The Matt Scrafton column: An extraordinary season in so many ways for Blackpool

So here we are, approaching the dawn of yet another season. Only this one promises to be like no other.

Blackpool kick-off their 2020/21 League One campaign, over a month later than originally planned, with a 642-mile round trip to Plymouth.

There will be no excited hustle and bustle around the ground before kick-off and the opening whistle will be greeted by silence, other than the shouts and expletives of the players on the turf.

Fans will instead watch intently from their living room sofa, while keeping their fingers tightly crossed their £10 live stream doesn’t buffer or cut out completely.

Those fortunate enough to be granted access to the game, meanwhile, will sit at a safe distance from one another with masks adorning their faces, having had their temperatures checked on their way into the ground.

This all might seem like the new normal now, but it is far from ordinary.

Despite the interruption caused by Covid-19, Blackpool head into the season fuelled with huge optimism.

There’s always positivity before a ball is kicked, irrespective of which club you support, but this time Blackpool’s confidence and buoyancy seems to be built on solid foundations.

Cast your minds back to last year, when the Seasiders put together a squad hastily, having changed their owner and manager with just weeks before the season got under way.

There’s no such upheaval this time around.

Instead, Blackpool’s hierarchy have had plenty of time to put plans in place and to get prepared for what lies ahead.

In fact, if any club is well-placed to take advantage of the dreadful circumstances we’ve encountered in recent months, it’s probably the Seasiders.

Unlike previous incarnations, Blackpool now have an owner in charge who is willing to dig deep into his pockets and invest the necessary resources to get the club to where he – and the fans – feel it belongs.

The message from up high is loud and clear: we want to get promoted this season.

Some would consider it a little risky to be so boisterous with your intentions, having finished 13th in the League One table last season.

But this is a different Blackpool now – there will be no settling for mediocrity.

The club is aiming high and they’re clearly not afraid to say as much.

Besides, given the funds invested in the likes of Jerry Yates, CJ Hamilton and Bez Lubala, which has attracted the attention of rival supporters, it will be nigh-on impossible for the Seasiders to go under the radar.

With higher expectations comes added pressure, but such is life.

If you strive to be successful, that’s the inevitable consequence.

Will Blackpool’s youngsters - the average age of the squad is around the 24 mark, among the lowest in the league – be able to deal with that pressure? There’s only one way to find out.

Whatever happens, this season is unlikely to be dull.

Neil Critchley has brought an attractive style of play that has already won over the fanbase.

The Seasiders will play with an energy, a tempo and a purpose that hasn’t been seen at Bloomfield Road for the best part of a decade.

Blackpool certainly haven’t been handed an easy start.

Plymouth Argyle will be buoyed by their promotion from League Two last term and, boosted by some strong summer signings like George Cooper and Pool’s very own Ryan Hardie, shouldn’t have too much to worry about regarding relegation back to the fourth tier.

I’m always wary of playing recently promoted sides early in the season due to the inevitable momentum they have, albeit their last league game was played half a year ago because of the pandemic.

But against Plymouth on Saturday and then League Two champions Swindon Town next weekend, the Seasiders certainly won’t have it all their own way.

Recent history is certainly on their side at Home Park, though. Blackpool have won on their last five trips to Devon and have only lost two of their last 10 meetings with the Green Army.

Pool’s last trip to Plymouth was certainly an interesting one, Terry McPhillips’ side clinging on for a 1-0 win after Donervon Daniels and Marc Bola were sent off for scrapping with each another as they defended a late corner.

Let’s hope this weekend’s game is just as memorable, only for different reasons.