayomi Delfouneso is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Aston Villa. His natural playing position is as a striker, however he has been used as a winger throughout his career...
restored Villa's lead on the hour mark, but three minutes from time, substitute D. J. Campbell found the net for the first time in two months to level the score again. Two minutes later, however, James Collins scored what proved to be the winner. The defeat, their third in five games, saw Blackpool slip two places to fourteenth.
West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
were the opposition on 13 November. In front of a crowd of 31,000 at Upton Park
Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...
, the two teams held out for a goalless draw, a result that dropped Blackpool a place in the table to fifteenth. Blackpool goalkeeper Matthew Gilks
Matthew Gilks
Matthew "Matt" Gilks is a football goalkeeper who plays for Blackpool. He previously played for Rochdale for seven years before moving to Norwich City in 2007. He stayed one season with the Canaries without making a first-team appearance...
injured his patella during the match, and was replaced by Richard Kingson. Gilks subsequently missed much of the remainder of the season. After stirring-up controversy with his team selection in the previous match, Ian Holloway made eleven changes to the team that started against Aston Villa.
Seven days later, Wolves
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
visited the seaside. In front of the watching Prince William, Luke Varney put the Tangerines ahead with a "spectacular" long-range volley. Marlon Harewood doubled their lead just before half-time. It was Harewood's fifth League goal of the season, and made him the club's top scorer. Kevin Doyle
Kevin Doyle
Kevin Edward Doyle is an Irish international footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
pulled one back for Wolves in the final minutes, but Blackpool held on for the victory. The three points moved the Seasiders up four places to eleventh.
November was closed out with a short trip to the Reebok Stadium
Reebok Stadium
The Reebok Stadium is the home stadium of English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is commonly known as 'The Reebok'...
to face Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
. Ian Evatt
Ian Evatt
Ian Ross Evatt is an English footballer who currently plays for Blackpool.He began his professional career in 1999 at Derby County and has also played for Northampton Town , Chesterfield and Queens Park Rangers.-Early life:...
opened his account for the season with a header from Elliot Grandin's 28th-minute corner. Luke Varney doubled the visitors' lead twelve minutes into the second half with his fifth League goal of the season, which made him the club's joint-top scorer with Marlon Harewood. Martin Petrov
Martin Petrov
Martin Petyov Petrov is a Bulgarian footballer, currently playing for Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League.-Club career:Petrov began his career for Botev Vratsa...
volleyed home a reply for Wanderers on 76 minutes. With one minute to go, Mark Davies completed the hosts' comeback. The match finished 2–2, a result that lifted Blackpool two places to tenth.
After a two-week break due to their scheduled home fixture against Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
being postponed due to a frozen Bloomfield Road pitch, Blackpool travelled to Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
on 11 December. D. J. Campbell's third goal of the season on 48 minutes proved to be the winner. The result moved the visitors up to ninth in the table, but they dropped one place by the end of the day.
Their two subsequent home fixtures — against Tottenham Hotspur on 19 December and Liverpool seven days later — were postponed, the first due to unsafe conditions around the stadium and the second due to a frozen pitch. As a result, Blackpool slipped into the bottom half of the table.
On 28 December, after seventeen days without a game, Blackpool travelled to face Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
at the Stadium of Light
Stadium of Light
The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light has the fifth-largest capacity of any English football stadium. The stadium primarily hosts Sunderland A.F.C. matches...
, their first-ever visit to the ground and their first league fixture against Sunderland in 22 years. D. J. Campbell opened the scoring five minutes into the second half. The forward, who was once signed to Birmingham by Sunderland manager Steve Bruce
Steve Bruce
Stephen Roger "Steve" Bruce is an English football manager and former player. Born in Corbridge, Northumberland, he was a promising schoolboy footballer but was rejected by a number of professional clubs. He was on the verge of quitting the game altogether when he was offered a trial with Gillingham...
, doubled the visitors' lead in injury time with his fifth goal of the season, joining Marlon Harewood and Luke Varney at the top of the club's scoring chart. The Seasiders, who were without the suspended Charlie Adam, moved up three places to eighth with their victory, their fifth on the road.
Blackpool rang in the new year with a visit to the City of Manchester Stadium
City of Manchester Stadium
The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England – also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship purposes– is the home ground of...
to face Manchester City, their first return fixture of the campaign. Adam Johnson put the hosts ahead on 34 minutes with a shot from the edge of the box that deflected off Stephen Crainey
Stephen Crainey
Stephen Daniel Crainey is a Scottish footballer who plays as a left back for Blackpool and the Scottish national team. He has also represented Scotland at under-21 level.-Celtic and Southampton:...
