Blackpool Supporters Trust column: Dugout departures, club engagement and extended ACV status

We write this column the morning after Tuesday’s 2-1 victory at Blackburn Rovers.

We never thought ‘Uncle Richard’ (Richard Keogh) would be in charge at this point but nothing surprises you in football these days.

If he does a good job, logic dictates he could be seriously considered among the rest of the candidates.

We do not envy Simon Sadler this decision, choosing a new manager is one of the hardest parts of his job.

It’s an obvious cliche but this feels like his biggest decision to date by quite some distance.

BST would like to wish Neil Critchley all the best for the future.

We are sure his lack of success second time around has not been for the want of trying but, sometimes, it just doesn’t work out as planned.

How clubs engage with their fans is very much back in vogue at the moment.

The background to this is the Football Governance Bill; the version sponsored by the Conservative Government fell when the General Election was called.

However, the new Government has confirmed that it will bring its own version of the Bill back to Parliament.

There is wide expectation this will happen soon, probably in the autumn, and most of the key players are doing their best to prepare for it.

This includes the EFL, who have made changes to their rules that affect how clubs engage with their supporters.

They set a higher bar on the extent to which clubs consult fans about the major decisions that they make, they ask clubs to identify a senior officer who will be responsible for the whole area and give supporters groups a far bigger role in signing off the plans that are produced.

We have recently written to the club welcoming these changes and suggesting that both club and Trust work collaboratively in taking this work forward.

The subject of how football grounds are protected in law has been an important topic for more than a decade now.

The ability to designate grounds as Assets of Community Value (ACV) was very welcome when introduced by legislation in 2011.

BST were one of the first Supporters Trusts to take advantage of this when we were successful in designating Bloomfield Road as an ACV in 2014, which we then extended in 2019.

During the course of the spring and summer, BST has successfully worked with Blackpool Council to have the club’s ground designated as an ACV for a third time, running through to 2029.

Our rationale was to provide continuity of protection to the stadium until the upcoming legislation delivers something rather stronger.

Simon Sadler’s continuing willingness to spend money in this area is gratifying for us and reflects great credit upon him.

Due diligence demands that we do not assume that he will be able to continue to do so indefinitely – or that he won’t one day sell the club to an owner who takes a different approach.