First thing’s first, just to confirm that my new book Tony Evans Walks on Water, a celebration of our 75/76 promotion season, is now available in paperback as well as e book format on Amazon.
Tomorrow sees what I’ve seen called a pre Christmas relegation six pointer at Cardiff City Stadium. In a division as tight as this season’s Championship, that seems daft to me, but yet another home defeat would probably plunge City into a crisis and I would say that manager Mark Hudson may become a target for our increasingly trigger happy owner in that eventuality.
Blackpool have something of a injury and suspension crisis and ended a run of four straight losses with a goalless draw at home to Birmingham last weekend. However, like every side you play in this division, they have had some noteworthy results this season (e.g. a win over Watford and 3-3 draws at Burnley and Sheffield United) and our status as the Championship’s lowest goalscorers gives us no reason whatsoever to be complacent.
Anyway, here’s the latest quiz – seven Blackpool related questions dating back to the sixties with the answers to be posted on here on Sunday.
60s. This Mancunian began his career at Blackpool and made his first team debut at the beginning of this decade, but only really established himself a couple of years later. Never a prolific scorer, among the goals he did get were ones in victories at Highbury and Maine Road, while there was also one at home in a thrashing of Manchester United. He only played against City once in a sixteen year career and ended up with what qualifies as a one hundred per cent winning record against them. A few months later, he was sold to his second club which was set to experience a positive change in fortunes. Again, there weren’t many goals from him, but there was a double in a notable Boxing Day win. The improvement I mentioned earlier saw him struggling to keep his place and eventually he moved to a healthy tree to play for his third and final club. In his six years at this side, he played more games than at either of his first two clubs and there was also a decent increase in his goalscoring rate – who am I describing?
70s. Starting off in the town of his birth with some Magpies, this forward moved the short distance to Blackpool where he eventually made it into the club’s Hall of Fame . After a transfer to the First Division that didn’t go well (neither did his subsequent move to the capital), he moved abroad to play in stripes and was in a team beaten by Juventus in a Cup Winners’ Cup Final. He scored exactly a goal every other game for this club before moving on the play for three more lesser lights from the same country. On the international front, the biggest moment in his twenty one caps was when he scored the only goal of the game against the Soviet Union – who?
80s. About calling lone defender. (5,8)
90s. Subordinate inclined.
00s. Born in Hostlebro, this midfielder moved to play in England in 1999 and stayed for the decade that constituted the remainder of his career. He had the honour of scoring the last goal at what was the old version of a current Premier League ground at his first English club and then it was a tale of two cities (plus a loan move back to his first team in England) before he signed for Blackpool. Beaten on his two encounters with City as a Blackpool player, he left after making exactly one hundred league appearances for them, making a Valiant move which didn’t come off. His finalmove was to the Football League club that is probably closest geographically to Blackpool these days. On the international front, he scored once in ten appearances for a country that’s goalkeeper used to wear a bobble hat – can you name him.
10s. Scorer against City and a star of “groundbreaking” 60/70s kids TV programme by the sound of it!
20s. Which member of the current Blackpool squad has scored international goals at the Exploria Stadium and Children’s Mercy Park?
