It's done!
I'm sure an awful lot of us will be very pleased and now very optimistic!



https://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/1259120965?-11200:789

After a relatively busy week off the pitch, Town head to the bright lights of Blackpool for Saturday's lunchtime kick off.

Both sides had a quiet weekend with neither side being in action due to the weather, which has given both sides chance to marshall the troops, town have managed to hopefully reinvigorate the strike force with the signings of Joe Taylor and Dion Charles, but look set to lose Michal Helik. The tangerines meanwhile have used this lull to sign Tom Bloxham from Shrewsbury and Sammy silvera from Middlesbrough to add to their wide areas, they've also extended the deal of talented but injury prone Josh Onomah until the end of the season. They too could be losing a central figure, as leading goal scorer Kyle Joseph is wanted by championship side hull, but nothing has been confirmed there. They are set to allow Ollie Norburn to leave on loan as he moves to Wigan and have already lost Dom Ballard who's loan was cut short by Southampton.

Steve Bruce is still at the helm of the seaside club sitting in 16th position, and their form since the 2-0 win last time we played them has been a little bit hit and miss, more miss. They followed the victory at our spot with a positive 3-0 win at home over Burton, Ode Offiah, Rob Apter and Lee Evans on the scoresheet there, they then hosted Lincoln who struck late to leave with a share of the spoils despite being reduced to 10 men, Kyle Joseph opened the scoring just after the sending off but a 95th minute equaliser took the wind out of the Seasiders sails. Evidently so, as they traveled to Mansfield and lost 2-0 before losing 2-1 at home to Barnsley, with the Tykes scoring an injury time winner after Oliver Casey looked to have rescued a point for the home side. The dip in form continued as they were thrashed by Peterborough 5-1, Joseph scored for Blackpool to make the score 2-1, but the Posh were rampant and truly put them to the sword. They had a bit of a let off when facing local rivals Wigan as they drew 2-2, with the Latics scoring all 4 goals. Wigan went 2-0 up but an own goal in each injury time saw the Tangerines gain a fortunate point. The FA Cup saw them avoid a mini upset as they beat Gillingham 2-0, but league form continued to abandon them as they lost 3-0 away in the capital at Leyton Orient, they followed it up with a drab 0-0 against struggling Northampton, before losing 2-1 at the Toughsheet Stadium as Bolton completed a turnaround victory after Joseph gave the Tangerines a first half lead, once again it would be an injury time goal that cost the seaside club. The wait for a win finally ended when they beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 at the Memorial Ground, an own goal got them on their way before a second half penalty from Lee Evans sealed the win. They departed the FA Cup, as Birmingham knocked them out, but they registered another league win next time out away at Shrewsbury, with two second half goals sealing a 2-1 win. Their form on the road continued as they beat Reading 3-0, with goals from Apter, Ashley Fletcher and Albie Morgan, at home though it was still bleak as they approached Christmas with a 0-0 draw to Stevenage. Boxing Day saw them travel to Wrexham and whilst they took the lead through Fletcher, former Terrier Paul Mullin and former Owl Steven Fletcher saw the Welsh side take the spoils. Then in the build up to this game came three consecutive draws, they held Brum 0-0 at St Andrews, drew 1-1 at home to Shrewsbury with Apter scoring for Blackpool and future Blackpool player Tom Bloxham scoring for the Shrews, their last action came on the 4th of January when they drew 1-1 away at 10 man Wycombe, Joseph scoring in the 93rd minute for the Tangerines.



Founded in 1887, Blackpool became founder members of the Lancashire League. In their first season in the competition, the club finished fifth out of the 13 member clubs, before winning the championship themselves on their fourth attempt. After struggling to repeat the success of the 1893–94 season, the Blackpool board decided it was time to leave local football behind, so on 13 May 1896 the club became a limited company and applied for entry to the Football League.Their application was successful, and for the club's debut season, 1896–97, they joined the 16-team Second Division. Blackpool's first-ever Football League game took place on 5 September 1896, at Lincoln City, which they lost 3–1 in front of around 1,500 spectators. After finishing third-bottom the season before, the club were not re-elected at the end of the 1898–99 season, and spent the 1899–1900 term back in the Lancashire League. They finished third, and after the Football League's annual meeting, on 25 May 1900, were permitted back into Division Two. It was during this season out of the League that Blackpool amalgamated with local rivals South Shore and moved to Bloomfield Road.

After the turn of the century, Blackpool struggled to finish above 12th in the league, with one season seeing them finishing 7th, in the lead up to WW1 they generally bounced around in mid table. The outbreak of war forced the cancellation of League football for four years, when normality resumed, in 1919–20, Blackpool had appointed their first full-time manager in the form of Bill Norman. Norman guided the club to fourth-placed finishes in his first two league seasons in charge. The club's form nosedived in the 1921–22 season, with a finishing position of 19th, before bouncing back to a fifth-placed finish the following campaign. After 4 years Norman was replaced by Frank Buckley and Blackpool finished fourth that season. The 1924–25 season was not as successful; a 17th-placed finish tempered only slightly by the club reaching the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time. A single-goal defeat at fellow Lancastrians Blackburn Rovers ended the Seasiders' run. Buckley guided Blackpool to top-10 finishes in his final two seasons as manager before he left to take the helm at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Buckley's replacement was Sydney Beaumont, who took charge for the 1927–28 season, but he lasted only until the spring after the club finished in 19th position. Harry Evans was installed as the new Blackpool manager, in an honorary capacity, for the 1928–29 campaign. Due in no small part to Jimmy Hampson's 40 goals, the club finished eighth. In his second season, Evans guided Blackpool to the Division Two championship, finishing ahead of promotion rivals Chelsea and Oldham Athletic by three and four points respectively. Hampson had bagged 45 of the club's 98 league goals.

Blackpool lasted only three seasons in the First Division. Two third-bottom finishes were followed by a last-placed finish, and the club returned to the Second Division. The club's relegation prompted the Blackpool board to install a recognised manager, and they opted for Sandy MacFarlane. MacFarlane occupied the Bloomfield Road hot seat for just two seasons, in which the club finished 11th and fourth.
Joe Smith was appointed Blackpool's sixth manager in August 1935, a role in which he remained for the next 23 years. The club finished 10th in Smith's first season. It was Smith's second season in charge, however, that marked the starting point of the success to come. Blackpool finished the 1936–37 season as runners-up in the Second Division to Leicester City and were promoted back to the First Division.

