Blackpool FC

I have not filed a single post this season on the travails of Blackpool FC. With only a handful of games to go to the end of the season, some readers may think that this personal, overwhelming and all consuming passion has subsided.

Not true.

It is a sad fact, but the first page I access on a Sunday morning is the Seasiders home page on Rivals.net to check the score from Saturday's game. It kind of sets my mood for the day. With 8 games to go to this season's end and despite a host of injuries and a bank balance the size of Noddies, we are still hanging in there. Tonight's game against Southampton is crucial. Win that and I think one more season in the Championship is assured.

Lose it and an anxious wait till May is guaranteed!

Monday 5th May - 2.00am

Promotion 12 months ago

Being a Blackpool FC supporter in New Zealand takes some commitment. As I post this blog at 2.00am in the morning, nerves in this part of Tauranga are tingling.

It is the final day of the regular Championship season and Blackpool need a draw to guarantee Championship football for another season. Arsenal are playing Everton live on Sky Sports, but everything else in the house is focused on Bloomfield Road.

I have five browser windows open as I follow the minute-by-minute action on BBC Online Sports. Because every live commentary seems to be able to detect my NZ IP, I cannot access live commentary. So in a surreal 90 minutes, I am surrounded by silence, but no lack of fellow sufferers. Over the past 45 minutes, I have blogged with fellow 'Pool supporters from Los Angeles to Sydney. Sad, but true.

It is half time, so I have a few moments to post. These are the current scores that will determine Blackpool's fate in the next 45 minutes:

Blackpool 1-0 Watford
Charlton 2-1 Coventry
Sheff Wed 1-1 Norwich
Southampton 1-1 Sheff Utd
Stoke 0-0 Leicester

As things stand, Blackpool are safe. Having said that, this is Blackpool and having supported then since adolescence, the word 'safe' is a concept only. So there we have it and by 3.00am we will know the result.

Time to get back to the browser windows and refill the glass. The next 45 minutes are in Bill Shankley's famous words 'approximate to life & death'.

(3.00am Report: Unbelievable. I managed to get an International BBC radio feed just after I uploaded my half-time blog, so I hooked into the last 45 minutes 'live'.

The 'Pool secured the draw they needed. We are in the Championship League next season. Sympathies to the Foxes. Leicester are down. One last time to refill that glass. Then to bed.)

Sunday Sport

The Seasiders - Barmy Army, barmy army........

Sport on Saturday is all about expectation. Sport on Sunday is all about reflection. So how do I feel today?

Blackpool FC did the business. This is the first UK sports result I check out everytime I logon to the Internet on a Sunday morning. Yesterday, Blackpool won 5 - 3 at home to Charlton. I actually attended the Charlton away game just before Xmas when I was in London. It was the Seasiders worst result of the season. Eight weeks on and home advantage can make such a difference.

England took the honours in the rugby in the Six Nations game against France in Paris. What is 13-24 in French? Nous were stuffed par les Anglais? Not linguistically correct maybe, but you get the message. And it was a similar message in St. Helens. Fylde RUFC came away with a 18-26 victory over West Park St. Helens. More Pork, more pork.

And then there is Billy Bowden. Proving once again, what a great Kiwi cricket umpire he is. Howzat Daniel? Er, je ne rien pas. Les anglais lose. And that is another weekend's sport in New Zealand. At least for another seven days.

Saturday Sport

Sport is a fairly important part of my Saturday schedule. Apart from the odd round of golf or fishing trip though, today it is mainly of the 'couch-potato' variety.

When I was living in the UK, soccer and rugby took up most of my time. Watching Blackpool Football Club and Fylde Rugby Club were my favourite two 'live match' experiences. And then there was always Jeff Spelling on Sky Sports if I could not get to a live game.

In New Zealand, the focus is slightly different. Rugby here dominates the domestic sports schedule, although cricket does briefly show its face in the summer. Being based in Tauranga, my local rugby side is the Bay of Plenty Steamers and I do enjoy my trips to their home games at Baypark. Other than that, on TV, it is wall to wall Super 14, Tri-Nations and lots of repeats.

In New Zealand, virtual rugby is becoming a hugely popular past-time. I was introduced and then challenged to it by my young nephew Henry. Hosted by Telecom, Telecom Virtual Rugby currently has 140,000 registered players. Sad that we collectively are, we predict each week, the outcome of that week's Super 14 games. I expect that by tonight, my eight year old nephew will be well ahead of me points wise, because of my own rather erratic and basically stuffed up predictions.

And that's Saturday sport in New Zealand.

Bloomfield Road Heroics

With work tending to overwhelm everything else at the moment, it was good to catch up with Blackpool FC's start to the 2007 - 2008 season last night.

The 'Seasiders' were promoted last season to the English 'Championship' division. Many pundits favourites to be relegated, the 'Pool have actually managed to perform beyond expectation in the first few games.

Even though Bloomfield Road is 12,000 miles from Tauranga, checking out the Seasider's results is a weekly ritual. For a 'fan's view, I check out the Blackpool page on Rivals.net. For 'Live' Scoring, I check out the Live Vidprinter on the BBC.

‘Due to Contractual Obligations’

It’s 3.51am and I have just spent 105 minutes watching Blackpool FC beat Yeovil Town 2-0 in the English Football League Division One Play Offs.

‘Watching’ is actually too strong a word for it. Reading the BBC’s ‘LiveText’, updated every two minutes, is sadly more like it.

The build up on BBC Radio Lancashire had been great: Interviews with fans and players, the Wembley roar, the national anthem; and then, with one minute to go before kick-off, the BBC’s continuity lady.

‘Due to contractual obligations, your local BBC radio station cannot broadcast the current event.’

So 12,000 miles away, in New Zealand, I watch (read) Blackpool FC’s finest hour (and a half) in 30 years. Back in the top-flight of English football where we belong, I celebrate alone with a bottle of Heineken and a sudden and quite acute dislike of ‘Auntie’ (The BBC). I’m not sure I understand what ‘contractual obligations’ prevented a ‘Pool supporter in NZ from listening to its coverage from the UK. And then…..

But focus for a moment on the positive: Promotion to the Championship League and the last mention of the super ‘Pool on this blog until the start of next season. Another beer please, Auntie. No. let’s make that two! And then to bed.

Oldham 1 - Blackpool 2

That's the first leg of the Division 1 Play-offs over. Next, the return leg at Bloomfield Road next Saturday.

To celebrate the Seasiders win, I found this Blackpool Tribute song. I think it was recorded by the Nolan sisters 20 years ago. Apologies, but it is bad, very,very bad!

On the Road to Wembley!

Blackpool FC's 6-3 win over Swansea means that the Seasiders place in the Division One promotion play-offs is confirmed.

We meet Oldham next Sunday at Boundary Park and then the second leg is set for Bloomfield Road on Saturday 19th May.

If the 'Pool win this two-leg play-off, its off to the new Wembley Stadium to meet either Nottingham Forest or Yeovil Town for the Division One Play Off final.

I cannot wait.

Alan Ball RIP

As a supporter of Blackpool FC, the premature death of Alan Ball yesterday comes as a shock. Blackpool was his first club and he went on to make 116 league appearances for the team.

Alan Ball graced the Seasiders midfield in the 1960s and he was the youngest member of the England side that lifted the World Cup in 1966. He later had a season as Blackpool manager.

With Blackpool qualifying for this season's Division 1 Play-offs, the atmosphere around the Club for the past couple of weeks has been fantastic. Let's hope the Seasiders win promotion in Alan's memory. A truly great and gifted player.