'It's win-win for everyone concerned': Why dedicated group of Blackpool fans continue to volunteer at Bloomfield Road 18 months on from receivership

In March 2019, not long after the receivers had taken over, Blackpool Supporters’ Trust (BST) assembled an army of volunteers to tidy the club’s stadium in preparation for the homecoming clash against Southend United.

The initiative attracted plenty of publicity, and rightfully so, but what’s often gone unnoticed is that more than a year on, plenty of those volunteers are still mucking in to help the club.

Led and organised by BST deputy chair Tony Wilkonson, the team still have plenty of work to be doing given the current climate of a global pandemic.

“This group was formed when the receivers took over. We had a great response then and some great publicity,” Tony explained to The Gazette.

“After that, we had a dedicated smaller group that continued to volunteer on a weekly basis, just generally helping around the stadium.

“Obviously Simon Sadler has come in and he’s spending money on major, major projects and, as volunteers inside the ground, we see what’s going on that other people might not be aware of.

“For instance, all around the stadium the windows were rusty because they were cheap rubbish put in by the previous gang. But they’ve been replaced in recent months and the club has also done work on the roof - there’s all sorts of work where Sadler is spending massive amounts of money.

“We’re just adding that little bit of tidying, cleaning and pride in the place to supplement and help the staff.”

Despite the magnificent gesture, some supporters have queried why there’s a need for a team of volunteers now Sadler is in charge, but Tony believes they’re missing the point.

“We’ve had people saying ‘why is there a group of volunteers, Simon Sadler is loaded so he should pay for more staff’,” he continued.

“But we shouldn’t forget the massive amount of money he’s already putting into the club. The way things are at the minute, he’s going to have to continue to do that for a long time.

“The people that volunteer really enjoy coming along. They enjoy being in the stadium, they love the club to bits so they don’t mind coming along for a few hours.”

Having previously volunteered to help out with some work at the club’s Squires Gate training ground earlier this year, most of their work is now done in and around the stadium.

Since returning from lockdown, Tony has worked out the team have put in an extraordinary 600 hours worth of volunteering time.

Tony said: “We’re usually down there during the week before a home match, but we’re also there on a weekly basis doing a general litter pick around the stadium and a brush of the inner perimeter of the stadium.

“What people don’t realise about the place is that, when you start going in and do some work, you begin to realise how massive it is. It’s not like brushing your backyard or doing your garden.

“But if we can get a dozen people in, we’re able to make a bit of an impact that would take staff a long, long time to do.

“We all take great pride in the work we do because we’re very proud of the club. We make sure everything is clean and tidy.”

One of the more well-documented problems the volunteers are having to deal with is mess left by pigeons, especially in the South-East corner of the stadium.

The volunteers are hoping the issue can be resolved sooner rather than later to free them up to do more productive work elsewhere in the ground.

“The pigeons are a major problem,” Tony admits.

“They were there when we originally came in about 18 months ago but because of lockdown, where the stadium was left in hibernation almost for three or four months, they had the place to themselves and they really made it their home, so it’s worse than ever.

“They are difficult to shift and the mess they leave is difficult to shift as well!

“But the club are on with it, they’re looking at various methods and there’s a number of ideas to control that problem because it does need controlling.

“The volunteers will then be able to spend their time on more productive things, rather than just having to clean up after pigeons.”

The club’s supporter liaison officer Steve Rowland recently put out an appeal for more volunteers to get involved.

Tony says anyone that is interested will be welcomed with open arms into a friendly group that are there to help out in any way possible.

“It’s always good to get new faces down,” Tony said.

“Volunteering has a real community feel to it, especially during these difficult times. We’ve all got to help each other, surely.

“It’s a really good friendly group of people because they’ve all got that one thing in common: they’re die-hard Pool fans.

“They have a bit of banter and a chat about football and they get on and make the stadium look as clean and as tidy as they can. It’s just a win-win for everyone concerned, everyone benefits.

“Although BST facilitate and organise the event, it’s open to anybody and we now have supporters from other groups involved.

“There’s no animosity about that at all, at the end of the day we’re all Pool fans and we’re all happy to help.”

To enquire about volunteering, contact Tony on [email protected]