Two seasons of Division One football were played before the Second World War intervened. Blackpool sat atop the table at the time the abandonment occurred. Regional competitions were implemented again between 1939 and 1945. For the 1945–46 season, after the war's conclusion, Blackpool spent one season in the Football League North.

Post-war Blackpool reached the FA Cup final on three occasions, losing to Manchester United in 1948 and Newcastle United three years later, and winning it in 1953. For the first and only time in the club's history, four Blackpool players (Harry Johnston, Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen and debutant Ernie Taylor) represented England in the infamous 6–3 defeat by Hungary at Wembley on 25 November 1953. Of the four, only Matthews would ever represent his country again.

In 1955–56, Blackpool attained their highest-ever finish in the Football League: runners-up to Manchester United, despite losing their final four league games. It was a feat that could not be matched or bettered over the following two seasons, with fourth and seventh-placed finishes, and Smith left Blackpool as the club's most successful and longest-serving manager. Smith was succeeded, by Ron Suart, the first former Tangerine to return to the club as manager. In his first season, he led the club to eighth in the First Division and the sixth round of the FA Cup. The League Cup came into existence in 1960–61 and Blackpool were knocked out in the second round, the round in which they entered. The club's First Division status came under threat, but they managed to avoid relegation by one point, at the expense of Newcastle United. Local arch-rivals Preston North End were the other club to make the drop. In October 1961, Matthews, now aged 46, was sold back to Stoke City. Mid-table finishes in 1961–62 and 1962–63 (and an appearance in the League Cup semi-finals during the former) were offset by another lowly finish of 18th in 1963–64, much of the same ensued over the following two seasons, before relegation finally occurred in 1966–67. Blackpool finished bottom of the table, eight points adrift of Aston Villa. Suart had resigned four months before the end of the season. His replacement was another former Blackpool player, Stan Mortensen.



Mortensen picked up the pieces for the club's first season back in the Second Division in 30 years, guiding them to a third-placed finish. They had gone into the final game of the season at Huddersfield Town knowing that a win would likely secure a return to the First Division. They won 3–1, but once the premature celebrations had ended, they discovered that their nearest rivals, Queens Park Rangers, had scored a last-minute winner at Aston Villa. Q.P.R. were promoted by virtue of a better goal-average: 1.86, to Blackpool's 1.65. At the end of the following 1968–69 campaign, the Blackpool board made the decision to sack Mortensen after just over two years in the job. Their decision was met by fans with shock and anger, as Mortensen was as popular a manager as he was a player. Les Shannon, who spent the majority of his playing career with Blackpool's Lancashire rivals Burnley, was installed as manager for the 1969–70 season. In his first season, he succeeded where Mortensen had failed, by guiding the club back to the top flight as runners-up behind Huddersfield Town. As quickly as Shannon had taken Blackpool up, he saw them return. The club finished at the foot of the table and were relegated back to Division Two, along with Burnley. Before the season's conclusion, Shannon was briefly replaced by Jimmy Meadows as caretaker manager, who in turn was permanently replaced by Bob Stokoe. On 12 June 1971, well over a month after the conclusion of the League season, Blackpool won the Anglo-Italian Cup with a 2–1 victory over Bologna in the final. Blackpool finished amongst the top 10 teams in the Second Division for six consecutive seasons, under three different managers: Stokoe, Harry Potts and Allan Brown. Twice Blackpool narrowly missed promotion to Division One, by two points in 1974 and 1977.

In February 1978, midway through 1977–78, Brown's second season at the helm, Blackpool were seventh in the division. Having just beaten local rivals Blackburn Rovers 5–2, on 6 February 1978, Brown was sacked by chairman Billy Cartmell for personal reasons. The team won only one more game that season, which ended with their relegation to the Division Three for the first time in their history. On 1 April 1978, with six games to go, Blackpool were in eighth place, nine points off the third relegation slot. On 25 April, with one game to go, Blackpool were 14th, three points above Cardiff City in the third relegation slot. Four days later, Blackpool completed their programme and were 16th with 37 points – two points clear of Leyton Orient in the third relegation slot, with a vastly superior goal difference. By the end of the season they were relegated and wouldn't return to the second division for a further 29 years.

Bob Stokoe returned for a second stint as manager for the 1978–79 campaign, at the end of which Blackpool finished mid-table. Stokoe resigned during the summer. Former Town manager, Stan Ternent became Blackpool's seventh manager in nine years, only to be replaced in February 1980 by Alan Ball, the popular former Blackpool midfielder who left the club for Everton 14 years earlier. Ball himself only lasted a year in the job, and departed when the club were relegated to the League's basement division. Allan Brown had taken over from Ball in February 1981, and he remained in charge for the following 1981–82 term. Blackpool finished twelfth in their first season in Division Four and Brown resigned during the close season.

Sam Ellis took over from Brown in June 1982, three years after he finished his playing career with Watford. His first season saw Blackpool finish 21st. It was Ellis's third season, however, that brought the success the club had been looking for. Blackpool finished second behind Chesterfield and were back in Division Three. The club managed to finish in the top half of the table for their first three seasons in the Third Division, but slipped to 19th in Ellis's seventh and final season in charge. On 17 April 1986, the board of directors put the club on the market after councillors rejected plans to sell Bloomfield Road for a supermarket site in a £35 million redevelopment scheme. The club was then sold to Owen Oyston for £1. For the 1989–90 season, Blackpool appointed Jimmy Mullen as manager. Mullen's reign last only 11 months, however, and he left the club after their relegation back to Division Four. Graham Carr replaced Mullen, but his spell in the manager's seat was even shorter – just four months. He was sacked in November 1990 with Blackpool in 18th place. Carr's replacement was his assistant, Billy Ayre. Ayre guided the team to a fifth-placed finish and qualification for the play-offs. They lost only five of their 30 league games that remained at the time of Ayre's appointment. The run included 13 consecutive home league wins in an eventual 24–game unbeaten run at Bloomfield Road. The run was extended to 15 consecutive home wins at the start of the 1991–92 campaign, which remains the club record. After beating Scunthorpe United in the two-legged semi-finals of the play-offs, Blackpool lost to Torquay United in the Wembley final, on penalties after the score was tied 2–2 after regular and extra time. The following 1991–92 season finished with Blackpool in fourth place, missing out on automatic promotion by one point, which meant another play-offs experience. This time they met Barnet in the semi-finals and won 2–1 on aggregate. They returned to Wembley, where they faced Scunthorpe United in the final, the team they knocked out of the play-offs 12 months earlier. Again the score was tied at the end of regular and extra time, but Blackpool were victorious in the penalty shootout and booked their place in the new Division Two.