's leg. Less than a minute later, Luke Varney brought down Carlos Tevez in the area to give away a penalty; however, the Argentine put the ball wide of Richard Kingson
Richard Kingson
Richard Paul Franck Kingson is a Ghanaian professional football goalkeeper, who is currently a free agent. He is also known as Faruk Gürsoy and is frequently misnamed Kingston due to "irregularity on his identity documents"...
's right-hand post to keep the score 1–0. City held on for the remainder of the game to complete their double over the Seasiders and inflict only Blackpool's second defeat in nine matches. Blackpool dropped two places to tenth after the result.
A second-successive defeat ensued three days later when Birmingham City visited Bloomfield Road for what was Blackpool's first home game in seven weeks. Alexander Hleb put City ahead after 24 minutes. D. J. Campbell equalised 23 minutes into the second half, making himself the club's outright leading goalscorer for the campaign, before Scott Dann
Scott Dann
Scott Dann is an English footballer who plays for Premier League club Blackburn Rovers as a centre back. He began his Football League career with Walsall, before moving on to Coventry City and then to Birmingham City in 2009...
scored what proved to be the winner on 89 minutes. Blackpool remained eleventh in the table despite the reversal.
At the halfway stage of their Premier League season, Blackpool had played nineteen games, of which they had won seven, drawn four and lost eight, giving them 25 points. They had gained victories over Wigan Athletic (away), Newcastle United (away), Liverpool (away), West Bromwich Albion (home), Wolves (home), Stoke City (away) and Sunderland (away). Draws had occurred against Fulham (home), Everton (home), West Ham (away) and Bolton Wanderers (away). Their defeats came at the hands of Arsenal (away), Chelsea (away), Blackburn Rovers (home), Manchester City (home and away), Birmingham City (away and home) and Aston Villa (away).
Blackpool's FA Cup campaign ended where it started after a 2–0 defeat at Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
on 8 January. Ian Holloway made nine changes to the team that started against Birmingham City — with only Neal Eardley and Matt Phillips retaining their places — as a weakened team was fielded for the third-round tie.
Premier League duty resumed on 12 January, with a midweek visit of Liverpool to Bloomfield Road, a rescheduled fixture after the previous month's postponement. It was returning Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish
Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...
's first League game in charge of the Anfield club. Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz , nicknamed , is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker....
put the visitors ahead on three minutes. Gary Taylor-Fletcher, a self-confessed Liverpool fan, equalised nine minutes later. D. J. Campbell put the Seasiders ahead with a 69th-minute header, his fifth goal in five League games and seventh overall for the season, and it proved to be the game-winner. It completed Blackpool's first double over Liverpool since the 1946–47 campaign, shortly before the Reds won their fifth First Division championship, and it elevated them to ninth place in the table.
A defeat, at West Bromwich Albion, ensued on 15 January. David Vaughan opened the scoring on eleven minutes, with his second goal of the campaign. Peter Odemwingie
Peter Odemwingie
Peter Osaze Odemwingie is a footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Premier League side West Bromwich Albion. His name, Osaze, means "God chooses "....
equalised for the Baggies eight minutes before the break. James Morrison
James Morrison (footballer)
James Clark Morrison is a Scottish international footballer who currently plays for West Bromwich Albion. His ability to run with the ball at pace makes him an effective option through the middle, as an attacking midfielder, or more often as a right winger...
put the hosts ahead for the first time on 52 minutes, but Gary Taylor-Fletcher brought the Seasiders level, with his second goal in as many games, with ten minutes remaining. Odemwingie scored his second and West Brom's third with three minutes of normal time remaining, and Roberto Di Matteo
Roberto Di Matteo
Roberto Di Matteo is a Swiss-born Italian former professional footballer and the current assistant manager of Chelsea. As a midfielder, he enjoyed spells at Schaffhausen, Zürich Aarau, Lazio, and Chelsea. He was capped by Italy 34 times, scoring two goals for the Italian national team, and played...
's men held on for the three points. It was the tenth time this season that Blackpool have conceded a goal in the final ten minutes of a Premier League game. Seven of these occurrences saw them drop points by doing so.
On 21 January, Dekel Keinan left Bloomfield Road for Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
after finding his chances with the Seasiders limited due to the pairing of Ian Evatt and Craig Cathcart in central defence.
