OLD PICTURES OF BLACKPOOL FC

Ball on Fire said:
Peanuts when we paid around £500K for Dale and even more for Lubala and Nuttall, none of whom will ever become Pool Legends. I also heard Simon Sadler paid £250,000 for Matthews 1953 FA Cup medal, you could get 2 fantastic statues for £250,000, all depends on your priorities. Blackpool are one of only 8 teams who had an England player who won the World Cup in 1966, every other player has a statue but not Alan Ball. Stan Matthews has a fantastic statue at Stoke City but Stan’s achievements at Stoke do not bear comparison with his achievements at Blackpool. Alan Ball’s last competitive appearance as a Blackpool player was in a World Cup final, that fact alone is worth a statue.
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his managerial stint was a disaster and he showed little love for the club at that time
 
Yes
Hazi said:
his managerial stint was a disaster and he showed little love for the club at that time
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I agree Ball’s stint as Player Manager was a disaster, Ball admits in his autobiography that he lacked experience and found it difficult to play, manage and deal with the Boardroom. He also said he should have brought in a more experienced person to work alongside him and should have offered former Pool Manager Stan Ternent a role. It was a real coup at the time for Blackpool to get Alan Ball as Player Manager, we were a 3rd tier Club in almost terminal decline since the mid 70s from when Alan Brown was sacked and this continued throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s when we ended up in the bottom tier of English football on two different occasions. When Alan Ball first came in as Player Manager he was full of enthusiasm and ideas but when the Pool fans turned on him after a bad run of results he found it very difficult to accept criticism and in the end he had to go. Alan Ball then joined Southampton and played a lot of games in the top tier of English football after he was sacked by Blackpool. Former Pool great Stan Morty was also sacked by Blackpool after a short stint as Manager as was Allan Brown. Jimmy Armfield never took on the Blackpool Manager role, despite a good record as Manager of Bolton & doing very well after taking over from Brian Clough following his disastrous spell as Manager of Leeds Utd.
 
Wizaard said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1591525543631011845

Good player throughout his career
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I watched all of the games, home and away, that Gordon Milne played for Blackpool, I was very disappointed, he was well past his best and soon lost his place to John Craven. Blackpool were a Div 2 side and signed Milne for £30,000 from Liverpool but soon afterwards Milne left on a free transfer and became Player Manager of non league Wigan Athletic.
 
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Ball on Fire said:
I watched all of the games Blackpool, home and away, that Gordon Milne played for Blackpool, I was very disappointed, he was well past his best and soon lost his place to John Craven. Blackpool were a Div 2 side and signed Milne for £30,000 from Liverpool but soon afterwards Milne left on a free transfer and became Player Manager of non league Wigan Athletic.
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He played 64 games over three seasons with us and scored more goals for us than he did in four seasons for the nobbers where he started his career. Sure he was past his peak when he joined but he hardly 'soon lost his place'. His presence probably helped a young John Craven to develop and become the player he did. I also saw many of the games he played and he did a lot of the quiet, unseen things that are totally necessary. Let's not forget what a good team he played in 64 times.
 
Meliora said:
He played 64 games over three seasons with us and scored more goals for us than he did in four seasons for the nobbers where he started his career. Sure he was past his peak when he joined but he hardly 'soon lost his place'. His presence probably helped a young John Craven to develop and become the player he did. I also saw many of the games he played and he did a lot of the quiet, unseen things that are totally necessary. Let's not forget what a good team he played in 64 times.
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Gordon Milne joined Blackpool in May 1967, he was only just 30 and surely not considered to be past his peak as only a year earlier in May 1966 he had been named as one of the 28 England players for WC 1966 and many experts at the time thought he was unlucky not to make the final 22. I was very excited at the time when Gordon Milne’s signing was announced and my expectations were high especially as Pool had paid £30,000 for Milne and we were playing in Div 2. I have to admit I was underwhelmed after Milne’s first season and in his second season he only started 18 games and was subbed 4 times and in his final season (1969/70) he started just 10 games. His final game for Blackpool was in early Oct 1969 and three months later, in Jan 1970, still only 32, he joined Wigan Athletic, who played in the Northern Premier League, as Player Manager on a free transfer.
 
TangerineBayern said:
Budgie playing last weekend aged 70!😱

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Around 1978/79 in the summer we would have competive kickabouts on Stanley Park most summer evenings. Budgie would come down and play but would never go in goal ! He took those games so seriously to the point of slaughtering me for a cross field pass that got intercepted. Also remember him presenting me and our team for runners up medals for some league at a hotel south shore way . Loved Budgie !
 
Wizaard said:
Report on our only home win of the season back in 66/67
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I remember the 1966/67 Div 1 season being very traumatic, lots more downs than ups and plenty of glimmers of hope. Blackpool had sold Alan Ball, their WC66 winner and talisman, to Everton in Aug 1966 just before the Div 1 season started. The bulk of the £110,000 transfer fee received from Everton was spent on Alan Skirton who joined from Arsenal for £30,000 in Sept 1966 and Alan Suddick who joined from Newcastle for £63,000 in late Dec 1966. Blackpool did win only 1 League game at Bloomfield Road and this was the 6-0 win against Newcastle when Alan Suddick must have really impressed the BFC management. Blackpool that season won more League games in Liverpool (beat Liverpool & Everton away) than they won at Bloomfield Road. Blackpool also beat Man Utd (5-1) and Fulham (4-2) both matches in the League Cup at Bloomfield Road. My best ever week as a Blackpool fan was in Oct 1966 when we beat Spurs away 3-1 in a League match (15th Oct), Chelsea away 3-1 in a League Cup replay (17th Oct) and then Newcastle at home 6-0 in a league match (22nd Oct). Alan Skirton scored 5 goals that week and Ray Charnley & Ian Moir stored 3 goals each. My other outstanding memory of that season was a 5-1 win against Southampton at The Dell on New Year’s Eve and still getting back to Blackpool to celebrate New Year,
 
