da apostebet： It’s hard to describe Blackpool’s season in any other words other than a complete mess.
da aviator aposta： When the campaign started with only eight players it wasn’t going to be long before the Seasiders found themselves at the bottom of the league. They soon firmly cemented that spot, but the on the pitch problems were only the tip of the iceberg. A banner was spotted at Newcastle’s match against Leicester which perfectly sums up how the Tangerine Army feel: “We don’t demand a team that wins, we demand a club that tries.”
It’s hard to believe that only three years ago they were about to make the Championship play-off final in the first season since being relegated from the Premier League. Since then things have took a taken for the worst. Ian Holloway is seen as a legend to all Blackpool fans, but it is a completely different story for the owners. The Bristolian became the first proper manager to tell owner Karl Oyston just what he thought and was not afraid to tell him when he thought he was wrong.
Since Holloway left the club in November 2012, things have not been the same, and it seems the Oyston family have lost interest in the club. The Seasiders used to be able to brag about being one of the only clubs in Europe not to be in debt. There is no doubt that Oyston has always run Blackpool FC more like a business than a football club but now he seems to have taken it to the extreme. While the family were rarely loved by the fans of the club there was an appreciation there for helping them to keep afloat when the club could have been lost forever, but the relationship has been damaged beyond repair.
The pitch has been an embarrassment, players have gone missing and fans have been sued for voicing their opinion on the owner. The dismal season finished with the game at Bloomfield Road abandoned after hundreds of supporters ran onto the pitch and covered the centre circle – a fan in a mobility scooter took many cheers. The pitch invasion was followed a massive march through Blackpool which saw hundreds of fans join together to protest against the owners. As a Blackpool fan myself, I have always been adamant that I could never protest during a match, but things have gone too far now – even my mum stood up and joined in!
Blackpool’s protests have attracted the eyes of many this season with the story ending up on NBC in America. Celebrities like Russell Brand, James Cordon and Rachel Riley even showed their support especially when the club chose to remove their statue of club legend Stan Mortensen ‘so it would not be damaged in the protest’. No matter how angry the fans were there was not a chance they would have damaged the memorial of someone so precious to the club. It seemed to be just another way of antagonising an already angry group of fans.
It is hard to see where Blackpool go from here. Since the season has finished there has been no official comment from anybody at the club about the match abandonment, the relegation or any of the accusations which have been thrown. Fans don’t want to protest, they don’t want to boycott games but there comes a time when they cannot sit around and watch their club rot any longer. Oyston has to come out and accept some of the blame. He has already lost the fans – many will never forgive him for the damage he has done to the club, but some effort to restore the past over the summer could start to heal the wounds. It is not just down to Oyston though to save Blackpool from despair.
It was decided on Tuesday that there would not be a replay of the abandoned game due to the fact that it’s outcome would not have changed anything in the play-off or relegation places, but the club will either receive a points deduction or a fine.
It’s now time for the FA to decide – punish the owners or punish the fans.
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