The following day, Blackpool hosted Sunderland at Bloomfield Road. Kieran Richardson
Kieran Richardson
Kieran Edward Richardson is an English footballer currently playing for Sunderland. He is naturally a left winger, but has proven to a extremely versatile; having also played as a left back, right winger, central midfielder and recently as a support striker...
scored twice in the first half, before a second-half Charlie Adam penalty, to give the Wearsiders the three points. It was Blackpool's fourth Premier League defeat in five games and saw them drop one place to eleventh.
On 25 January, Manchester United visited Bloomfield Road for the first time since 1975 for a rescheduled fixture after their December postponement. Former United player Craig Cathcart
Craig Cathcart
Craig George Cathcart is a Northern Irish footballer who plays as a centre back for Blackpool and the Northern Ireland national team...
put the Seasiders ahead with a fifteenth-minute header from a Charlie Adam corner. D. J. Campbell doubled their lead two minutes before the break with his eighth goal of the campaign. Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a forward for Manchester United. He captained the Bulgarian national team from 2006 to 2010, and is its all-time leading goalscorer and has also won the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year a record seven times, surpassing the number of...
, fresh off a hat-trick over Birmingham the previous weekend, pulled one back for Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
's side on 72 minutes. Javier Hernández levelled proceedings two minutes later, and Berbatov completed the comeback to score with two minutes of normal time remaining. Ten minutes of injury time were played, but United held on for a victory that put them five points clear at the top of the table. Blackpool, meanwhile, remained twelfth.
On 27 January 2011, the Premier League fined Blackpool £25,000 for fielding what they believed to be a weakened team against Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
on 10 November. The club had fourteen days to appeal the decision, but decided not to, for fear of being docked points.
On the same day, after suffering six defeats in seven games, Ian Holloway brought in Moroccan defender Salaheddine Sbaï
Salaheddine Sbai
Salaheddine Sbaï is a Moroccan footballer who currently is a free agent.-Club career:Sbaï began his career for the youth side at Charleroi and was loaned out for the 2004/2005 season to Ronse...
on loan from Nîmes
Nîmes Olympique
Nîmes Olympique is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was formed on 10 April 1937 and currently play in Championnat National, the third level of French football. The club's only achievement was winning Ligue 2 in 1950 and the Championnat National in 1997...
until the end of the season, with an option to extend the deal for another year in the summer.
Four days later, transfer-deadline day in the UK, Blackpool signed Andy Reid
Andy Reid (footballer)
Andrew Matthew "Andy" Reid is an Irish footballer who currently plays for Nottingham Forest in the Football League Championship. He plays as a midfielder and has also represented the Republic of Ireland.-Personal life:...
from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee until the end of the season. He was joined by loan signings James Beattie
James Beattie (footballer)
James Scott Beattie is an English footballer who currently plays for Sheffield United as a striker.Born in Lancaster, Lancashire he came through the ranks at Blackburn Rovers eventually signing professionally for them in 1995...
from Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
, Jason Puncheon
Jason Puncheon
Jason David Ian Puncheon is an English professional footballer who is currently contracted to Queens Park Rangers. He is able to play on the left or right wing and sometimes plays just behind the striker...
from Southampton, and Sergei Kornilenko
Sergei Kornilenko
Sergei Aleksandrovich Kornilenko is a Belarusian professional footballer who plays for FC Krylia Sovetov Samara.- Career :Vitebsk-born Kornilenko began his career in his native Belarus as a trainee with FC Dinamo Minsk before joining his hometown club...
from Zenit St. Petersburg.
On 2 February, Blackpool hosted bottom club West Ham. Victor Obinna put Avram Grant's team ahead in the 24th minute. Robbie Keane
Robbie Keane
Robert David "Robbie" Keane is an Irish association football player who plays as a striker for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer and captains the Irish national football team....
, who joined the Hammers on loan from Tottenham two days earlier, doubled the visitors' lead after 36 minutes. Charlie Adam pulled one back with his first goal of the season from open play, but Obinna got his second and West Ham's third just before the break. It proved to be the final goal of the game. West Ham moved off the foot of the table, while Blackpool dropped one place to thirteenth.