Blackpool struggled in their first term back in the third tier of English football but pulled to safety in 18th place by the end. In late 1993 they were as high as fourth but tumbled down the table in the second half of that season to miss the drop by a whisker in 20th, avoiding relegation by virtue of a 4–1 victory over Leyton Orient on the final day of the season. Ayre was sacked in the summer of 1994 and was replaced by another former Town man, Sam Allardyce. Allardyce led Blackpool to a mid-table finish in his first season and saw the club knocked out of both cup competitions at the first hurdle. The 1995–96 season saw Blackpool finish third and claim a place in the play-offs for the third time in six seasons. In the semi-finals, Blackpool travelled to Bradford City and won 2–0. Three days later, they hosted the Yorkshiremen at Bloomfield Road and lost 3–0. Blackpool remained in Division Two, and Allardyce was sacked not long afterwards. In 1996, owner Oyston was convicted of the rape of a 16-year-old girl and Former Norwich City manager Gary Megson replaced Allardyce, attaining a seventh-placed finish in his only season in charge. Nigel Worthington succeeded Megson in the summer of 1997, and in the Northern Irishman's two full campaigns in the hot seat, Blackpool finished 12th and 14th. Worthington resigned towards the end of the 1999–2000 season, and his seat was filled by the former Liverpool and England midfielder Steve McMahon.



McMahon arrived too late to save the club from relegation to the Third Division (fourth tier) after a 22nd-placed finish in the table. In his first full season in charge, Blackpool were promoted to Division Two by winning the play-offs. They also gained the first of two Football League Trophy wins in 2002 as Blackpool beat Cambridge United 4–1 at the Millennium Stadium. Their second win was in 2004, this time beating Southend United 2–0 again in Cardiff. In the summer following the Trophy win, McMahon resigned, believing he could not take the club any further with the budget he was being offered. Colin Hendry became the new manager, but was replaced by yet another future Town manager, Simon Grayson in November 2005 after an unsuccessful stint which left Blackpool languishing just above the relegation zone of League One (third tier).

In the 2006–07 FA Cup Blackpool reached the fourth round for the first time in 17 years, after beating Aldershot Town 4–2 at Bloomfield Road, but were knocked out by Norwich City, 3–2 after a replay at Carrow Road. They finished in third place, and qualified for the play-offs, and after beating Oldham Athletic 5–2 on aggregate in the semi-final, they met Yeovil Town in the final at the new Wembley Stadium, their first appearance at England's national stadium in 15 years. Blackpool won 2–0, and were promoted to the Championship in their 100th overall season in the Football League. The promotion marked their return to English football's second tier for the first time in 29 years.

Blackpool finished the 2007–08 season in 19th place, escaping relegation by two points and ensuring their safety in a 1–1 draw with Watford on the final day of the Championship season. On 23 December 2008, Simon Grayson left the club to join League One club Leeds United after just over three years in charge at Bloomfield Road. Under the guidance of Grayson's assistant Tony Parkes, as caretaker manager, Blackpool finished the 2008–09 campaign in 16th place. Parkes left the club on 18 May 2009 after a meeting with chairman Karl Oyston about finances.

On 21 May 2009, Ian Holloway was appointed as manager, signing a one-year contract with the club with an option of a further year. On 31 July it was announced that club president Valērijs Belokoņs was setting up a new transfer fund, into which he was adding a "considerable amount" to invest in new players identified by Holloway. Four days later Blackpool broke their transfer record by signing Charlie Adam from Scottish champions Rangers for £500,000, topping the £275,000 paid to Millwall for Chris Malkin in 1996.

Blackpool finished the 2009–10 regular season in sixth place in the Championship, their highest finish in the Football League since 1970–71, and claimed a spot in the play-offs. On 2 May 2010, the 57th anniversary of Blackpool's FA Cup final victory, Blackpool hosted Bristol City for the final League game of the season. They needed to match or better Swansea City's result in their match at home to Doncaster Rovers. Both matches ended in draws, with Swansea's Lee Trundle having a late goal disallowed for handball, which meant Blackpool secured the remaining play-off place.

On 8 May, Blackpool beat Nottingham Forest 2–1 at Bloomfield Road in the semi-final first leg. Three days later, they beat them 4–3 (6–4 on aggregate) at the City Ground in the second leg to progress to the final against Cardiff. Blackpool defeated Cardiff City 3–2 on 22 May in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium to earn promotion to the Premier League. It was Blackpool's debut appearance in the Premier League in its 18-year existence and their first appearance in English football's top flight in 39 years. Blackpool had now, uniquely, been promoted through all three tiers of the Football League via the play-off system. Furthermore, they won all nine play-off games they were involved in during the 10 seasons between 2001 and 2010.



In their first-ever Premier League match on 14 August 2010, Blackpool defeated Wigan Athletic 4–0 at the DW Stadium. The result saw the Seasiders at the top of the entire English football pyramid until Chelsea's 6–0 victory over West Bromwich Albion later in the day. It was the first time they had been in such a position since they won their opening game of the 1957–58 top-flight campaign. On 22 May 2011, exactly 365 days after their promotion, Blackpool were relegated back to the Championship after losing 4–2 at champions Manchester United on the final day of the season, seven of their 10 overall wins were obtained before the new year, and at the end of 2010 they sat in eighth place; however, seven defeats in the opening eight fixtures of 2011 saw them drop down the table. The next match, a draw at home Aston Villa, left them in 15th, their lowest placing of the campaign to date. Another run of defeats – this time five in six – put them in the relegation zone for the first time. They climbed out of the bottom three, at the expense of Wigan Athletic, with successive home draws against Newcastle United and Stoke City. Blackpool dropped back into the relegation zone after conceding a late equaliser to draw at Tottenham, switching places with Wolves; they were level on points with Wigan and three ahead of bottom club West Ham United. A victory, their first in three months, over Bolton Wanderers, in their penultimate league fixture, was not enough to change the position as Wolves won at Sunderland. Blackpool went to Old Trafford for the final match and were leading 2–1, 12 minutes into the second half, but Manchester United, who were crowned champions a week earlier, took control and won 4–2 to condemn 19th-placed Blackpool to relegation along with Birmingham City and West Ham United.

