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Blackpool – An Example That Other Lower League Clubs Must Emulate.

We knew they had something special about them. No-one thought that they had this in them though. Written off without a chance, relegation favourites, no-hopers. It all sounds strangely familiar, that was the story last year, we should have known. Blackpool continue to defy expectations. Proudly sitting 9th in the Premier League, they are flying higher than the famous tower at the moment.  

They were under-dogs last season but this campaign, with the big-boys, they shouldn’t have stood a chance. Ian Holloway was defiant. His team wouldn’t pay more than £10,000 in wages. They were in the big league but Blackpool were not about to bankrupt themselves by striving too hard for success. At first it didn’t look like it would work. Nobody wanted to sign; the wages Blackpool were willing to pay weren’t big enough for these proven Premier League talents used to the over-inflated salaries associated with England’s top division.

Eventually though, it clicked together. 9 new players, no stars, but young prospects and journeyman with points to prove, joined up with the previous promotion squad. Marlon Harewood, DJ Campbell and Luke Varney were the biggest names, all strikers, but they were hardly likely to leave the internationally acclaimed centre backs in the division scared. Harewood hadn’t impressed of late, Campbell had only briefly played at this level and Varney came, on loan, from Derby, in the Championship.

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This team just continues to impress though, playing good football in a gloriously attacking formation they are fast becoming everyone’s second favourite team. Everyone except Preston fans, of course.

Holloway has something at Blackpool that is the envy of every lower league fan. A team of players that shouldn’t be competitive at that level are looking comfortable in their new surroundings. Numerous examples of players that have never managed to cut it in divisions that cannot boast the same standard of football as the Premier League look at home playing against the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Charlie Adam was an SPL failure. DJ Campbell was a Championship failure. Luke Varney was a Championship failure. Marlon Harewood was, simply, a failure. Heck, Alex John-Baptise was relegated to the Conference with Mansfield.

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Even the manager wasn’t supposed to know anything about tactics. His post-match press conferences might have been entertaining but he wasn’t supposed to have the tactical genius of a Ferguson, the transfer knowledge of a Redknapp or the footballing philosophies of a Wenger. Yet he has proven beyond any doubt that he is in-fact, a brilliant manager. What he has achieved Blackpool is nothing short of remarkable and no longer should he be known as the “funny-man”.

The fact they have done this without risking the club’s financial stability is even more astounding. How many times will a club gain promotion, spend way over their budget and simply go back down next season and find themselves in financial difficulty? Blackpool haven’t spent huge amounts of players, they have invested in a new stand, new training facilities and have used the money to improve the long-term future of the club.

Blackpool are distinctive in more ways the one. Their brightly coloured tangerine shirts make them stand out but it is their football that is shining through at the moment. All of a sudden a small club, more famous for a pier than a football team, have a club to be proud of. One that is punching miles above its weight and still managing to compete. Blackpool have transformed themselves from an ordinary football club to one that every ambitious lower league club must try to emulate.

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