Three days later, Blackpool travelled to Goodison Park
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium located in Walton, Liverpool, England. The stadium has been home to Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892 and is one of the world's first purpose-built football grounds...
to take on Everton. Louis Saha
Louis Saha
Louis Laurent Saha is a French footballer of Guadelupian origin who currently plays as a forward for Everton FC in the Premier League and the France national team. A former scholar at the Clairefontaine football academy, he started his career at Metz before playing on loan at Newcastle United...
opened the scoring after nineteen minutes. Alex Baptiste, with his second goal of the campaign, levelled matters on 37. Two minutes after the break, Saha got his and the Toffees second. Jason Puncheon, on his full debut for the Seasiders, equalised just after the hour mark. Two minutes later, Charlie Adam put Blackpool ahead for the first time with a diving header after D. J. Campbell's strike came back off the underside of the crossbar. Saha completed his hat-trick on 76 minutes to restore the balance. Jermaine Beckford
Jermaine Beckford
Jermaine Paul Alexander Beckford is an English footballer who plays for Leicester City as a striker. He started his career as a trainee at Chelsea...
put David Moyes
David Moyes
David William Moyes is an association football manager and former player, currently managing English Premier League club Everton. He was the 2003, 2005 and 2009 League Managers Association Manager of the Year...
's side ahead again in the 80th minute, before Saha scored his fourth and Everton's fifth to round out the scoring. Blackpool, with their fifth successive Premier League defeat and their eighth game of nine overall, dropped two places to fifteenth.
On 12 January, the Tangerines hosted Aston Villa. The visitors' Gabriel Agbonlahor
Gabriel Agbonlahor
Gabriel Imuetinyan "Gabby" Agbonlahor is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Aston Villa. Agbonlahor is a product of Aston Villa's Academy and has earned three caps for the English national team. He is currently the longest-serving player at Villa Park, joining as a youth player in...
opened the scoring in the tenth minute, but Elliot Grandin, with his first goal for Blackpool, equalised matters four minutes later. Grandin, however, limped off injured six minutes before the break. The match finished 1–1, stemming Blackpool's run of defeats, but they dropped one place to sixteenth, their lowest placing of the season to date.
Ten days later, Blackpool welcomed Tottenham Hotspur, conquerors of Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
the previous week, to the seaside for their fixture rescheduled from 19 December. Charlie Adam put the Seasiders ahead from the penalty spot on eighteen minutes after D. J. Campbell was felled in the box. It was Adam's eighth overall goal of the campaign, his sixth from the spot. Campbell himself doubled the lead just before the break, volleying in James Beattie's cross from the right, for his ninth goal of the season. Substitute Brett Ormerod
Brett Ormerod
Brett Ryan Ormerod is an English professional football player who plays as a forward for Blackpool. He is the only player to have scored in all four divisions for the club.-Early career: Accrington Stanley and Blackpool:...
made it 3–0 ten minutes from time with his first League goal of the season. With that strike, Ormerod became the first Blackpool player to have scored in all four top divisions of English football. Roman Pavlyuchenko
Roman Pavlyuchenko
Roman Anatolyevich Pavlyuchenko is an footballer who currently plays as a centre forward for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and for the Russian national team.-Spartak Moscow:...
pulled one back for Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp
Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....
's men three minutes into injury time. Blackpool would have jumped five places to eleventh if they had kept the clean sheet, but instead had to settle for twelfth.
On 25 February, Marlon Harewood joined Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
on loan until the end of the season in a bid to get more playing time.
The following day, Blackpool travelled to bottom club Wolves. With Charlie Adam sitting out the first of two games due to suspension, having picked up ten disciplinary points, David Vaughan captained the Seasiders. Matthew Jarvis put Wanderers ahead inside two minutes. Blackpool were reduced to ten men when D. J. Campbell was dismissed for violent conduct before half-time. Jamie O'Hara doubled Wolves' lead on 54 minutes, before a Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Sylvan Agustus Ebanks-Blake is an English footballer of Jamaican descent who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
double rounded out the scoring. With their defeat, Blackpool dropped two places to fourteenth.
Nine days later, Chelsea, fresh off a victory over Manchester United less than a week earlier, visited Bloomfield Road. Former England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
captain John Terry
John Terry
John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...
opened the scoring for the visitors with a 20th-minute header. Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side...
doubled their lead with a penalty after Ian Evatt fouled Salomon Kalou in the box. Lampard got his and Chelsea's third four minutes later. Jason Puncheon pulled one back for Blackpool on 86 minutes. Richard Kingson left the field with a hamstring injury after Chelsea's second goal. He was replaced by Mark Halstead
Mark Halstead
Mark James Halstead is an English footballer who plays for Stockport County on loan from Blackpool as a goalkeeper.-Blackpool:...
, who became the fourth goalkeeper used by Blackpool during the campaign. With their defeat, Blackpool remained fifteenth.
On 19 March, after an eleven-day break, Blackpool travelled to Lancashire neighbours Blackburn Rovers. A first-half Charlie Adam double gave the visitors the half-time lead; however, strikes from Christopher Samba
Christopher Samba
Veijeany Christopher Samba , more commonly known as Christopher Samba, is a Congolese footballer who plays as a defender for Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League.-Sedan:...
and, in injury time, Junior Hoilett, meant the honours were shared. Blackpool remained fifteenth, with eight League games remaining.