On 9th May 2012, Blackpool secured their place in the Championship play-off final in their second consecutive season in the division after beating Birmingham City 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals. They met West Ham United in the final at Wembley on 19 May, losing 2–1, conceding a last-gasp goal to the Hammers' Ricardo Vaz Tê, their first play-off final reversal in 21 years. On 3 November 2012, Ian Holloway decided to leave Blackpool after accepting an offer from fellow Championship club Crystal Palace to be their manager. He was replaced four days later by Michael Appleton, who left League One side Portsmouth to take up the position; however, after being in charge for just two months, Appleton left for Lancashire neighbours Blackburn Rovers, becoming the shortest-serving manager in Blackpool's history. On 18 February, after just over a month without an appointment, the club made former England captain Paul Ince their third manager of the campaign.

It was under Ince that the club made their best-ever start to a league season. Their victory at AFC Bournemouth on 14 September 2013 gave them 16 points out of a possible 18. The sequence of results was two wins, a draw, and three wins. This was countered by a run of nine defeats in 10 games, which resulted in Ince being sacked on 21 January 2014, 11 months into his tenure. Barry Ferguson was named caretaker manager upon Ince's dismissal. Of Ferguson's 20 league games in charge, Blackpool won just three and finished the 2013–14 season in 20th place. On 11 June 2014, almost five months after Paul Ince's dismissal, the club appointed Belgian José Riga as manager. He was Blackpool's first ever overseas manager. Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season Blackpool suffered a major crisis with some 27 players leaving the club; just two weeks before the season started, the club had only eight outfield players and no goalkeeper. Riga was able to assemble a squad in time for Blackpool's first game against Nottingham Forest, but could still only name four substitutes instead of the permitted seven. Blackpool lost the match 2–0. On 27 October 2014, after 15 games in charge, Riga was sacked and replaced by ex Town boss Lee Clark.

On 6 April 2015, with six league fixtures remaining, Blackpool were relegated to League One. On 2 May 2015, the final match of the Championship season against Huddersfield Town was abandoned in the 48th minute following an on-pitch protest by hundreds of Blackpool supporters regarding the actions and management style of the directors and owners. The Football League subsequently declared the result the 0–0 scoreline it was at the time of abandonment, which meant Blackpool finished the season with 26 points. Following the resignation of Lee Clark on 9 May 2015, Blackpool appointed Neil McDonald as manager on 2 June. In May 2016, a second successive relegation occurred, which put Blackpool in the bottom tier of English professional football for the first time in 15 years. Less than two weeks later, Neil McDonald was sacked as manager. He was replaced by Gary Bowyer, the club's eighth manager in three-and-a-half years. In May 2017, under Bowyer, Blackpool won promotion to League One after beating Exeter City 2–1 at Wembley in the play-off final. The victory meant that Blackpool became the most successful side in English play-off history, winning their fifth final.



On 10 November 2017, Blackpool was put up for sale by the Oyston family. The sale included the club itself and the properties division that owns Bloomfield Road stadium. Owen Oyston relieved Karl Oyston of his role as chairman and appointed his 32-year-old daughter, Natalie Christopher, in his place, just two weeks after appointing her to the club's board. Gary Bowyer resigned in August 2018 after two years in charge, after the first game of the season for undisclosed reasons. He was replaced with his assistant Terry McPhillips as caretaker manager. McPhillips was made the permanent manager a month later.

Simon Sadler was announced as the new owner of the club, officially ending the Oystons' 32-year tenure. Sadler was born and raised in Blackpool and has worked in asset management in Hong Kong since 2007. He is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Segantii Capital Management. Terry McPhillips resigned as Blackpool manager on 5 July 2019, having informed the club's board that he had no long-term desire to be a manager. He was replaced by Simon Grayson, who returned for a second spell in charge; however, after a long run of defeats, he was sacked on 12 February 2020. Grayson's last game in charge was a 3–2 home loss to Gillingham. Liverpool U23s manager Neil Critchley was appointed head coach – the first such role for the club – as his replacement on 2 March 2020. After a curtailed regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Blackpool finished the 2019–20 season in 13th position after standings were amended to reflect a points-per-game ratio. At the end of the following campaign, Blackpool were promoted back to the second tier of English football, after a six-year absence, after winning the 2021 EFL League One play-off final. It was Blackpool's sixth victory in a play-off final in eight such appearances. The 2021-22 season saw Blackpool secure a sixteenth-place finish in the Championship. On 2 June 2022, Neil Critchley resigned from his role as head coach and joined Aston Villa as assistant head coach. Just over two weeks later, the club appointed its former manager Michael Appleton as Critchley's successor.

Appleton was sacked seven months later, on 18 January 2023, after the club managed one win in eleven games. Veteran Mick McCarthy was appointed to oversee the rest of the season, but an Easter Monday defeat at home to fellow strugglers Cardiff City ended his spell in charge. Interim manager and former Seasiders striker Stephen Dobbie could not keep them in the division. Blackpool were relegated to League One after a home defeat to Millwall on 28 April 2023. Neil Critchley returned for a second spell as manager in the summer, and the following 2023–24 season saw an eighth-placed finish in League One, two places outside the play-off positions. He was sacked in August 2024 and replaced by one final former Town man Steve Bruce.Recently, it was revealed that Sadler was looking to sell the club as he faces accusations of insider trading with Segantii.



Blackpool was originally a small hamlet; it began to grow in the mid-eighteenth century, when sea bathing for health purposes became fashionable. Blackpool's beach was suitable for this activity, and by 1781 several hotels had been built. The opening of a railway station in 1846 allowed more visitors to reach the resort, which continued to grow for the remainder of the nineteenth century. In 1876, the town became a borough. Blackpool's development was closely tied to the Lancashire cotton-mill practice of annual factory maintenance shutdowns, known as wakes weeks, when many workers chose to visit the seaside. The town saw large growth during the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. In the late 20th century, changing holiday preferences and increased overseas travel impacted Blackpool's standing as a leading resort. Despite economic challenges, the town's urban fabric and economy remain centred around tourism.

