Matt Scrafton column: Blackpool's transformation continues under Simon Sadler

Instead, I’ll focus on an off-the-field topic that deserves some recognition.

Many of you will have seen that Blackpool have recently launched a festive fundraiser that has warmed the hearts of the club’s fanbase.

The crowdfunder is well on the way to its £25,000 target and, once the deadline ends on December 14, all funds raised will be matched by owner Simon Sadler.

It’s scarcely believable this is the same club that, barely two years ago, found itself in the midst of a fan boycott, the like of which this country had never seen.

This is a club that, three years ago, saw its chairman label protesting fans as a “busted flush” in an interview with talkSPORT.

This is a club that, five years ago, removed the statue of club legend Stan Mortensen from outside the ground in a brazen slap in the face to supporters.

This is a club that, six years ago, began to sue its own supporters in a staggering set of legal cases. Later that year, the club’s chairman was banned for six weeks by the FA for branding a fan a “massive retard”.

This is a club that, eight years ago, had £11m withdrawn from its bank account by the owner following its solitary season in the Premier League.

Supporters were left to watch on in horror as the football club, the beating heart of the town, was slowly but surely dismantled.

I’m often hesitant to drag up the past shenanigans – we’ve been through it enough – but sometimes it’s necessary to prove just how far the club has come in a relatively short period of time.

The Seasiders now have a genuine hometown owner at the helm who cares deeply – not just about the trials and tribulations of the football club, but also the wider community and the town at large.

You often hear chairmen and owners pay lip service to the significance of the town or city’s community but Sadler is putting words into action. For that, we should be eternally grateful.

I believe it was Tim Fielding, Blackpool’s former interim board member, who said the club’s resurrection would be complete when supporters of other clubs look at them with envy. We must surely now be at that point.

It also happens the progress off the pitch is being mirrored by Neil Critchley and his players.

At the start of the season, had supporters been offered 12th place in the table at this stage of the campaign, while remaining in both cups and with tangible signs of progress and development, they’d probably have taken it.

I’m sure all clubs will say the same but Blackpool really ought to be at least three points better off, which would put them within a victory of the play-off spots with a game in hand on several sides around them.

The Seasiders certainly ought to have converted their two-goal lead at Doncaster into three points. Had they done that, they’d be boasting an eight-game winning run.

That’s football, not everything goes your way and you don’t always get what you deserve, but Blackpool are certainly in a much brighter position than they were a couple of months ago.

What pleased me most about Tuesday’s win against Portsmouth wasn’t necessarily the result, as important as it was. It was the manner in which Blackpool won.

Critchley has previously remarked that Pool have won games in a fashion he isn’t particularly pleased with, but on this occasion, he must have been delighted.

The patience, the calmness and composure the Seasiders showed throughout against a very good side was seriously impressive.

It’s almost a given now that Pool will press in numbers and hunt down their opponents but the manner in which they sprayed the ball around the park was a joy to behold.

It doesn’t get any easier for Pool, who have had to face promotion contenders Peterborough United, Doncaster and Portsmouth in their last three league outings.

Fleetwood Town, another club with aspirations to get out of the division, are up next in another big test of Blackpool’s credentials.

Joey Barton’s side faced disappointment in midweek, losing 1-0 at Northampton Town courtesy of a goal from a former player in Cian Bolger. By all accounts, they were unlucky to come away with nothing.

With the players Fleetwood have assembled and the continuity they’ve got through the spine of their squad, I expect Barton’s men to be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

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