'It's out of my hands': Blackpool legend Brett Ormerod on the prospect of holding second testimonial at Bloomfield Road

Ormerod, who scored more than 80 goals over his two spells with the club, held his testimonial at AFC Fylde’s Mill Farm in 2016 after labelling Bloomfield Road “too toxic” due to the hated Oyston regime.

But the former striker, who became the first man to score in all four divisions for the club, refused to rule out holding a second event now the club is in receivership.

He told The Gazette: “David Haythornwaite was kind enough to offer me that at AFC Fylde. With everything that was going on, I couldn’t really have it at Bloomfield Road.

“It should have been at Bloomfield and I would have loved for it to be there.

“I had a fantastic day. Would I have preferred it to be at Bloomfield? Of course I would, it’s the club I’ve had the best spells of my career with and it’s a part of me.

“Whether something happens in a charity game for Parky (Gary Parkinson), I’m not really sure. That’s something that is out of my hands.

“It’s just a fantastic stadium and I’m looking forward to seeing it full and buzzing again.”

Ormerod, who is due to attend Bloomfield Road on Saturday on media duties, believes the packed stadium will show the club’s current players what the Seasiders are truly about.

“It’s been quite a whirlwind few weeks, it’s still a bit surreal to be honest,” the 42-year-old added.

“I’m doing the game on Saturday for BBC Radio Lancashire which I’m really looking forward to. I believe it’ll be close to a sell out which is fantastic.

“It’s been a long time coming and hopefully Blackpool can start to rebuild and look ahead to the future.

“This just shows what power the fans have. Football is all about the fans. Without them, what’s the point?

“I’m still coming to terms with it to be honest and I will believe it when I see it sort of thing, but there’s clearly a lot of excitement and buzz with the fans.

“Hopefully that will give the players some momentum because this current crop have never known any other way than what it’s been the last four or five years. It’ll be nice to show them what the true Blackpool FC is all about.

“I’ve done games in the past when the fans were boycotting and I felt sorry for the players, because it’s not their fault.

“They’re football players who want to play for such a prestigious club as Blackpool, so it will be fantastic to show them what it’s all about.

“It will be superb, I’m really looking forward to it myself. I hope it’s a real eye-opener for them.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of pent-up frustration come out on Saturday, there’s been a lot of fans who it’s been really hard for.”