'I'll always love Blackpool': Curtis Tilt opens up on move to Rotherham and explains why contract talks broke down

The defender’s two-and-a-half year spell with the Seasiders came to an end in January when he made the move to Rotherham United on deadline day.

Plucked from non-league in the summer of 2017, Tilt made 111 appearances for Blackpool prior his departure.

Speaking about his time at Bloomfield Road for the first time since his exit, Tilt told The Gazette: “I’d like to thank the fans for all the support during my time at the club.

“Blackpool will always have a place in my heart after giving me the opportunity to play in the Football League.

“I will always keep an eye on the club’s progress and I’ll be watching them hit the targets of where the owner Simon Sadler wants them to be.”

Tilt added: “I love Blackpool, they gave me my chance.

“It was a tough decision (to leave). There were talks about me signing a new contract but I just think it didn’t help with where the club was at that time.

“There were different people involved. One minute it was the receivers and then the new owner came in with the new chief executive Ben Mansford. For one reason or another it just didn’t happen.

“It wasn’t a case that talks broke down, that never happened. It was just the transition the club was in.

“I got a little bit of stick from people saying I didn’t want to be at the club, but it was just the fact the transition the club was going through was bigger than me.

“The new owner came in, who is doing great things, and then the new CEO came in, so everything was just happening all at once and everything was up in the air.

“The takeover of the club was a lot bigger than me signing a contract, so I just got pushed down the line so to speak.”

The Millers had previously come close to signing the 28-year-old during the summer, only for Blackpool to back out of the deal at the last minute.

Tilt, who had also been strongly linked to Ipswich Town the previous season, finally got his move to Rotherham - who sit in second place in League One.

“It’s not a secret to anyone that Rotherham had been interested for a while, but it all came about on the last day of the transfer window,” Tilt added.

“One minute I was at Bloomfield Road and the next minute I was in Rotherham signing the papers.

“There were talks at the start of the season but Blackpool said I wasn’t for sale, which I wasn’t really that bothered about - I just wanted to crack on with the season.

“Then on the last day of the January window, the two clubs came to an agreement.

“Because I was coming to the end of my contract with Blackpool, and Rotherham offered me a three-year deal, it was one of those things that I had to take.

“Maybe the club got more money because it was later on (in the window), but they had the Taylor Moore move lined up as well so it worked for both parties in the end.

“The Taylor Moore situation was on the backburner anyway so it probably made things easier for Blackpool.”