Life itself has been in the area a wee bit longer, The Fylde peninsula was also home to a British tribe, the Setantii (the "dwellers in the water") a sub-tribe of the Brigantes. Some of the earliest villages on the Fylde, which were later to become part of Blackpool town, were named in the Domesday Book in 1086. In medieval times Blackpool emerged as a few farmsteads on the coast within Layton-with-Warbreck, the name coming from "le pull", a stream that drained Marton Mere and Marton Moss into the sea. The stream ran through peatlands that discoloured the water, so the name for the area became "Black Poole". In the 15th century the area was just called Pul, by 1602, entries in Bispham Parish Church baptismal register include both Poole and for the first time blackpoole. Blackpool lost a lot of tourism to people escaping to foreign climes, but still maintained its draw to the older generations who used to go when they were younger. As such it began to develop around shorter breaks rather than week long holidays, with it now being a draw for weekend piss ups amongst certain age groups, whilst still having the theme park, illuminations and knock off Eiffel Tower as a draw for others. Pub sports like darts still use Blackpool as a major venue which in itself brings a large chunk of income into the region over a relatively short time period, if you like strictly, that is often in the same area, but not at the same time. Can you imagine?



For team news, helik was expected to be back for this weekend, but the revelation over a transfer move yesterday probably removes that possibility. Long term injury sufferer Lee Nichols is available but it will be interesting to see if he immediately usurps Jacob Chapman or if he has to bide his time. It will be interesting to see if he even remains at the club as there has long been speculation over nicholls moving to pastures new. The enforced break has allowed town to get Josh koroma over his fatigue/niggle, so he is good to go at the seaside, whilst Spencer is available after being forced off last time out against Wycombe, so will likely be straight back into the fold. The break will also have allowed radino balker a bit more time to play catch up, but whether he is ready for a starting berth remains to be seen. Elsewhere, lasse Sorensen is due back imminently but the games against Bolton and Birmingham appear to be the likely candidates. Rooskens remains suspended with Lonwijk, kasumu, ward and miller remain long term absentees, whilst a manhunt is still on going for ladapo's first touch and footballing ability, speculation suggests that it was a hoax and never existed, with searchers more likely to find Bigfoot or a unicorn first.



Blackpool have been without CJ Hamilton, who tore us apart in the home fixture for a number of weeks, with Steve Bruce lamenting the fact that they only have one naturally wide player available at the moment in Rob Apter, but the signing of Silvera has eased that burden slightly and will allow Bruce to fully embrace his two man strikeforce he has been wanting to play with. They absolutely outplayed us at our spot, using pace out wide and finding an extra man in the middle of the pitch, however, since then we have tweaked our shape so that we don't get outnumbered as much in the middle, and with Hamilton being out, their pacy options are lacking, meaning our 'quicker' players could push them back and force them to defend deeper.

With regards to who to watch, Kyle Joseph is their leading scorer, whilst Rob Apter is one of their more influential players. Elsewhere in the side Albie Morgan offers them a midfield engine, much like Kasumu does for us, but not as robust, Fletcher has struggled to find his goalscoring touch over the recent years, his three goals so far this season is his best return since 2019-20 season, he tends to start and be used as somewhat of a target man before getting hooked in the second half. Would it surprise you if Brucie throws a curve ball and put Rhodes out from the start to try and beat our more stationary defenders on the move in the box, because his strikers shouldn't get much luck aerially.



In terms of played for both, Jordan Rhodes is the obvious one, he had a good year with the Tangerines last season leading to him joining permanently at the end of his contract at Town, this season he has gone back to being more of a bit part player, struggling for game time ahead of Joseph and Fletcher, he will likely be on the bench on Saturday. Current captain James Husband had a loan spell at Town, coming in to replace Ben Chilwell when his loan deal at Town ended. In recent years, Richard Keogh has represented both clubs, having two spells at Town and one at Blackpool, he is now on the coaching team at the club, having stepped in as interim manager before Steve Bruce was appointed. Another left back in Reece James has played for both clubs, he had a brief loan at Town at the start of his career and an injury hit stay at Bloomfield Road more recently, he can be seen playing for Rotherham now. Chris Maxwell had 3 seasons at Blackpool before joining Town, he made over 100 appearances for the Tangerines and could well end up back there in the summer. Town legends Ollie Turton and Peter Clarke both played for both, Turton signed for Town from Blackpool, he made 140 appearances for them scoring twice, including in the play off final, oops wrong goal, he has 73 appearances for Town with one goal, so at least the strike rate is consistent. Clarke had three spells at Blackpool, one on loan from Everton as a youngster in 2002, before joining permanently in 2004, he spent two years before moving south to Southend. After three years there he moved to Town in 2009 and became club captain, spending 5 years at the Terriers before moving back to Blackpool having made 192 appearances in Yorkshire. His third stint at Blackpool lasted a year and he left to gradually drop down the leagues and is still playing at 43 for Warrington, he made 139 appearances for Blackpool in total.

Elsewhere, wingers Sean Scannell, Chris Brandon and Gary Taylor Fletcher both had varied spells on the Fylde coast, current Town man Antony Evans had a loan spell at Blackpool before moving to Germany. Anyone remember Andy Taylor? we loaned him from Blackburn once upon a time early in his career, he had a couple of years at Blackpool but is now a coach at Bolton. Other names include Neil Danns, Martin Paterson, Ishmael Miller, Jack Robinson, Thomas Ince, Nathan Eccleston, Keith Southern, Paul Rachubka, the much lamented Keigan Parker and Michael Flynn. There are plenty of others, it seems to be a well trodden path, probably helped by it being relatively local in footballing terms.

