OLD PICTURES OF BLACKPOOL FC

I watched Blackpool in the 1950s and I can never remember the full backs being the last line of defence, with the offside law as it was then it would have been suicidal to have two full backs playing the centre forward in the middle onside. Then in the late 1950s along came Jimmy Armfield who transformed the role of the full back into a more of a wing back.
Jimmy was the pioneer of the overlap .
it used to be

keeper
right back
left back
centre back
right half back
left half back
right wing
left wing
inside right forward
inside left forward
centre forward

full backs rarely crossed the halfway line
half backs used to go as far as opponents 18 yard box
inside forwards came back to edge of own 18 yard box
that was the standard formation
 
bert-trautmann-testimonial-tunnel-1963-to-64.jpg


wednesday 15th April 1964
correct bert trautmann testimonial
 
Jimmy was the pioneer of the overlap .
it used to be

keeper
right back
left back
centre back
right half back
left half back
right wing
left wing
inside right forward
inside left forward
centre forward

full backs rarely crossed the halfway line
half backs used to go as far as opponents 18 yard box
inside forwards came back to edge of own 18 yard box
that was the standard formation.
Yes I remember how restricted the players were in terms of their movement and the roles they were expected to play in the team e.g. I never saw Stan Matthews or Bill Perry change wings so they could come inside on their best foot instead of always trying to beat the defender on the outside. Formation wise I don’t remember seeing Blackpool, or indeed their opponents, playing a 2-3-5 formation with the two full backs playing deeper than the centre half and the defensive half back, I thought they would all be in a line to try to catch their opponents offside.
 
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Here's the centre of the Blackpool vs Leicester City programme from the 1966-67 season.

View attachment 8639
Thx, I have lots of Blackpool programmes with the teams listed from the 50s & 60s and never realised this was displaying the team formation 2-3-5. I also have Blackpool away programmes from the same period that has the teams listed down the page, numbers 1 to 11. Either way I still enjoyed the football played back then far more than I do today plus it was a much more of a level playing field and Blackpool could beat anybody in the Top Tier, home or away.
 
Must be either 61/62 or 62/63 season. I think Quinn left in 1963. Most have sadly passed away though I think Lea and Crawford are still alive.
I was struggling with the year: no Ball or Hughes. The 66/67 team was quite different. You've sold it to me Trammo. 4/5 years before my time.
 
Was that the game Bolton players threatened to walk off after one of theirs was sent off?
tangerinesoulmann

That was my first ever Pool game, when I was nine, so I don't have 100% recall, but I remember the goal at the kop end, and I think the Bolton team threatened to walk off because Suddick scored direct from an indirect freekick. There was quite a rumpus. Happy to be corrected, though.
 
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