Blackpool host their first home game of the League One season on Saturday amid a backdrop of relegation, managerial change, player upheaval and, as though to confirm that misery can be unremitting, defeat to lower league opposition in the first round of the Capital One Cup in midweek. Apprehension surrounding Rochdale’s visit to Bloomfield Road, however, continues to centre on potential for conflict off the pitch.
Saturday also marks Blackpool’s first home game since their farewell to the Championship against Huddersfield Town in May was abandoned when supporters invaded the pitch in protest at the club’s owners, the Oyston family, and staged a sit-in demonstration lasting over an hour.
The Seasiders were fined £50,000 by the Football Association and warned they must play a game behind closed doors if there is another pitch invasion within the next 12 months. The Football League imposed a three-point deduction on Blackpool, suspended for two seasons, for failing to fulfil the fixture. Both punishments arrived after a pre-season friendly at Lancaster City was abandoned when a few Blackpool fans staged another centrecircle protest against the controversial chairman Karl Oyston.
The threat of a hat-trick that would cost Blackpool three points and gate receipts looms over Saturday’s fixture, although the Blackpool Supporters Trust – who have proposed a £16m leveraged buyout of the club and helped organise a protest march against the Oystons before the Huddersfield game – are opposed to any more pitch invasions. Not that the summer months have brought an appeasement.
“The level of concern about the club’s future under the current owners remains exactly the same as it was in May,” says the BST secretary, Kevin Boroduwicz. “There is a likelihood of people taking measures they would never normally contemplate as they become ever more concerned but we have decided, after taking a vote among our members, not to get involved in or condone any further pitch invasions.
“We made representations to the FA about why we were protesting against the owners in May but the FA ignored us, which was extremely disappointing. There will be a protest outside the ground on Saturday but many supporters will not pay to go inside the stadium and give money to the current owners.
“It’s very unlikely there will be a repeat of the pitch invasion that took place against Huddersfield in the near future but there could be a repeat of what happened at Lancaster with one or two people invading the pitch of their own volition. The police have made it clear to us, and the Oystons have spoken to the police about ensuring matches are completed, that they will act very differently (to the Huddersfield protest) if that is the case.”
Indeed, Blackpool police this week charged seven people, aged from 16 to 46, with public order offences related to the pitch invasion against Huddersfield on 2 May and warned supporters they could be banned from matches for encroaching on to Bloomfield Road. “Pitch encroachment is an offence which could result in being arrested and banned from matches and we hope that all supporters will enjoy this season’s fixtures safely and responsibly,” said detective inspector Jason Richardson.
The abandoned friendly at Lancaster was Neil McDonald’s first game as manager after replacing Lee Clark, who resigned only six months into the job following relegation from the Championship. McDonald’s most recent match was the 3-0 cup defeat at Northampton Town on Tuesday, when the League Two side hit the woodwork twice in the opening 10 minutes before scoring three times in a nine-minute spell midway through the first half. “We were absolutely rubbish in the first half,” said Sam Allardyce’s former assistant at West Ham United. Blackpool were booed off at the interval by 305 away fans. On Saturday, supporters’ anger will revert to the owners they allege have reduced the club to “a parlous state”.
The BST has responded to a series of questions posed in public by Owen Oyston over its takeover bid but requested that any further negotiations occur in private. In the meantime, protests look set to continue whether inside or outside Bloomfield Road.
“We are very serious about rescuing the club,” added Boroduwicz. “Although the Oystons think they have done a great job we disagree with them on what the future holds. We have very real concerns about the future of the club and the actions taken have been entirely in response to the owners and the chairman in particular. To sue fans, as Karl Oyston is doing, is beyond the pale for many people.
“Our concern is for the heart and soul of the football club that we see being removed before our eyes. The club is more than a business no matter how many people try to take it that way. People are only acting to protect something they dearly love. This club is part of the fabric of the town and it really matters to us.”
