Blackpool BIG survey results: The Seasiders faithful name their highs and lows from last season

One of the questions asked supporters to reveal their biggest highs and lows from last season, as the Seasiders missed out on a place in the League One play-offs following their 3-2 defeat away to Reading on the final day of the campaign.

A number of answers were repeated on a number of occasions, with the Blackpool faithful in agreement on certain matters.

Here’s some of the selected highlights:

Portsmouth away

Owen Dale, Jake Beesley, CJ Hamilton and Albie Morgan all found the back of the net in a 4-0 victory over eventual League One winners Portsmouth at Fratton Park back in November.

Forest cup games

Blackpool enjoyed some joy in the FA Cup third round away to Nottingham Forest. Goals from Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel and Albie Morgan gave the Seasiders a 2-0 lead at the City Ground, before the Premier League outfit pulled themselves level at 2-2 to set up a replay at Bloomfield Road.

The second game also finished two apiece after 90 minutes, before Chris Wood gave the visitors a 3-2 victory in extra time.

Beating Bolton at home

In February, the Seasiders claimed a dominant 4-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers at Bloomfield Road. Beesley bagged a brace while Marvin Ekpiteta and Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel were also on the scoresheet for Critchley’s side, who came from behind following George Thomason’s early goal.

The visitors were down to 10 men for just under the final 25 minutes, with Ricardo Santos sent off.

Dembele’s artistry

Karamoko Dembele proved to be one of the most exciting players in League One after joining the Seasiders on loan from Brest.

During his time at Bloomfield Road, the 21-year-old scored nine goals and provided 14 assists in all competitions.

As part of the survey, a number of fans picked out their favourite Dembele moments, with one of the standouts being his early strike in the 1-0 victory away to Carlisle United.

Signing Jordan Rhodes

Jordan Rhodes became an instant hit with Blackpool fans after arriving on loan from Huddersfield Town on loan last August. The striker scored 15 goals during the first half of the season, but missed a large chunk of games from January onwards through injury.

The 34-year-old has recently become a free agent after being released by the Terriers.

Here’s some of the selected low points:

The Christmas period

The Seasiders endured a poor festive period with two disappointing away results. On Boxing Day they were defeated 1-0 by Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium, while on their final outing of 2023 they were beaten 3-0 by Port Vale- who would eventually finish in the bottom four.

Cheltenham away

One of Blackpool’s poorest displays of the season was their 2-0 midweek defeat away to Cheltenham Town.

After the match, Critchley stated: “We got what we deserved, we weren’t good enough from start to finish, we were lacking the basic fundamentals that you need.”

Losing to Peterborough in the semi-final

The Seasiders initially bounced back from their defeat to Cheltenham with a victory away from home over Peterborough. The two teams met again a few days later at Bloomfield Road in the semi-finals of the EFL Trophy.

With Wembley just 90 minutes away, Blackpool couldn’t get going in the match, and were on the end of a 3-0 loss.

Losing to Reading

The disappointment of the season as a whole culminated in the 3-2 defeat to Reading on the final day. Despite taking the lead in the early stages, they were unable to hold on, and finished the campaign knowing that three points would’ve secured a place in the play-offs because of results elsewhere.

Away form throughout the year

Blackpool’s form on the road throughout the entirety of the year let them down. While they had the fourth best home record, they finished 14th in the away table- with only seven wins under their belt.

Boring football

Many responses on the survey also commented on the style of football, and how it lacked entertainment at periods throughout the campaign.