Ben Mansford: FA Youth Cup run epitomised positivity on and off the pitch at Blackpool

That’s according to chief executive Ben Mansford, who was delighted to see the Under-19s go “toe-to-toe” with Chelsea in their last eight tie.

John Murphy’s side took the Premier League giants all the way before eventually succumbing to a narrow 3-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

The young Seasiders had previously seen off Huddersfield Town, Cheltenham Town and top flight side Newcastle United to reach the quarter-finals.

“It was a wonderful pick-me-up after the disappointment of the night before (the first-team’s defeat at QPR)”, Mansford told The Gazette.

“It was great to go toe-to-toe with arguably the best funded Category One academy as a Category Three academy ourselves.

“It was great to see people like John Murphy, Matty Blinkhorn and Ciaran Donnelly around the dugout and around the boys, because they’re Blackpool and they get it.

“To go 1-0 up, to see the togetherness of the group, but also compete really well…it was great to see.

“We had a great number of people watching it on YouTube, we had a wonderful vocal support in the stadium as well.

“To see Simon (Sadler) sit alongside Critch and the rest of the staff inside the stadium, Gillian was there as well with Simon. It was just a brilliant night.

“Every credit to (academy director) Ciaran Donnelly and what he’s been able to achieve that, within 18 years of really trying to take the academy on a journey, that we were the only Category Three academy in the last eight and one of only three non-Category Ones as well.

“It was just brilliant and credit to Murphs and Danny and all the staff on the night.

“I’m still not sure how their goalkeeper managed to pull off one or two of those saves, otherwise things could have got very, very exciting.”

Given the clear quality on show from this current crop of youngsters, it’s no surprise the Seasiders have already handed out pro deals to four of them.

Jack Moore, Tayt Trusty and Luke Mariette have all agreed pro terms, as has Jake Daniels - whose contract was confirmed merely hours after scoring the first goal on the night at Stamford Bridge.

Taking that all-important next step is going to be vital though, as the Seasiders look to progress some of their academy products into the first-team.

“We’ve used the loan window,” Mansford added.

“Tayt has been out on loan and Jack has been out on loan, and Ciaran is working with the rest of the club to try and plot those pathways.

“I just think we seem to be developing really good, young men. You look at Michael Fitzgerald and how he leads the group, the excitement of a Dannen Francis and Johnson Opawole also came on as an Under-16 to get that experience.

“It was a great night and to be able to be sat there, to see the tangerine on Stamford Bridge, to see Murphs being quite emotional, to feel the pressure we clearly put Chelsea under…

“To be fair to Chelsea they conducted themselves incredibly well in how they treated Simon and the boys, so they’re a proper football club in that regard.

“You could see the relief on their players’ faces when that penalty went in and the way they had to let off steam in front of our fans because they’d obviously felt the pressure.

“If Jake had scored to make it 3-3, it could have been really exciting.

“That night in a lot of ways epitomised the positivity of the club and the journey we’re going on.

“For me it’s so exciting if we can keep doing that, keep staying positive through from the supporters, to the staff and to the players.

“You can see Simon is doing his bit and everyone else is doing their bit too and as long as we can maintain that, then I think we’ll all continue to enjoy it.”