Former Blackpool keeper Paul Rachubka still haunted by nightmare match

Former Blackpool goalkeeper Paul Rachubka has opened up about the impact a nightmare display against the Seasiders had on his family and himself.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now
Read More
FA chairman Greg Clarke admits EFL season may not be completed as he warns club ...

Rachubka, now 38, was hauled off at half-time and replaced by 18-year-old Alex Cairns, now the Fleetwood Town number one.

A teenage Jonjo Shelvey, on loan from Liverpool, netted a hat-trick and Lomana LuaLua bagged a brace to put the Seasiders in dreamland.

Paul Rachubka at full stretch in his Blackpool daysPaul Rachubka at full stretch in his Blackpool days
Paul Rachubka at full stretch in his Blackpool days
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rachubka admitted that torrid afternoon affected his family and even his social life. He told the Goalkeepers’ Union podcast: “I know I can’t change that, that’s what happened. You just have to use that to drive you forward.

“I think the hardest point was my family having to deal with it. The people in my circle of trust found it very hard. I had to be strong for myself and for them as well. That’s what people don’t realise.

People may not directly say things to you but they will quite happily put in a snide comment to your family.

“They take it all really personally, whereas I’ve had years of building up a thick skin. That was a really bad point for them. They want to fight back but don’t have any avenues to do that.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“That was the hardest thing and people on the outside looking in don’t realise. It’s not just you – I’m supporting my family ... and all of a sudden things change in one game.

“It doesn’t make you a bad goalkeeper overnight but people start doubting in that circle.

“Not only do you have to deal with everything going on, now you have people who have supported you your whole life saying, ‘Are you okay?’”

Rachubka spent four and a half years at Blackpool, initially on loan from Huddersfield, and helped them to win two promotions before his release at the end of the Premier League campaign.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He went on to play for eight more League clubs, permanently or on loan, before a final season in the Indian Super League in 2017-18.

But he will never forget that horror show against Blackpool. “It’s football and you can’t have the good times without the bad,” he added.

“This was a really bad time but I knew I’d bounce back from it and I did.

“Did I achieve what I wanted to achieve after it? No. That wasn’t my choice. You have to deal with it.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“ It was a difficult time but it made me who I am today, so I wouldn’t change it.”

Cairns, who made his debut as Rachubka’s half-time replacement that day, would wait almost five years for his second league appearance, having moved on to Fleetwood. He has gone on to play more than 100 EFL games for the Highbury club.