Blackpool and Luton Town defying vast gulf in resources to compete and thrive in the Championship

The Hatters have enjoyed an excellent campaign under Nathan Jones and have defied all the odds to sit fourth with three games to go.

Boasting a six-point lead to Millwall in seventh, you’d imagine a top six place is all but assured. But you never know, a Blackpool win could make things a little nervy for them in their remaining fixtures.

A reminder that Saturday’s game is televised live on Sky Sports, hence the early kick-off. In Blackpool’s previous three outings in front of the cameras this season, they’ve been unable to taste victory.

Of course, that wouldn’t have been the case had the linesman in the QPR game back in November done his job properly, but there we go.

The pressure is completely off the Seasiders and they’ll be brimming with confidence from Easter Monday’s rout of Birmingham City. But I highly doubt Luton will make things as easy for them as Lee Bowyer’s side did at the start of the week…

I have good memories of Kenilworth Road, a ramshackle ground that even I - a big proponent of older, more traditional grounds - concede is ready for the scrap heap.

To this day I still don’t know what entirely happened when Gary Bowyer’s then Blackpool side scored a 95th-minute equaliser to send them to Wembley in their 2017 play-off semi-final.

Ironically, it was Stuart Moore - then on loan with the Hatters but now Blackpool’s third choice goalie - who got the last touch as the ball bobbled over the line to break Luton hearts.

Thanks to the stanchions in the main stand, which block the view from the press box of the six-yard boxes at both ends of the ground, my view of the incident was limited to nil. All I saw was Clark Robertson and Kelvin Mellor running away in celebration.

A lot has happened since then and now both teams are battling above their weight in the second tier, rather than the fourth.

Away from Blackpool matters, I must share my congratulations withFulham, who confirmed their promotion back to the Premier League with an emphatic 3-0 win against our dear neighbours Preston in midweek.

Marco Silva’s side have made it look easy at times this season, albeit not against Blackpool who took four points off them.

Nevertheless, they’ve been the best side in the division by some distance and will inevitably add the league title to their trophy cabinet in the coming days.

Many will say they should be walking to promotion and when you judge matters by financial accounts and budgets, they’re absolutely right.

The money the Cottagers manage to pick up from parachute payments is eye-watering and gives them a huge advantage over the clubs, like Blackpool, who aren’t in receipt of such hefty sums of cash.

Nevertheless, football isn’t played on paper and you still have to walk the walk and win the games. You only have to look at West Brom to realise having the most money and the best players doesn’t mean you automatically enjoy success. So fair play to Fulham.

Saying that, the gulf between the two divisions is so wide now I do expect Fulham to come straight back down, just as they did last season.

They can spend as much money as they like during the summer but unless they get their recruitment absolutely perfect, I don’t see how next season will be any different to their previous campaigns in the top flight. That’s not even a criticism of the club either, it’s just the blunt, harsh nature of the business at the top end of the pyramid.

By the same token, I’m expecting Norwich City and Watford to be challenging at the summit of the Championship next season.

In recent years, the promoted clubs that tend to perform well in the Premier League are sides like Brentford, Leeds United and Sheffield United, who have a different approach in terms of style of play and perhaps take the more established sides by surprise.

If Bournemouth are able to cling onto second place (which is not assured at all, by the way, just take a look at their remaining fixtures), do I expect them to survive next season? Nope.

All in all, it paints a bleak picture. When the best you can realistically hope for is 17th, which is exactly what Fulham will be aiming for, what does that say about the fairness and equality of the system?

Just to put Blackpool’s success in a bit of context, a table ranking Championship clubs by total cost of squads - as per their most recent accounts - puts the Seasiders at the bottom with a spend of just £1.4.

In second place is tomorrow’s opponents Luton at £3.4m, which does provide inspiration to the Seasiders that they can challenge at the top end of the division in the seasons ahead without having to splurge vast amounts of money.

By way of comparison at the other end of the spectrum, Fulham’s squad cost £233m to put together, followed by Bournemouth (£198m) and Stoke City (£145m).

Even average sides - and that’s being kind - like Birmingham City (£31m), Bristol City (£36m) and Cardiff City (£54m) are able to dwarf Blackpool with the resources at their disposal.

Neil Critchley’s men have put these clubs to shame this season. Long may it continue.