No place like Rome for Blackpool Supporters' Trust

She will be speaking about Blackpool’s troubles at Sport Integrity Global Alliance’s (SIGA) annual forum, where she will be joined by representatives from FIFA, UEFA and the Olympic committee.

SIGA is an international organisation formed in 2015 to combat corruption, poor governance and financial irregularities in sport.

Seddon will also use this as an opportunity for BST to become the group’s first committed supporter organisation.

The Trust said: “Following the launch of the ‘Fans Not Numbers’ campaign in 2017, BST was contacted by SIGA who had heard about the troubles at Blackpool FC and the stance taken by the Trust and the club’s fans.

“To date, they have signed up many international organisations across sport, politics and business, including FIFA, UEFA, the Olympic committee and Mastercard, but have no supporter organisations on their ‘committed supporter’ list.

“This is an area which they wish to develop and having researched the work done by BST over the last two years, have asked if we would like to be the first Supporters’ Trust to sign up.”

Also in attendance will be representatives from UNESCO, La Liga, United Nations Crime and Justice Research.

Ashley Brown, the chairman of Supporters Direct, will also be attending as part of the initiative in order to widen the appeal of SIGA to the supporters and stakeholders of all sports.

BST added: “SIGA are particularly interested in the boycott carried out by so many Blackpool fans and also by the impact that the demise of the football club has had on the local community.

“The BST committee have unanimously agreed that this is a fantastic opportunity to promote the work of the Trust and the issue of poor football governance in the UK as well as to make useful contacts in the wider world of sport and governance. “

The BST’s next Open General Meeting will take place on Saturday, February 10 at The Excelsior, Lytham Road, starting at 1pm.

The meeting is open to all members and the general public.

If you have any items you’d like to see on the agenda, email them to [email protected] by February 8.

BST is also planning to hold a Race Night, taking place at the Hilton Hotel on Friday, February 23.

n Blackpool’s youngsters will make the long journey down to Suffolk tonight when they take on Ipswich Town in the fifth round of this season’s FA Youth Cup.

The match, which will take place at Portman Road, kicks off at 7pm.

Admission is priced at £3 for adults and £1 for concessions. It will also be streamed live on Ipswich’s Facebook page.

It comes after the young Seasiders caused a shock in their fourth round tie against Southampton, beating them 4-2 on penalties at Bloomfield Road after drawing 1-1 after extra time.

They also got the better of West Ham United in the previous round.

Should Blackpool win the tie, then they will face a trip to either Nottingham Forest or Blackburn Rovers in the quarter-finals.