Blackpool SLO column: One last home game this season before a summer of change on and off the pitch

However, after three home wins in a row and an invaluable victory at Wycombe last Saturday, the Seasiders need just one point from our last two fixtures to avoid an unthinkable relegation.

We would already have been mathematically safe if Exeter’s goalkeeper hadn’t headed in a 97th-minute equaliser in their game against Stockport.

As it is, both ourselves and tomorrow’s visitors, Leyton Orient, have something to play for – our survival in this division. Our fate is in our hands and I think we can do it, but take nothing for granted.

Your support as fans has been terrific through some very dodgy times during this campaign. Remember, we were odds-on for the drop not so long ago.

However, since last month’s ‘homecoming anniversary’, attendances have been brilliant and the backing you’ve given to the players has been immense.

Let’s face it, sometimes a ‘great escape’ at the wrong end of the table is as invigorating as success at the top end; though we’d always rather have the latter.

Let’s show the same love and passion at Bloomfield Road tomorrow afternoon to help get the lads over the line, then we can breathe a collective sigh of relief and look forward to the reset.

You are all surely aware of the medical emergency which occurred at our last home game.

It was upsetting to lose a fan in such circumstances and it put a different perspective on the struggle for survival.

Well done to the responders for their handling of the emergency and thank you to our family of Blackpool fans for being respectful at the time and supportive since, including at the moving vigil for Graham.

There will be a minute’s applause out of respect for our lost Seasider before tomorrow’s game and the team will wear black armbands.

Inevitably, several of those players will be playing their last home game in tangerine.

Some loans will be coming to an end, some contracts will not be renewed during the close season. That’s the nature of football.

So you are encouraged to stay on after the final whistle to show your appreciation for the squad of 2025/26.

Once the season ends, there will be major changes taking place around Bloomfield Road.

Work is expected to start on the next phase of the East Stand development, new floodlighting is going to be installed and the PA/tannoy system in the ground is finally going to be replaced by something fit for purpose.

Other upgrade projects will be undertaken in the bowl and under the concourses to improve our ‘home’.

I will hope to keep you updated through the close season via my SLO Facebook page (@bfcslo).

Next up, the World Cup. Sixty years ago, Blackpool had two players in the England squad – Jimmy Armfield and Alan Ball – so good luck to the current generation of England’s finest.

As this is my last column for the season, have a good summer everyone.

The next campaign’s fixtures get announced on June 25, pre-season friendlies are under negotiation and the Seasiders will kick off their 125th full season at Bloomfield Road in August. See you then.

UTMP!