FRIDAY

Harrogate v Cheltenham Kick-off at 7.45 pm

[b]SATURDAY

Carlisle United v Bradford City Kick-off at 12.30pm
Gillingham v Doncaster Rovers Kick-off at 12.30pm


Accrington Stanley v Notts County. Kick-off at 3.00pm
AFC Wimbledon vs Tranmere Rovers. Kick-off at 3.00pm
Bromley vs Colchester United. Kick-off at 3.00pm
Grimsby Town vs Chesterfield. Kick-off at 3.00pm
Morecambe vs Crewe Alexandra. Kick-off at 3.00pm
Port Vale vs Newport County AFC. Kick-off at 3.00pm[b][/b]
Salford City vs Fleetwood Town. Kick-off at 3.00pm
Swindon Town vs Barrow. Kick-off at 3.00pm
Walsall v Milton Keynes Dons Kick-off at 3.00pm

I've no idea if Matt wants the Friday night match to count

Dagenham and Redbridge have appointed Lewis Young as their permanent manager on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

Young initially joined in April of 2023, as assistant manager to Ben Strevens and took over as interim manager in late December of 2024.

Also joining The Daggers' coaching staff as assistant manager is former Wolves coach Terry Connor.

"I'm delighted that Lewis has agreed to become our manager long-term," said Daggers sporting director James King.

"He has a clear vision of developing this squad and moving this club forward.

"After an intensive interview process with a high-level shortlist, Lewis was impressed in terms of his plans for long-term success on the pitch but also in terms of the structure put in place within the last three weeks."

I'm stepping into AmChaffs warm and comfy shoes this year.
I hope she wears flatties as high heels bugger up my knees and play havoc with my bunions.

I know it's short notice and I haven't got the whole list of events together yet, I'll have the full list up by the end of the week as websites that claim to show the full list of all the important stuff don't. Most of them don't even agree with what they (or I ) call important. What a surprise, but as the Aussie Open Tennis is already underway, if you want to predict that one (or two) please get your predicted winners in by the end of Saturday night's (in Aus) matches. Anything posted after the first serve at start of play Sunday won't count. I know Saturday night matches will go into Sunday, they all count. It's the games after everyone has had a good night's (or morning's) sleep where the cut off point comes in. Typically that's ~11:30 am in Melbourne from what I can work out. I think that's the fairest way to do it rather than midnight here, there or anywhere else.

January 2025

Aussie Women's Open Winner -
Aussie Men's Open Winner -


Rugby Six Nations starts on 31st Jan but you don't have to predict that yet.

I will accept predictions up to kick-off in the first Six Nations match unless it's someone who has already informed Snoots they are on holibobs for his prediction league and they want to join in asap when they get back.

As always, you can change your mind up to the competition starting (Aussie Tennis obviously you've got until the end of their Saturday schedule).

Sports Predictions 2025

Dates Sport Event
January

12th-26th Tennis Aussie Womens Open
12th-26th Tennis Aussie Mens Open
31st Jan-15th March Rugby Union Six Nations (Mens)

February

9th Feb American Football Superbowl

March

15th-23rd Apr Curling Women's World Championship
11th-14th Mar Horse Racing Cheltenham Festival Cheltenham Non-Irish Trainer winners
14th Mar-7th Dec F1 World Championhip - Driver
14th Mar-7th Dec F1 World Championhip - Team
22nd Mar-26th Apr Rugby Union Six Nations (Womens)
29th Mar-6th Apr Curling Mens World Championship

April

5th Apr Horse Racing Grand National Aintree Colour(s) winning Silks
10th-13th Apr Golf The Masters
13th Apr Rowing The Boat Race
19th Apr-5th May Snooker World Chamionship
19th Apr-Jun 22nd Basketball NBA Play-offs
TBC ~ 19th Apr onwards Pond Hockey Lord Stanley's Shaving Mug

May

2nd May Football Scottish Championship
3rd May - 13 Sept Speedway Grand Prix
3rd May Football Championship
3rd May Football League One
3rd May Football League Two
5th May Football Premier League
11th May Football Womens Super League
17th May Football FA Cup Final
25th May F1 Monaco Grand Prix
25th May - 8th June Tennis Womens Open Paris
25th May - 8th June Tennis Mens Open Paris
31st May Football UEFA Chamions League

June

8th June Rugby League Challenge Cup Final
11th-15th June Cricket World Test Championship Final Lords (Aus v Seth Efrika)
12th - 15th June Golf U.S. Open
20th June - 4th August Cricket England v India Tests
28th June-2nd August Rugby Union Lions Tour of Australia
30th June-13th July Tennis Womens, Wimbledon
30th June-13th July Tennis Mens, Wimbledon

July

2nd-27th July Football Euro 2025 - Women
5th-27th July Cycling Tour de France
6th July F1 British Grand Prix
17th-20th July Golf The Open
26th July-3rd Aug Cycling Tour de France - Femmes
31st Jul-3rd Aug Golf The Womens Open

August

22nd Aug-27th Sept Rugby Union Womens World Cup
25th Aug-7th Sept Tennis Womens, US Open
25th Aug-7th Sept Tennis Mens, US Open

September

20th September Rugby League Super League Winners
26th-28th Sept Golf Ryder Cup

October

29th Sept-31st Oct (prov) Baseball World Series
11th Oct Rugby League Super League Grand Final

November

16th Nov Canadian Football Grey Cup
21st Nov-8th Jan 2026 Cricket The Ashes

December

14th Dec-2nd Jan (prov) Darts PDC World Darts Chamionship
21st Dec-18th Jan 2026 Football 2025 Africa Cup of Nations



Play-off Decider Football League One 2024-25 Season Huddersfield Town Total points plus goals



A few explainers

The spreadsheet when I post it will have more detail - including deadlines. Generally take the start date as the deadline though some will be much earlier (e.g. Football, Feb 3rd) and some are later as you can wait until the teams for the play-off's are known. Trying to paste more than a few columns off a table into a text based system just gets plain ugly and confusing. Just pick someone, some team, some country for now, you can change it later if you want to.

Note some sports that run across a number of months are in the month where they start rather than finish, some are in the final month just to spread them out a bit so keep an eye out for the deadlines.

Aussie Open Tennis - done to death below.

Rugby Union - I think explains itself across the competitions

Rugby League - Super League starts in February but this appears at the end of the League season in September. There is then a separate pick for the Grand Final which you can select up to the kick off of first play-off game as League position decides who is involved. The Challenge Cup Final is in June but the 3rd Round is when all the Super League teams are involved and is scheduled for the weekend of 8th-9th Feb. TV might decide to screen a game before the weekend so it's the kick-off for the first 3rd round game that is the deadline.