After a two-week break, due to FA Cup and international football, Blackpool travelled to London to face Fulham. A Bobby Zamora double inside half an hour, plus a second-half strike by Dickson Etuhu, condemned Ian Holloway's men to their eighth defeat in eleven Premier League games. They had dropped two places to seventeenth — one place and one point above the relegation zone — during their break, and they remained there with this defeat.
A second-successive Sunday afternoon fixture ensued against Arsenal at Bloomfield Road, the first of four home games in a row for Blackpool. Abou Diaby opened the scoring for the Gunners on eighteen minutes. Emmanuel Eboue
Emmanuel Eboué
Emmanuel Eboué is an Ivorian footballer who plays for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and Ivory Coast. His natural position is at right back, but he is also used in various other positions. Eboué also holds a Belgian passport.-Early career:...
doubled the visitors' lead three minutes later. Gary Taylor-Fletcher brought the Tangerines back into the game seven minutes into the second half, but Robin van Persie
Robin van Persie
Robin van Persie is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Arsenal and the Dutch national team. He is a youth product of Feyenoord. Having joined Arsenal in 2004, Van Persie became the club captain on 16 August 2011...
sealed the points for Arsenal, who remained seven points behind leaders Manchester United. Blackpool, meanwhile, remained seventeenth.
On 16 April, Blackpool hosted Wigan Athletic. The home side conceded a goal inside three minutes, scored by Hugo Rodallega
Hugo Rodallega
Hugo Rodallega Martínez is a Colombian footballer who plays for English Premier League club Wigan Athletic. He primarily plays as a striker, but can also play on the wing....
, after a wayward free-kick and subsequent slip by Craig Cathcart. Charles N'Zogbia
Charles N'Zogbia
Charles N'Zogbia is a French footballer who plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League. N'Zogbia was capped for the France under-21 team on thirteen occasions, and made his debut for the senior side in 2010....
doubled the lead in first-half injury time. Neal Eardley deflected in a third for the visitors, before D. J. Campbell netted a consolation, his tenth goal of the League campaign. With the defeat, Blackpool dropped into the relegation zone for the first time.
A week later, Newcastle United visited Bloomfield Road, looking to avenge their defeat at St. James' Park earlier in the season. A wreath in memory of former Blackpool player and manager Allan Brown, who died earlier in the week, was laid behind the South Stand goal. Peter Lovenkrands put Alan Pardew
Alan Pardew
Alan Scott Pardew is an English football manager and former player, currently the manager of Newcastle United....
's men ahead in the seventeenth minute. D. J. Campbell equalised fifteen minutes later. The match finished 1–1. With the point, the Seasiders moved out of the relegation zone, on goal difference, at the expense of Wigan Athletic, who lost 4–2 at Sunderland.
On 30 April, Blackpool took on Stoke City at Bloomfield Road. A goalless draw ensued — the first clean sheet seen at the ground this season. Blackpool remained seventeenth, after Wigan Athletic drew at Everton.
Blackpool travelled to White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....
on 7 May to face Tottenham Hotspur. The Seasiders had slipped into the relegation zone earlier in the day after Wigan Athletic drew with Aston Villa. Charlie Adam put the visitors ahead with a 76th-minute penalty, his eleventh goal of the season, less than a minute after missing from the spot. Jermain Defoe
Jermain Defoe
Jermain Colin Defoe is an English footballer who plays as a striker for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, and the England national football team....
equalised in the final minute of normal time. With the draw, Blackpool edged out of the relegation zone again, but they dropped into it again the following day, when Wolves beat West Brom.
Seven days later, Blackpool played their final home fixture of the campaign. Bolton Wanderers were the visitors, and it was they who took the lead, in the sixth minute, via Kevin Davies
Kevin Davies
Kevin Cyril Davies is an English footballer who currently plays for Bolton Wanderers and the England national football team as a striker. He was made Bolton team captain in January 2009....
. D. J. Campbell equalised three minutes later, before Jason Puncheon put the hosts ahead just inside twenty minutes. Bolton pulled level five minutes later with a strike from Matthew Taylor
Matthew Taylor (footballer)
Matthew Simon "Matty" Taylor is an English footballer who plays for West Ham United. He is noted for his powerful long-range strikes.-Early career:...