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Ball on Fire said:
I remember the 1966/67 Div 1 season being very traumatic, lots more downs than ups and plenty of glimmers of hope. Blackpool had sold Alan Ball, their WC66 winner and talisman, to Everton in Aug 1966 just before the Div 1 season started. The bulk of the £110,000 transfer fee received from Everton was spent on Alan Skirton who joined from Arsenal for £30,000 in Sept 1966 and Alan Suddick who joined from Newcastle for £63,000 in late Dec 1966. Blackpool did win only 1 League game at Bloomfield Road and this was the 6-0 win against Newcastle when Alan Suddick must have really impressed the BFC management. Blackpool that season won more League games in Liverpool (beat Liverpool & Everton away) than they won at Bloomfield Road. Blackpool also beat Man Utd (5-1) and Fulham (4-2) both matches in the League Cup at Bloomfield Road. My best ever week as a Blackpool fan was in Oct 1966 when we beat Spurs away 3-1 in a League match (15th Oct), Chelsea away 3-1 in a League Cup replay (17th Oct) and then Newcastle at home 6-0 in a league match (22nd Oct). Alan Skirton scored 5 goals that week and Ray Charnley & Ian Moir stored 3 goals each. My other outstanding memory of that season was a 5-1 win against Southampton at The Dell on New Year’s Eve and still getting back to Blackpool to celebrate New Year,
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Great memories Bally , remember it all so well !
 
Ball on Fire said:
I remember the 1966/67 Div 1 season being very traumatic, lots more downs than ups and plenty of glimmers of hope. Blackpool had sold Alan Ball, their WC66 winner and talisman, to Everton in Aug 1966 just before the Div 1 season started. The bulk of the £110,000 transfer fee received from Everton was spent on Alan Skirton who joined from Arsenal for £30,000 in Sept 1966 and Alan Suddick who joined from Newcastle for £63,000 in late Dec 1966. Blackpool did win only 1 League game at Bloomfield Road and this was the 6-0 win against Newcastle when Alan Suddick must have really impressed the BFC management. Blackpool that season won more League games in Liverpool (beat Liverpool & Everton away) than they won at Bloomfield Road. Blackpool also beat Man Utd (5-1) and Fulham (4-2) both matches in the League Cup at Bloomfield Road. My best ever week as a Blackpool fan was in Oct 1966 when we beat Spurs away 3-1 in a League match (15th Oct), Chelsea away 3-1 in a League Cup replay (17th Oct) and then Newcastle at home 6-0 in a league match (22nd Oct). Alan Skirton scored 5 goals that week and Ray Charnley & Ian Moir stored 3 goals each. My other outstanding memory of that season was a 5-1 win against Southampton at The Dell on New Year’s Eve and still getting back to Blackpool to celebrate New Year,
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Great memories thanks for reminding me👍
 
Ball on Fire said:
I remember the 1966/67 Div 1 season being very traumatic, lots more downs than ups and plenty of glimmers of hope. Blackpool had sold Alan Ball, their WC66 winner and talisman, to Everton in Aug 1966 just before the Div 1 season started. The bulk of the £110,000 transfer fee received from Everton was spent on Alan Skirton who joined from Arsenal for £30,000 in Sept 1966 and Alan Suddick who joined from Newcastle for £63,000 in late Dec 1966. Blackpool did win only 1 League game at Bloomfield Road and this was the 6-0 win against Newcastle when Alan Suddick must have really impressed the BFC management. Blackpool that season won more League games in Liverpool (beat Liverpool & Everton away) than they won at Bloomfield Road. Blackpool also beat Man Utd (5-1) and Fulham (4-2) both matches in the League Cup at Bloomfield Road. My best ever week as a Blackpool fan was in Oct 1966 when we beat Spurs away 3-1 in a League match (15th Oct), Chelsea away 3-1 in a League Cup replay (17th Oct) and then Newcastle at home 6-0 in a league match (22nd Oct). Alan Skirton scored 5 goals that week and Ray Charnley & Ian Moir stored 3 goals each. My other outstanding memory of that season was a 5-1 win against Southampton at The Dell on New Year’s Eve and still getting back to Blackpool to celebrate New Year,
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The defeat at home to Sheffield Utd on 8th April 67 was pivotal for me. It was my first ever match.
 
Meliora said:
Gerry Ingram celebrating a goal, a rare sight indeed.
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A rare sight indeed? Gerry Ingram scored 17 League goals for Blackpool in 31 appearances in the 1968/69 season when Blackpool lost out on promotion to Div 1 only on goal difference. Ingram lost his place to Tom White and was transferred to Preston for £30,000 and in 110 games for PNE he scored 40 goals. I remember some Pool fans saying to me “ Ingram only scores tap ins”, there was no credit given for his movement in the penalty area and him being in the right place to get on the end of crosses.
 
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