Why Blackpool’s relegation is bad for English football

If you are one of those people who believes that money runs football, and that the Premier League should only boast the biggest clubs with the most money and the biggest players, then you probably want to stop reading now. My football philosophy is not geared around money and stars, but around what a football club means to its players, its manager, and most importantly its fans. For me, Blackpool embodies everything that people love about an underdog, and I really do think that they have conducted themselves in the right way this season, hence the reason why it is a shame that they didn’t manage to hold onto their Premier League status.

To map Blackpool’s journey you have to go right back to the day that Ian Holloway was given the manager’s job in May 2009 with an aim of avoiding Championship relegation in the 2009/10 season. What followed was something of a football miracle, with Holloway’s unique management style guiding Blackpool to a play off place, and then taking them to Wembley and into the promised land of the Premier League by virtue of a 3-2 victory against Cardiff City.

While the close season for Premiership clubs usually involves spending big money on players, Blackpool were forced into building a new stand at Bloomfield Road, and Holloway was left with the job of trying to create a side good enough to stay in the Premier League with very little money. Yet somehow, he managed to craft a side out of players that no other Premier League manager would have even thought about buying. The best of these players would have to be Luke Varney, a striker who had been frozen out of the Derby County set up and had spent two years on loan at various different clubs. Holloway took him to Blackpool from Derby and changed him from being a striker to a left sided attacking midfielder, and it worked wonders, especially in the early part of the season.

Holloway also has the right approach to football. His Blackpool team plays the game in the right manner with a “we’ll just score one more than you” approach based around an attacking, passing style of play. True to his morals, Holloway stuck to this approach throughout the season when it would have been easier at times to tell his players to go out and play long ball tactics and scrap for wins. While some may call Holloway an eccentric manager, his eccentricity is bound in common sense, and this was epitomised when he spoke out against the FA’s decision to fine Blackpool £25,000 for fielding a ‘weakened team’ against Aston Villa earlier in the season. As Holloway quite rightly pointed out, he is the manager, and surely he should be able to play whoever he chooses!

This is what the Premiership will miss next season. The minnows, the underdogs, the team that always tries to do the right thing and play in the right manner. A manager who has brought more entertainment and more common sense to the league since press conferences were graced by the likes of the great Brian Clough. Blackpool will be missed, and for the good of football in England, it would be great to see them make a swift return to the top flight.

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