Bloomfield Road

Sunday, 21 November 2010

Blackpool 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Programme

Ratings

Overall Ground Quality : 7/10
Ease of getting there : 7/10
Atmosphere : 10/10
Programme : 8/10
View of Action : 6/10
Quality of the game : 9/10
The "football" feeling : 8/10
Chances of coming here for a random game : 3/10
Legroom : 10/10
Surrounding area : 7/10

Overall : 75/100

Bloomfield road from a distance

Blackpool Tower

Stanley Matthews west stand

Blackpool Tower and the Tangerine crest

Outside the clubshop

Stan Mortensen statue

The Mortensen Kop

East stand

The Armfield stand

East stand

Stanley Matthews west stand

The Armfield stand

The Mortensen Kop

The Armfield stand

The Mortensen Kop

Stanley Matthews west stand

The Mortensen Kop

The Armfield stand

Stanley Matthews west stand

Blackpool 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

We left Tamworth early in the morning to make the most of our day beside the sea. After a fairly easy journey apart from a lorry taking up two lanes on the M6 which caused mayhem, we reached Blackpool at about 11 o’clock. We parked the car on Bloomfield road near Grasmere road which left us with a 10 minute walk to the ground. We walked into the town centre seeing the famous Blackpool Tower, Winter Gardens and walked down North Pier before getting some Fish and Chips for lunch and walking back toward Bloomfield road. We got into the ground fairly early and found out that our seats were in the hospitality section near the journalists which meant we had padded seats at no extra cost, not bad eh!

We got our drinks at the refreshment bar in a disused old playground in the corner of the ground which also had port-a-cabin toilets too, yes this is Premiership football!

Wikipedia reads that ‘On 23 May 2000, the club was given the go-ahead for the redevelopment of Bloomfield Road. A unanimous vote by the resort's councilors sealed the fate of plans to replace the existing stadium with a ₤11 million state-of-the-art structure.

In 2000 and 2001 respectively, the Spion Kop and West Stand were demolished to make way for the new stands. The Kop was closed after the 8 May visit of Colchester United. The pitch was moved slightly north and west to make room for expansion on the south and east sides of the ground in future years.

On 7 August 2001, a pre-season friendly against Spanish side Athletic Bilbao was held at Bloomfield Road. The game ended 2–2.

The West Stand was completed in the summer of 2002 and was officially opened on 6 August, with former Seasiders player Keith Walwyn the guest of honour for a friendly against Blackburn Rovers. Lord Pendry unveiled a plaque above the main entrance celebrating the Football Foundation's contribution to the new stadium. The South Stand, meanwhile, was granted a reprieve which meant it would re-open for visiting supporters for the forthcoming 2002–03 campaign. All matches would be all-ticket for visiting support. If a club requested more than the 1,500 allocation, Blackpool would open the East Paddock north section, thus allowing a further 1,000 away support.

On 25 June 2003, fans were allowed into the ground to take a final look around the South and East stands before their demolition. Former 'Pool player Dave Durie was also in attendance.

In July 2003, Bloomfield Road was granted a licence to hold marriage ceremonies

In March 2008, following news that Whyndyke Farm is to be the home for a new psychiatric hospital to replace the Parkwood unit at Victoria Hospital, and that the site is also earmarked for new housing, Karl Oyston confirmed that plans for a move to a new stadium at Whyndyke Farm were unlikely to ever be revived.

In January 2007, Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston reacted angrily to news that the town had lost out to rank outsiders Manchester in the race for the UK's first supercasino. He was concerned that the news could drive potential investors away from purchasing space in the South Stand. Oyston had previously insisted that work would only begin on the long-awaited structure when office space had been sold

On 25 April 2009, after his Nottingham Forest team drew 1–1 with Blackpool at Bloomfield Road, Billy Davies complained about the state of the stadium and its pitch: "It is a disgrace and so are some of the surroundings. It was not rolled and not prepared properly. It was not a pitch on which to play football." After the season ended, the pitch was re-laid.

On 2 May 2010, Bloomfield Road experienced its highest attendance for thirty years. 12,296 (11,192 home; 1,104 away) people watched Blackpool's 1–1 draw with Bristol City as the hosts secured a final-day play-off spot. This beat the previous high of 10,427, when Rotherham United visited on 20 August 1980.

On 24 May, at the civic reception held in the club's honour after they gained promotion to the Premier League, manager Ian Holloway thanked the fans "for making our ground somewhere to feel safe and express yourself."

In May 2010, Karl Oyston stated that work on the new East Stand would begin almost immediately. On 14 June the temporary seating comprising the East Stand was removed, to be replaced with a 5,120-seat covered temporary stand which, at the start of the new season, raised the capacity to 16,220. In addition, the seating in the North and West stands will be replaced gradually through the season due to the fading of their tangerine colour, as well as electronic turnstiles, a new pitch sprinkler system, large video screen, new media and medical facilities, new floodlighting, further hospitality areas in the South Stand and enlarged dugouts. The pitch was also re-laid.

On 20 November 2010, Prince William attended the fixture between Blackpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers while in town for the stag party of one of his friends. Scotland manager Craig Levein was also in attendance.’

The game saw a 2-1 win to the home side while Wolves dominated the majority of the game. A superb long range volley by Luke Varney and Marlon Harewood bundled home which almost looked like the winning goal until Wolverhampton’s Kevin Doyle grabbed a consolation towards the full time whistle.

Adrian and I really enjoyed our trip to the North West coast, a day by the seaside and a cracking game to finish with, what could be better!