NFL Superbowl - play-off games this weekend will decide the 4 teams for the Conference Finals - pick from those 4 teams. You might want to check Monday's sports headlines.

Horse Racing - now I know horse racing like I know the back of your hand and I couldn't name a current jockey or nag to save my life. So as Cheltenham is renowned for being a magnet for the Irish, and Irish trainer trained horses (not always in Ireland) tend to win a lot of the races (so my scant research tells me) - so how many races across the 4 days will be trained by folk who are not Irish? For The Grand National you are invited to pick the colour or colours of the Silks worn by the winning jockey. If you pick Blue or Yellow for example, there can be no other colour on the Silks. So if the winning jockey wears Silks with say blue with a yellow motif, cross, stripes, spots or sleeves on it then you need to have picked Blue and Yellow. The colour selection does not refer to their caps.
Note I will update how many races are expected at Cheltenham (I think it's normally north of 20) and a link to runners/riders and colours for the pin stickers for The Grand National at some point before it all starts.

Pond (Ice) Hockey - I'm beginning to think this sport doesn't have an off-season anymore. No matter when I go over the pond it's on the tellybox. Anyway, the NHL "regular season" has been running since the first frosts fell in Florida back in September and after they all play each other about 20 times at least (it seems like it) until the final frosts in Florida in April. Then they hold the play-off's which will go on all Summer until some of the teams have played each other another umpteen times before they declare one of them the winners of The Stanley Cup - the largest trophy in Sports. https://www.nhl.com/

F1 - don't just pick the driver, pick the team that will win both Championships over the whole season, which starts in Aus. There are also a couple of races to pick winning drivers in those races only.

Golf - I've not picked every Major Championship as I've also included the Ladies Open and The Ryder Cup

Tennis - deadline is the first serve of the whole tournament, regardless of whether it's a women's or a men's match (or even a doubles match, but that's less likely). Seniors not juniors obvs.

Football - I've gone for The Scottish Championship https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/sco...ship/table rather than The Scottish Premiership as that would appear to be Celtic's to lose right now. You could argue the same might be true of the EFL Divison Two as Walsall have put together one of their once every 20-25 year teams again. Walsall however, are no Celtic when it comes to winning things. Teams must be selected by 3rd Feb when the Transfer Window closes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/pre...ague/table
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/table
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/league-one/table
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/league-two/table
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/wom...ague/table

Rowing - might be controversial but this is only the Mens Race. If I catch a crab, so be it.

Speedway - pick the winning rider for the whole of the competition across the summer, not just the first meeting in Germany. If you need a link - https://www.fimspeedway.com/sgp/riders

Canadian Football - now I know some or even most of you won't be sure what this is. The CFL is The Great White North version of The NFL.
https://www.cfl.ca/schedule/2025/

and as the words to Tom Hicks great song go by way of explanation .....

We say eh! You say y'all
Ya we both got pro football
'Cept we got bigger balls and a longer field
(and one less down)
You say "zee", we say "zed"
Sure we watch all your TV
and you gotta stronger army down there,
But man up here .......
We got stronger beer !!

So now you know all you need to know eh? The teams are in the link above and Toronto won last year. Woah, did I just type that?
A Toronto team won something? Wow. Who knew, eh?

What song you ask? - This one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E064kb3UnU

Here, the nearest comparison is Rugby League and Rugby Union but as you probably realise, that comparison isn't that close.

Baseball - when the frosts in Florida are finally no more, "The Boys of Summer" come out to play. This goes on until the end of September while everybody seems to play each other at least 30 times and then play-offs are used to decide the American League and the National League Winners. Then the two winners of those competitions play the slightly different version of each others game against each other until the frosts in Florida are deep enough to declare one of them The World (sic) Series Champions and The Pond Hockey guys can play again. Though in all honesty, the Pond Hockey guys don't usually play on a frozen Baseball Diamond as most of them are outside ande pitchers mound tends to get in the way. https://www.mlb.com/
Who'd have thought a frozen pond would be outside?

January Finish - The Ashes, The Darts and The Africa Cup of Nations all start this year but finish in January. If you're still with us by then, hang on for the gripping finale. Hopefully my New Year's hangover will have cleared enough to post the final points and declare a winner.

Tie Breaker - so if all that excitement isn't enough to declare a winner, you've to predict by the 3rd Feb what Huddersfield Town's combined points and goals will be at the end of this League One season (not including any involvement in those Play-off wot-nots). After yesterday's 1-1 draw at Blackpool, Town have 48 points and 39 goals for what my abacus makes a total of 87. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/tea...town/table
Hey - I had to elbow Town into all this fun somehow.

Otherwise any disputes will be subject to a VAR review by my schizophrenic brethren, otherwise known as me, myself and I with my decision as final. In case of further dispute refer to the previous sentence.

Right, so now I've got to make the spreadsheet look pretty whilst you get on with picking your winners.

THE MATCH

SUNDAY 19TH JANUARY KO 12PM

v

LAST MATCH



Our cup run ended at the first attempt as we lost out on penalties to Coventry. We never looked like scoring in the first half and Coventry took the lead midway through the half as we failed to clear a corner and Kitching hammered home from close range. Onto the 2nd half and Coventry still looked the most likely to score as we struggled to create anything. We finally forced a save from there keeper in the 84th minute, from Bannan. Then in injury time Musaba found himself some space and fired home the equaliser. No goals in ET so we went to penalties. We took an early advantage only for us to miss a couple of spot kicks and lose out 4-3 on pens.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Back to the league and we travel to league leaders Leeds. Needless to say Leeds are having a very good season and it looks like a 3/4 team shootout to see who gets automatic promotion to the Premier League. They are managed by Daniel Farke, who took Norwich into the Premier League several years ago. Leeds lost out on promotion when losing to Southampton in the play off final in Farke's first season, so will hope to avoid the lottery of the playoffs this season. There leading scorer is Joel Piroe with 10 goals and 5 assists.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 34
LEEDS 41
DRAW 27

CURRENT FORM

OWLS  L D W L D W                                                                      

LEEDS D D W W W D                         

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

DAVID WEBB
Rob Smith and Nigel Lugg
Fourth Official: Tom Nield

THE TEAM

Beadle
Palmer Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Charles
Musaba Ingelsson Gasama
Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

3-1 Windass

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML LEAGUE

Imre 20
SCO 18
Washington 17
Maddix 15
Wereham 10

BMPL

Stateside 15
Owlkev 12
Southey 12
Pei 7

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Everton v Tottenham
Manchester United v Brighton
Nottingham Forest v Southampton
Ipswich Town v Manchester City
Chelsea v Wolves

AAHAH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Group A

Minizin 12
Themaclad 11
Twerton 11
Zinman 10
A.A.A. 10
Amelia 10

Consistency is certainly the theme this week in Group A. Everyone was consistent in getting the Gamball wrong, getting a CR on the Bonus and picking up the Scoreball point!! Everyone consistently failed to turn correct results into correct scores with a season low of only one correct score. This meant that the scoring was consistent in terms of only two points separating top from bottom and everyone was consistent with all scoring in double figures!!