. Just before the break, D. J. Campbell put Blackpool back in front with his second of the game and thirteenth of the campaign. On 63 minutes, Charlie Adam fired in his eleventh League goal for what proved to be the winner. It was a repeat scoreline of the 1953 "Matthews Final", and the late winger's first and last club, Stoke City, appeared in their first FA Cup Final
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most...
, against Manchester City, later in the day. It was Blackpool's first victory for three months; however, they remained in the relegation zone after Wolves won 3–1 at Sunderland.
On 22 May, exactly 365 days since their Wembley promotion, Blackpool travelled to Old Trafford
Old Trafford
Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
to face Manchester United, who were crowned champions a week earlier with their draw at Blackburn Rovers. In front of 75,000 fans, Park Ji-Sung
Park Ji-Sung
Park Ji-Sung is a South Korean footballer who plays as a midfielder for English club Manchester United. He was also the captain of the South Korean national team until his retirement from international football...
put the home side ahead after 21 minutes. Charlie Adam equalised with a free-kick just under twenty minutes later. It was the Scot's thirteenth goal of the campaign, in all competitions, making him the club's joint-top-scorer with D. J. Campbell. Blackpool went ahead twelve minutes into the second half, via Gary Taylor-Fletcher. United pulled level on 74 minutes, when Ian Evatt sliced the ball into his own net. Substitute Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...
scored what proved to be the final goal of the game with nine minutes of normal time remaining. The result, combined with favourable results for Wolves and Wigan, meant Blackpool finished in nineteenth position and were relegated, by one point and three goals, back to The Championship. They were joined by West Ham, who were relegated the previous week, and Birmingham City.
Premier League
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Final table
League Cup
FA Cup
League
- Charlie Adam – 35
- Alex Baptiste – 21
- Chris Basham – 2
- James Beattie – 9
- D. J. Campbell – 31
- David Carney – 11
- Craig Cathcart – 30
- Stephen Crainey – 31
- Neal Eardley – 31
- Rob Edwards – 2
- Jason Euell – 3
- Ian Evatt – 38
- Matthews Gilks – 18
- Elliot Grandin – 23
- Mark Halstead – 1
- Marlon Harewood – 16
- Dekel Keinan – 6
- Sergei Kornilenko – 6
- Richard Kingson – 19
- Brett Ormerod – 18
- Matt Phillips – 26
- Jason Puncheon – 10
- Paul Rachubka – 2
- Andy Reid – 5
- Keith Southern – 20
- Ludovic Sylvestre – 8
- Gary Taylor-Fletcher – 31
- Luke Varney – 29
- David Vaughan – 35
Players used: 29
League Cup
- Charlie Adam – 1
- Thomas Barkhuizen – 1
- Chris Basham – 1
- Danny Coid – 1
- Ishmel Demontagnac – 1
- Neal Eardley – 1
- Rob Edwards – 1
- Elliot Grandin – 1
- Mark Halstead – 1
- Stephen Husband – 1
- Dekel Keinan – 1
- Brett Ormerod – 1
- Ludovic Sylvestre – 1
- Gary Taylor-Fletcher – 1
Players used: 14
FA Cup
- Alex Baptiste – 1
- Thomas Barkhuizen – 1
- Neal Eardley – 1
- Rob Edwards – 1
- Jason Euell – 1
- Kingsley Francis-Reynolds – 1
- Dekel Keinan – 1
- Brett Ormerod – 1
- Matt Phillips – 1
- Paul Rachubka – 1
- Josh Roberts – 1
- Keith Southern – 1
- Ludovic Sylvestre – 1
- Liam Tomsett – 1
Players used: 14
League
- Charlie Adam – 12
- Alex Baptiste – 2
- D. J. Campbell – 13
- Craig Cathcart – 1
- Neal Eardley – 1
- Ian Evatt – 1
- Elliot Grandin – 1
- Marlon Harewood – 5
- Brett Ormerod – 1
- Matt Phillips – 1
- Jason Puncheon – 3
- Gary Taylor-Fletcher – 6
- Luke Varney – 5
- David Vaughan – 2
League goals scored: 54 (plus one own-goal)
League Cup
- Charlie Adam – 1
- Brett Ormerod – 1
- Ludovic Sylvestre – 1
League Cup goals scored: 3
In
| Date | Player | From | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 August 2010 | Craig Cathcart Craig Cathcart Craig George Cathcart is a Northern Irish footballer who plays as a centre back for Blackpool and the Northern Ireland national team... |
Manchester United Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958... |
Undisclosed | |
| 11 August 2010 | Ludovic Sylvestre Ludovic Sylvestre Ludovic Sylvestre is a French football player of Guadeloupean descent. He plays in England for Blackpool... |
Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, on the left bank of the Jizera river about 50 km northeast of Prague.Founded in the second half of the 10th century by King Boleslav II as a royal castle... |
Undisclosed | |
| 11 August 2010 | Elliot Grandin Elliot Grandin Elliot Grandin is a French footballer of Congolese origin who plays for Blackpool.A winger, Grandin can also play as a central attacking midfielder... |
CSKA Sofia | Undisclosed | |
| 11 August 2010 | Malaury Martin | AS Monaco AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club are a French football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. The club was founded in 1924 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. The team plays its home matches at the Stade Louis II located within Fontvieille... |
