Blackpool Supporters Trust column: A busy time on and off the pitch so far

A swift return to the Championship is clearly the goal but a lot of hard work lies ahead to get us there.

Up until last week, the club’s school report would have been modestly encouraging.

What followed was very disappointing. The unbeaten league record was lost in decisive fashion at Lincoln before a chastening League Cup exit at Wolves.

Having a derby game with Wigan on Saturday may therefore have been a blessing in disguise.

The players seemed to have no difficulty in getting up for the match, there was a healthy and boisterous crowd and, after a couple of bad results, there is no better way of getting back on track than beating a local rival.

Our last game with Wigan in April was marred by sectarian chanting aimed at one of the opposition players, who has now left the club.

Adding this incident to several others in recent seasons has led the FA to impose new requirements upon the club in terms of crowd behaviour: we are not alone in this, clubs like Leeds and Crewe have also found themselves in similar positions.

As a result, the club is in a difficult position. The FA rightly sets high standards in this area but the club cannot hope to meet them without the active cooperation of all our fans.

Further misbehaviour may lead to heavy fines or worse. Whatever the punishment, it will put a dent in the club’s playing budget and risk making us less competitive.

We cannot say we have not been warned, and we will be monitored for all of the current season. Saturday was, by and large, a good start but we must sustain it.

Our owner is a firm believer in emphasising the club’s credentials as a family and community-oriented organisation.

We at BST fully support him in this and helping make sure that the young football fans on the Fylde coast get the Blackpool bug early is a large part of what we are about.

BST are therefore delighted to say that we have significantly expanded our efforts on sponsoring mascots this season.

Last year, we covered around half the league games but, this season, we are covering all of them.

Thanks to the generosity of one of our members, this season we are also able to offer an adult and a child match ticket for every game, aimed at local children’s football clubs who play in local competitions.

BST are part-funding this scheme and helping to organise it. If you want to know more about how it works, contact our secretary at [email protected]

All of the above requires BST to work hard at raising money and the main way in which we do this is via the 1953 Sweepstake.

As far as we know, this is the only scheme of its type that raises money exclusively for the benefit of our club and our supporters.

Joining is very easy and can be done at https://www.1953.live/

All in all, we are busy and expecting to get busier. Do join us or support us if you can.