Football Season Guide

Blackpool were promoted through the League One play-offs last season. They improved as the season went on. After losing at Ipswich on 6th February they were only beaten twice in the remaining 25 games, picking up 15 wins. There have been some significant summer departures. Centre-back Ballard was a key part of Blackpool’s miserly defence last season while Turton and Lawrence-Gabriel shared the right-back slot. Kaikai and Embleton provided the creativity in the latter half of the campaign and Simms chipped in with vital goals but they have also gone. Valuable Championship experience and leadership has come in with the signing of Keogh while James and Connolly (during loan spell at Fleetwood) both impressed in League One last season. The Seasiders will hope Casey can have a similar impact as Ballard while Lavery looks like an exciting addition having scored 30 goals for Northern Irish side Linfield last season. The key strength of Neil Critchley’s side last season was their defence, they conceded just 37 goals in 46 games. They have held onto most of their standout players from the last campaign including goalkeeper Chris Maxwell and 20-goal top scorer Jerry Yates. One weakness could be that they are largely relying on players that performed well in League One last season.