Free | |
| 11 August 2010 | Marlon Harewood Marlon Harewood Marlon Anderson Harewood is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Guangzhou R&F in China.Harewood started his career at Nottingham Forest. During his career there, he had loan spells at Haka and Ipswich Town before joining West Ham United in 2003 and then Aston Villa in 2007... |
Unattached | Free | |
| 13 August 2010 | Chris Basham Chris Basham Christopher Paul "Chris" Basham is an English footballer who plays for Blackpool. He can play in defence or midfield.... |
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers F.C. Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001.... |
Undisclosed | |
| 18 August 2010 | Dekel Keinan Dekel Keinan Dekel Keinan is an Israeli footballer who plays as a central defender for Crystal Palace on loan from Cardiff City.Keinan was previously at Maccabi Haifa and has spent time on loan at Bnei Sakhnin and Maccabi Netanya. He has played for Israel at under-19, under-21 and full levels.-Maccabi... |
Unattached | Free | |
| 31 August 2010 | Matt Phillips Matt Phillips Matthew "Matt" Phillips is an English professional footballer who plays for Blackpool.Phillips is a winger and previously played for Wycombe Wanderers... |
Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers F.C. Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play... |
£325,000 | |
| 31 August 2010 | D. J. Campbell | Leicester City Leicester City F.C. Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester... |
Undisclosed | |
| 1 September 2010 | David Carney David Carney David Raymond Carney is an Australian football player who plays left winger for Spanish club AD Alcorcón and as a left-back or left winger for the Australian national team.- Junior career :... |
FC Twente FC Twente FC Twente is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, playing in the Eredivisie. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Eredivisie Champions, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys... |
Undisclosed | |
| 1 September 2010 | Richard Kingson Richard Kingson Richard Paul Franck Kingson is a Ghanaian professional football goalkeeper, who is currently a free agent. He is also known as Faruk Gürsoy and is frequently misnamed Kingston due to "irregularity on his identity documents"... |
Unattached | Free | |
| 31 January 2011 | Andy Reid Andy Reid (footballer) Andrew Matthew "Andy" Reid is an Irish footballer who currently plays for Nottingham Forest in the Football League Championship. He plays as a midfielder and has also represented the Republic of Ireland.-Personal life:... |
Sunderland Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League... |
Undisclosed |
Out
| Date | Player | To | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 May 2010 | Stephen McPhee Stephen McPhee Stephen McPhee is a Scottish former footballer. In a ten year career he has played for clubs in Scotland, England and Portugal. And has been capped for his country at under-21 level. A forward, he scored 55 goals in 249 games in all competitions.Starting his career at Coventry City, following a... |
Retirement | ||
| 30 June 2010 | Al Bangura | Released | ||
| 30 June 2010 | Hameur Bouazza Hameur Bouazza Hamer Bouazza , first name sometimes misspelled as Hameur, is an Algerian footballer who currently plays for Millwall in the Football League Championship. He usually plays as a left winger, but can also play on the right.... |
Released | ||
| 30 June 2010 | Joe Martin Joe Martin (footballer) Joseph "Joe" Martin is an English professional footballer for Gillingham. He is a left-sided midfielder and can also play at left-back... |
Released | ||
| 30 June 2010 | Danny Mitchley Danny Mitchley Daniel "Danny" Mitchley is an English footballer who plays as a forward.-From youth team to first team at Blackpool:Born in Liverpool, Mitchley played at Skelmersdale United until he was 15 years old... |
Released | ||
| 30 June 2010 | Daniel Nardiello Daniel Nardiello Daniel Antony Nardiello is an English-born Welsh footballer. A forward who currently plays for Exeter City, he is the son of former Wales international Donato Nardiello and cousin of Reis Ashraf and Michael Nardiello.... |
Released | ||
| 2 July 2010 | Ben Burgess Ben Burgess Benjamin Kieron "Ben" Burgess is an English-born Irish footballer who currently plays for Notts County. He has been capped twice by the Republic of Ireland at Under-21 level.-Early career:... |
Notts County Notts County F.C. Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system... |
Free | |
| 21 January 2011 | Dekel Keinan Dekel Keinan Dekel Keinan is an Israeli footballer who plays as a central defender for Crystal Palace on loan from Cardiff City.Keinan was previously at Maccabi Haifa and has spent time on loan at Bnei Sakhnin and Maccabi Netanya. He has played for Israel at under-19, under-21 and full levels.-Maccabi... |
