Blackpool SLO column: Let's show how important the club is to us and the town on 'Homecoming' day
Someone in the stands at Bolton last Saturday asked me before kick-off what I thought the score would be; I predicted 2-2 – turns out I was right and that doesn’t happen very often.
The atmosphere created by our travelling fans was brilliant and, on our second-half performance, I thought we deserved at least that point.
As it happened, it was also the Seasiders’ 5,000th league game.
Some have questioned why this milestone wasn’t better publicised. I like to think that if it had coincided with a home fixture, the club would have made more of the fact.
However, if it’s celebrations you want, there is a huge opportunity coming up next month.
Many of you have been asking for a while if Blackpool FC could recognise the anniversary of that day in March 2019, when we returned in our thousands to Bloomfield Road after five years of campaigning and boycotting for regime change at the club we love: a campaign that one national newspaper cited as “perhaps the most brilliantly orchestrated and devoted fan protest there has been in English football”.
Our home game against Burton Albion on March 28 has been designated as that celebration of ‘Homecoming Saturday’.
It saw an absolute overflowing of love for Blackpool FC in a packed Bloomfield Road on that day in 2019. Let’s recapture the spirit in 2026.
Tickets have been priced at £15, £10, £5 and £1, depending on age, with special activities and guests being planned for the day – but the most important element is us, the fans.
It will be great to come together at Bloomfield Road in our thousands on ‘Homecoming’ day to celebrate what was achieved in 2019. It was unique and it helped shape us as a fanbase.
Some recent times have not been so great, admittedly, so let’s take the opportunity to demonstrate once again just how important this football club is to us, the supporters, the community and the town of Blackpool – to remind everyone that ‘Blackpool Are Back’ and that we all stand behind wanting a brighter Tangerine future together.
We face another tough fixture at high-flying Lincoln City tomorrow and then we have a run of games against teams around us that are also fighting for League One survival: Wigan, Wimbledon, Doncaster, Port Vale and the aforementioned Burton. Your loud and passionate support will prove vital.
Finally, the Club’s Disability Liaison Officer has asked me to advise that the home game against Wigan on March 7 has been designated for celebrating the Level Playing Field ‘Unite for Access’ Day, looking to make sport inclusive for everyone.
The Unite for Access Campaign is an annual period of inspiration and celebration of good access and inclusion at sporting venues.
This year’s campaign runs from February 28-March 15 and fans across all sports can engage with the campaign by raising awareness and building relationships in different ways.
If you are a Blackpool fan with any kind of disability issue, visible or otherwise, you might want to connect with the club’s Disability Supporters Association. Look out for details at the Wigan game.
UTMP!