Blackpool FC - The Seasiders in Turmoil

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Blackpool Football Club face hefty sanctions from the Football Association -
The Seasiders demoted to the Vanarama Conference

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A statement released by the FA today revealed the sanctions imposed upon Blackpool Football Club after they entered administration. Earlier this week, Blackpool announced losses of over £25 million for the past financial year. A number of Blackpool's high earners have been released by the club in an attempt to avoid any further financial difficulties. Nile Ranger, Andrea Orlandi and Jamie O'Hara are amongst those to be released whilst Tom Aldred, James Dunne and Elliott Parish have all been retained. Loanees Grant Hall, Joe Rotwell and Islam Feruz have also remained with the club. Despite the difficulties the club will now face rebuilding, the FA have announced that an 18-month transfer embargo has been imposed on the club, and that they have taken the decision to expel Blackpool FC from the Sky Bet Football League. They will begin next season in the Vanarama Conference, avoiding a points deduction, with just 8 professional players on their books. Looking to the future, it is unlikely that any potential buyer will want to inherit the £30million debt the club currently possesses. Manager Lee Clark and several of his backroom staff have today announced their resignations. Lee Clark released the following statement: "Despite my desire to assist this club in returning to the Football League, the perilous position the club finds itself in is too much for me to overcome. My concerns are shared by my fellow staff, with a unanimous decision to resign being in the best interests of everyone. We wish the club all the best in the future. Blackpool immediately announced the appointment of manager Owen Coker who, despite his lack of professional experience, has achieved lots with the clubs he has been with. He will be tasked with the challenge of preventing further pain for the club and it's supporters with the club now fighting to retain its professional status.



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Pre-Season 2014-15

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We find ourselves in an interesting position. We have several quality players who are way too good for the Vanarama Conference, however the players around them are distinctly average but may be good enough to compete at this level. We have a few promising youngsters who will be able to develop well as they will be in and around the starting XI. It may be a struggle to keep everyone though with the board accepting every offer that comes in. Also, a number of my older players rose concerns about the situation the club finds itself in. I did my best to reassure them that all will be good but Bobby Grant left unhappy with the financial perils the club is embroiled in.

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We began our pre-season with morale extremely low and it showed. A spirited performance against Livingston gave me hope of success but a crushing defeat at against lowly Civil Service ended that hope. A ****** and grab victory at North Ferriby was followed up by a narrow defeat against a strong Cardiff side. It's frustrating to be unable to add any quality and depth to the squad however we should be able to compete in the Conference. A takeover is desperately needed or next season we may find ourselves with no players and unable to sign anyone. One positive from pre-season is that young Demonic Belford, who rejected Millwall to sign professional terms at Bloomfield Road, was on fire, notching up 4 goals in 3 games.

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A couple of pieces of promising news towards the end of the month have given me hope of a better future for the club. It'll be interesting to see how we fare against Conference clubs going into August.


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August

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Despite our pre-season struggles, we began the season in solid form. Tom Barkhuizen gave us the victory against Kidderminster in our first game of the season before he added to a Islam Feruz goal to secure victory one again. We then scored to goals in the last 10 minutes through Barkhuizen and Hall to claw back from two goals down. A dissapointing defeat at Chester showed the reality of the situation we're in with our lack of depth costing us. We then threw away the victory at Nuneaton after Barkhuizen scored after just 3 minutes. We gained our first win in three with a comfortable victory at Braintree thanks to Joe Rothwell's first of the season.

Player of the Month

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One of the few first team players that remained at the club really showed his quality, picking up four goals in six games playing at both right-back and right-wing. He was rewarded with the player of the month award and hopefully he can help guide us back to the football league.

League Table

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We're currently just one point outside the play-offs but with just six games played we're well within a shout for promotion. Hopefully we can build on our solid start and push on over the next few months. I'm looking to bring in a few loans to cover certain positions that we currently lack depth in.

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September

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We built on our solid start and have gained real momentum. After Telford and Grant gave us victory against Welling, our only defeat of the month came against AFC Telford, despite us leading twice through Hall and Rothwell. An early Grant goal was enough for victory at Aldershot however Blackman's penalty could only earn as a draw at promotion hopefulls Grimsby. We then edged an even game at Woking thanks to Barkhuizen and Telford. Barkhuizen's 6th goal of the season came in our 1-0 victory at Alfreton before debutant Elliot Lee, signed on loan from West Ham, scored twice at Bloomfield Road against Dover to help secure victory. Our fourth victory and third clean sheet in a row came at the expense of Southport with youngster Henry Cameron scoring his first two professional goals. Hopefully Elliot Lee can build on his great start and with the acquisition of a few more loans we can really push on for promotion.

Player of the Month

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Bobby Grant, another player who remained with us in the summer, has really showed his experience at a higher level to produce several goals and assists over the course of September. I feel that his form will be key to our title bid, but he remains unhappy with the clubs financial situation.

League Table

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Four wins in a row have fired us up the table and now we're just 3 points of the top. With Wrexham to play next month, we can cement our place in the play-offs places and hopefully as title contenders.


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October

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We've continued our fine form into October and consolidated our position at the top of the table. Oliver Lee grabbed all four goals in just his second game to give a thumping victory away at Torquay. Feruz and Grant then gave us victory over the league leaders at the time, Wrexham, before our only defeat came at home against Gateshead in a match that we dominated. Altrincham were next to fall thanks to Grant Hall's fourth goal of the season which was quickly followed by and FA Cup victory against Nuneaton thanks to a Bobby Grant penalty, which set up an intriguing clash with Crewe. We're now several points clear and looking to extend our lead.

Player of the Month

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Charles Dunne has been ever-present at the centre of defense and continues to put in consistently solid performances. Hopefully we can keep hold of him for next season with a few clubs showing interest.


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November

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Our best month so far saw us go undefeated throughout November. We started the month with a commanding victory over Macclesfield after Barhuizen, Feruz and Rothwell putting us ahead after just 20 minutes. A bore draw against Eastleigh followed with Grant missing a penalty in the dying minutes. Our best performance so far came away to Crewe in the FA Cup. With several key players missing Dominic Telford edged us ahead before Bobby Grant double the lead with a penalty just before the hour mark. We will face Burton Albion in the second round at Bloomfield Road. Play-off chasing Forest were seen off with goals from Telford and Oliver securing the victory. We threw away a two goal lead at Barnet after a brace from Telford put us ahead early on. We returned to winning ways with Feruz and Barkhuizen getting on the scoresheet in a comfortable win at Kidderminster. At the halfway point of the season it's looking like an immediate return to the Football League is a real possibility.

Player of the Month

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Youngster Dominic Telford stepped up to the mark with loanee Elliot Lee picking up an injury. An impressive 4 goals in 5 games saw him scoop the Young Player of the Month Award.

League Table

View attachment 269610We currently sit second with a game in had on high flying Gateshead. Looks like us and Gateshead will be in a two way battle for the title.

In other news........

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