Cardiff City Cardiff City F.C. Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for... |
Undisclosed |
Loans in
| Date | Player | From | Duration | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 August 2010 | Luke Varney Luke Varney Luke Ivan Varney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Portsmouth. He started his career with non-league Quorn, a club in his home county of Leicestershire, before moving to league football with Crewe Alexandra... |
Derby County Derby County F.C. Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English... |
Season-long | |
| 27 January 2011 | Salaheddine Sbaï Salaheddine Sbai Salaheddine Sbaï is a Moroccan footballer who currently is a free agent.-Club career:Sbaï began his career for the youth side at Charleroi and was loaned out for the 2004/2005 season to Ronse... |
Nîmes Nîmes Olympique Nîmes Olympique is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was formed on 10 April 1937 and currently play in Championnat National, the third level of French football. The club's only achievement was winning Ligue 2 in 1950 and the Championnat National in 1997... |
Until end of season | |
| 31 January 2011 | James Beattie James Beattie (footballer) James Scott Beattie is an English footballer who currently plays for Sheffield United as a striker.Born in Lancaster, Lancashire he came through the ranks at Blackburn Rovers eventually signing professionally for them in 1995... |
Rangers Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses... |
Until end of season | |
| 31 January 2011 | Jason Puncheon Jason Puncheon Jason David Ian Puncheon is an English professional footballer who is currently contracted to Queens Park Rangers. He is able to play on the left or right wing and sometimes plays just behind the striker... |
Southampton Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club... |
Until end of season | |
| 31 January 2011 | Sergei Kornilenko Sergei Kornilenko Sergei Aleksandrovich Kornilenko is a Belarusian professional footballer who plays for FC Krylia Sovetov Samara.- Career :Vitebsk-born Kornilenko began his career in his native Belarus as a trainee with FC Dinamo Minsk before joining his hometown club... |
Zenit St. Petersburg | Until end of season |
Loan out
| Date | Player | To | Duration | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 November 2010 | Danny Coid Danny Coid Daniel John "Danny" Coid is an English professional footballer who plays for Accrington Stanley.-Blackpool:Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Coid started his career with Blackpool in 1995, when he was in the youth team. He was then a trainee before signing his first professional contract in 1998... |
Rotherham United Rotherham United F.C. Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history... |
One month | |
| 12 November 2010 | Mark Halstead Mark Halstead Mark James Halstead is an English footballer who plays for Stockport County on loan from Blackpool as a goalkeeper.-Blackpool:... |
Barrow | One month (emergency) | |
| 25 November 2010 | Ashley Eastham Ashley Eastham Ashley Thomas J. Eastham is an English professional football player. He plays as a defender for Blackpool. His main position is centre-back.-Early career at Blackpool; Loan move to Hyde United:... |
Carlisle United Carlisle United F.C. Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.... |
One month | |
| 10 December 2010 | Danny Coid | Rotherham United | One month | |
| 2 January 2011 | Louis Almond Louis Almond Louis James Almond is an English professional football player. He plays as a forward for Barrow AFC on loan from Blackpool.-Career:... |
Barrow | One month | |
| 7 January 2011 | Ishmel Demontagnac Ishmel Demontagnac Ishmel Abendigo Demontagnac is an English footballer who plays for Notts County as a winger. Only his first name is displayed on the back of his shirt.Demontagnac previously played for Walsall... |
Stockport County Stockport County F.C. Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport... |
One month | |
| 18 January 2011 | Stephen Husband Stephen Husband Stephen Husband is a Scottish footballer who plays in England for Blackpool.-Early career in Scotland:Kelty-born Husband began his career at Scottish Second Division side Cowdenbeath, where he was at their Youth Academy where he played centre midfield... |
Stockport County | One month | |
| 18 January 2011 | Mark Halstead | Kettering Town Kettering Town F.C. Kettering Town Football Club are a football club originating in Kettering, Northamptonshire but currently based in the nearby village of Irthlingborough. The club play in the Conference National after winning the Conference North in 2007–08... |
One month | |
| 25 February 2011 | Jason Euell | Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers F.C. Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in... |
End of season |