Minizin is 1st with 12 points, closely followed one point behind by Themaclad and Twerton and they were followed by Zinman, AAA and Amelia with 10 points. The top three were the same last week and are the same in the table, the bottom three are in the same order as the bottom three in the table, more consistency!! Not much else to be said really as everyone was simply consistent with each other!!

205 Themaclad
178 Minzin
167 Twerton
163 Zinman
153 A.A.A.
138 Amelia

Themaclad cracks the double century but absolutely nothing else changes in reality!! Group A did pass the 1000 points mark as a group, Group B with one extra player passed this mark last week.


Group B

SCO 14
Derby 12
BBB 12
Stairs 11
Snooty 10
Lady Jane 8
BaggieOne 6

Not too many shocks from our cup selections so it was a fairly close run week for Group B. We did see the highest number of correct result predictions so far this season but none of them were on the Gamball, so overall scores were kept down. With fairly predictable results, the bonus ball produced a good score. Only 3 of the 9 eligible games failed to produce a potential scoreball point but those 3 seemed very popular so just 1 point from that ball this week.

SCO leads the way for a 2nd week - 2 correct scores from his 5 correct predictions. derby equalled those 2 correct scores but only managed one other correct result to share second place with BBB - 1 correct score, 5 correct results for him.

Stairs is just a point further back, failing to turn any of his 5 correst results into a maximum, but as the only player with the scoreball point he edges above Snooty. Lady Jane was another with no correct scores while BaggieOne wasn't helped by forgetting to play his balls (other than the gamball).

196 Lady Jane
173 Derby
165 SCO
162 Stairs
142 Snooty
139 BBB
112 BaggieOne

No changes this week though SCO's recent surge sees him edging closer to 2nd spot.

Remember your balls!

Zin & SCO

After meeting the North End massive at Norton Canes services, he can only go from strength to strength except n his first game

Luton Town have appointed Wycombe Wanderers head coach Matt Bloomfield as their new manager on a three-and-a-half-year contract.

The 40-year-old leaves the promotion-chasing League One side to replace Rob Edwards at Kenilworth Road just a week after the former Welsh international, who famously guided the Hatters to Premier League promotion in 2023, left the club by mutual consent as they struggle near the bottom of the Championship.

Luton are 20th in the second tier, just two places and two points clear of the bottom three, as they look to avoid back-to-back relegations after losing their Premier League status after just one season in the top flight last May.

Bloomfield said it was a "genuine honour and a privilege" to take the helm at The Hatters. "I'm incredibly proud and very, very happy to be here," he told the club's website, external.

Wycombe, who are second in League One, said they they remain focused on a "long-term vision" for the club and "building on this season's foundations of success".

"The club is naturally disappointed with Matt's decision to leave in the middle of the season," said a statement on Wycombe's website, external.

"However, we respect his decision to pursue this new chapter in his career. He leaves with the gratitude and best wishes of everyone at Wycombe Wanderers."

Bloomfield's assistant coach Richard Thomas, first-team coach Lee Harrison and senior analyst Ben Cirne will join him in making the switch to Luton.

His first game in charge will be at home to Preston North End on Saturday.

The former midfielder retired as a long-serving player at Wycombe in 2022 and moved into coaching with the Chairboys before being appointed as Colchester boss later that same year.

Within months he was back in League One as Gareth Ainsworth's successor at Wycombe, a club he first signed for in 2003 as a player after being released by Ipswich Town as a teenager.

Luton chief executive Gary Sweet said Luton had "gone above and beyond to compensate Wycombe" to secure Bloomfield and his support staff.

He thanked the third-tier club for their "co-operation in ensuring a swift and smooth transition".

"Since returning to Wycombe as manager we have been hugely impressed with his work in leading them back towards the top of League One, and especially in how they have done it in such an entertaining way, forging a reputation for front-footed attacking football," Sweet added.

"We identified Matt's personal and team-building qualities as the outstanding candidate to fit in with the culture we have long established here at Luton Town."

Bloomfield said the depth of research Luton did on him and the sides he has managed gave him the "feeling of being wanted" and convince him "that this was the right move at the right time".

While he was Wycombe boss for less than two years, his 19 seasons as a player there earned him the nickname of 'Mr Wycombe'.

He made 558 appearances for the club, and in the last of those seasons, 2021-22, he was named as a first-team coach alongside his playing duties.

He helped Wanderers to three promotions from League Two and was also part of the squad which took them into the Championship for the only time in their history, in 2019-20.

His first managerial appointment was at Colchester United in September 2022, and after guiding them away from the League Two relegation zone with nine wins from his 27 games in charge, he was appointed as Wycombe manager in February 2023 after Gareth Ainsworth left to join Queens Park Rangers.

He took Wycombe to the EFL Trophy final for the first time in their history last season and this year has led them into League One promotion contention with a 19-match unbeaten run that ended against Charlton Athletic on 29 December.

As Wycombe now search for a replacement, a caretaker coaching team made up of development coaches - including Sam Grace, Harry Hudson, Matty Dye and Jerome John - will oversee traning and their upcoming fixtures.

Pepple on loan from Luton bags the 27 shirt. Recently bagged a few for Saafend.

Donacien grabs 44 which, unusually for us, is less than his age. A relative youth product for a Spireite at a mere 31, he's been a free agent since leaving Ipswich. Naturally he'll be plotting his first injury and has already reserved a spot on the Physio's couch.

Aribusitamunoipirim Emmanuel "Bim" Pepple is worth an immediate place for his wonderful name. When they sing "There's only one ........... no-one will disagree.