Following a wholly avoidable relegation from the Championship and a League One season that flattered to deceive, there are many hearts and minds who Blackpool Football Club are in danger of losing. With the advent of Sky Sports+ streaming each EFL side at least twenty times during the 2024/25 campaign, the Seasiders really needed to make a bold, positive statement when announcing season ticket prices. What transpired was another example of the club failing to ‘read the room’.
This is not a post to say that x club is charging less/more in a higher, lower, or the same division. Each side has special circumstances attached to pricing, be that the ability of the local community to pay, size of stadium and wage bill, and realistic expectations. In the last two years, Blackpool have unequivocally gone backwards, and from a positional sense within the pyramid are back where they started when Simon Sadler took the reins five years ago. Whilst the stadium has been brought back from the brink of ruin, what has transpired on the pitch since the epic 2021/22 season in the Championship has been completely unacceptable, but we will never know for sure if this was precipitated by current boss Neil Critchley’s abrupt departure to collect cones for Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.
The subsequent appointment of Michael Appleton need not have been a disaster if one of the most unlikeable managers Blackpool have had in my time supporting them – the others being Neil McDonald and Lee Clark – had been given the tools to do his job. Some bizarre and utterly ridiculous panic signings brought nothing to the pitch, coupled with the worrying trend of the side’s best players being those who are on loan from elsewhere. In this case think Ian Poveda, Morgan Rogers, and Lewis Fiorini, whilst this time around it was Karamoko Dembele, Jordan Rhodes, Hayden Coulson, and George Byers. Appleton left the building some six months later, but the appointment of Mick McCarthy sealed the club’s fate.
Fast forward to Neil Critchley 2.0, a reboot far from popular with many, although others were willing to see if one of the best qualified coaches in Europe could (re)work his magic. The upshot was turgidity, giving far too many chances to players whom Critchley had signed during his first iteration at the club, and an over-reliance on the aforementioned quartet of loanees. It is ironic that Blackpool surpassed the 72 points benchmark usually needed to get the final play off position, albeit by a single point, but also had they not thrown away the lead against an admittedly superior Reading side, then a tenth appearance in the play offs would improbably been theirs. Failure to do so by such a thin margin did though come with an asterix against what was a double-edged sword: Blackpool were nowhere near good enough over the season, and would quite likely have been taken apart by Bolton Wanderers, or eventual winners Oxford United.
With some notable names – Shayne Lavery, Marvin Ekpiteta, Callum Connolly, plus the aforementioned loanees – leaving the club, Blackpool are left with a mediocre squad of those still under contract, but the likes of Oli Norburn, Jake Beesley, and CJ Hamilton are nowhere near good enough to mount a strong, sustained promotion challenge. Furthermore, nobody would be surprised if Dan Grimshaw and Jordan Gabriel both sought a Championship side with whom to showcase their talents, although it is anticipated that Ryan Finnigan and Rob Apter will both play significant parts during the forthcoming season. Nevertheless, Blackpool are massively short of what they need to be, as stated by the highest echelons of the club, promoted this coming season, and an established Championship side in less than three years time.
Therefore, whilst almost inevitable, the price increase of season tickets has gone down like the proverbial. Not only is Critchley’s football boring and more akin to hope(the type that kills you) than expectation, the lack of public utterances from Simon Sadler gives little indication as what supporters will be getting for their money. For those who opt to pick and choose games, whether due to financial, geographical, or employment reasons, a standard seat will cost either £27, or £31 for a Category 2 match, the latter most likely to be against Birmingham City, Bolton, and Wigan Athletic. Furthermore, for walk up tickets the 18-21 age bracket has been removed, meaning those at university and/or in minimum wage roles will have to pay as much as a middle-aged adult. Not for the first time in the last thirty years, Blackpool run the risk of losing a generation(or two) of supporters. Incidentally, £31 for third tier football is astonishing.
Football supporters are taken for granted by their clubs. There will always be those who will renew come what may, and I do not have a problem with that. However, the relationship needs to work both ways. Blackpool are not a club who can charge what they like, knowing that foreign-based supporters and football tourists will hoover up expensively priced tickets. It again must be remembered that Blackpool is one of the poorest towns in the UK, with the average person not having £100 lying around to take themselves and their kids to the football.
Whilst a new age category, under 14, has been added, children that age cannot attend football on their own. To put the released prices into context, a 14 year old, or their parent, would generally pay £109 for a season ticket, but four years later £395. It is somewhat perverse that the 18-21 category has been retained for season tickets but not for walk up ‘on the day’ tickets. Even so, a 17 year old would typically pay £159 but at 18 this jumps to £345, the latter figure being just £50 under the early bird full price for adult tickets.
For those who wish to pay by instalments, the process is so invasive and protracted that the many on low incomes will not bother, or even qualify. Whilst I completely agree with making football affordable in a town like Blackpool to fill the ground, I would never advocate getting into debt for such a reason.
Many argue that season ticket prices should not be released until the club has shown its hand; in other words, once a statement of intent has been made as in signings that will improve the squad. A counter argument suggests that most players will for the time being be on holiday, and that the contracts of those who have been released by other clubs will not expire until perhaps the end of June. I would though say that if Rotherham United can announce the signing of Jonson Clarke-Harris barely a week after the season ended, there is little reason why Blackpool cannot delay announcing the prices of season tickets until a few positive signings have entered the building. It would though be specious to suggest that the club, any club, needs to develop its budget around income from season tickets before deciding on the level of squad investment. If those at the top have modelled the likely uptake of season tickets and walk ups for the forthcoming season, all the while taking into consideration the significant levels of discontent within the fanbase, then there should be an element of concern, which will not be allayed by alienating many supporters yet further by the recent pricing announcement.
Whilst in part subjective, what the squad needs is nevertheless glaring. The re-signing of George Byers and Hayden Coulson should be a priority, although I am not convinced bringing back a now injury prone Jordan Rhodes, 35 in January, would amount to good business. However, the squad needs more authority figures, and in the absence of Richard Keogh, Gary Madine, and now Marvin Ekpiteta, Rhodes would certainly fit the bill.
Even if Rhodes does return, two further strikers are needed. I would loan out Kylian Kouassi, enabling the former Sutton United man to get more regular game time than he can realistically expect at the seaside. An experienced central defender, a third goalkeeper, and additional midfielder are also required, but much will depend on who Blackpool can afford to get in, plus if Sonny Carey and even Dominic Thompson can be fully rehabilitated. Conversely, should Critchley decide to give more chances to players who probably do not deserve them, this could indicate an inability to get better in than a further display of misplaced faith.
With Simon Sadler having recently made an appearance in a Hong Kong court on charges of insider trading, the immediate and longer term future remains uncertain. Again, a lack of communication from the owner, in light of but also abstract to recent developments in the Far East, does little to instil confidence that the club is able to get to where it says it wants to be. Competition in League One will be fierce – Wrexham, Stockport County, Reading, Wigan, Charlton Athletic, Birmingham City, Rotherham, Barnsley, Bolton, and Peterborough United will all expect to do well – but there is, at the moment, little evidence to suggest that Blackpool will be among the front runners.
https://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/news/2024/may/20/2024-25-season-tickets-on-sale-now-/
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