This is a history of Blackpool Football Club from 1887 to 1962. For their history between 1962 and the present day, see History of Blackpool F.C. (1962–present). For the club's season-by-season stats, see Blackpool F.C. seasons.
The history of Blackpool Football Club between 1887 and 1962 covers the years from the club's foundation, via a split from another Blackpool-based club; the period of nine years before they gained membership to the Football League; their recovery after losing their League status after only three seasons; and finally their rise into Division One, which was then the top tier of English football. Aside from the League, Blackpool also appeared in three FA Cup Finals in six years, finding success in their third attempt, in 1953. The same year, the club supplied the England team with four players for an international game against Hungary.
Between 1903 and 1962, Blackpool had nine different managers, with Joe Smith occupying the role for 23 of those 59 years. Prior to 1903, team selections were made by the board.
Early years
Blackpool Football Club were formed on 26 July 1887, through a breakaway group from the local St. John's F.C. Mike Jackman's Blackburn Rovers: A Complete Record, 1875–1990, published in 1990, makes reference to a game against "Blackpool" in December 1880, but whether this was today's club is not clear. The St. John's club had been in existence for a decade or so, risen from the ashes of the disbanded Victoria Club. Five members of the club – Revd. N.S. Jeffrey, Sam Bancroft, Dick Swanbrick, Dick Worthington and W.J. Brown – felt it was necessary for the town of Blackpool to have a football club bearing its name. After a disagreement with the other members regarding the possibility of having their name drop the denominational suffix and become a town team, the men left the meeting, went next door to the Stanley Arms Hotel, and immediately founded Blackpool Football Club. The remainder of the St. John's players eventually defected to join the new club, in turn making the former defunct. It was with these individuals that Blackpool F.C. played their first competitive game, at Dole Lane, the home of Chorley, in which they recorded a 2–1 victory.Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992, p. 8 Hargreaves scored Blackpool's first-ever goal with "a ponderous kick half the length of the field". Corry added a second, before the hosts scored a late consolation.
In the club's first season, 1887–88, they won the Fylde Cup and the Lancashire Junior Cup. In the second competition, Blackpool faced Preston St. Joseph's at Preston North End's Deepdale ground, a venue that the seaside club argued was not neutral. The match took place on 24 March 1888. Blackpool went a goal down after 35 minutes, and that is how the score remained at half-time. Two minutes into the second half, Joe Nelson equalised. T. Parr scored the winner in the final minute.
At the end-of-season annual general meeting on 14 May 1888, held at the Stanley Arms, club president Alderman John Bickerstaff announced a small profit of around £20, with £66 contributed in membership and subscription fees.
At this point in time, Blackpool played home matches at Raikes Hall (or the Royal Palace Gardens), part of a large entertainment complex containing several attractions, including a theatre and a boating lake. This meant that average attendances hovered around the two-thousand mark, making the club's early years financially successful. Profits almost trebled by the end of the following season, at which point the club became founder members of the Lancashire League. In the league's first season, 1889–90, Blackpool finished fifth out of the thirteen member clubs. The following three seasons saw them finish runners-up, to Bury in 1890–91 and 1891–92, and on goal-difference to Liverpool in 1892–93.
In 1891, Blackpool faced overseas opposition for the first time when a touring Canadian side played at Raikes Hall.Wolstenholme, Gerry (2014). By Bus to Wollongong, Red Rose Books, 2014; p. 5
Blackpool's debut in the first-round proper of the FA Cup occurred in 1891–92, with a visit from Sheffield United to Raikes Hall. The Yorkshiremen won 3–0. A second tie against the same opposition occurred the following season, with the Blades again victorious, this time by a 3–1 margin.
On 25 February 1893, after Blackpool defeated South Shore 4–0, the contentious issue of the amalgamation of the two clubs was raised. The Gazette and News commented: "He must be a hot-headed supporter of either South Shore or Fleetwood Rangers who will not admit that the Blackpool team is the strongest in the Fylde. To our mind, the sooner the South Shore and Blackpool clubs are fused into one, the better it will be." Despite both clubs' committees being in favour, a meeting of over two hundred South Shore members on 10 April decided to carry on independently, and further talk of a merger was not discussed for another six years.
In 1893–94, Blackpool claimed the Lancashire League title, winning fifteen out of their 22 games to finish three points clear of the nearest competition. After returning to the runners-up berth the following season, they went on to struggle near the foot of the table. The board decided that they could make no further headway in local football and, on 13 May 1896, the club became a limited company and applied for entry to the Football League. They failed with their first attempt, but their second was successful.
Blackpool's third FA Cup encounter, which took place earlier in 1896, proved marginally more successful than the previous two, as they defeated Burton Swifts in the first round, only to be eliminated three weeks later at the hands of Bolton Wanderers. It was reported that the Blackpool players were on a win bonus of around ten shillings (fifty pence), whereas their opponents were paid an extra 45 shillings (£2.25) if they were the victors.Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992, p. 9
In and out of the Football League
Blackpool's application to the Football League was successful, and for the club's debut season, they joined the sixteen-team Second Division along with Gainsborough Trinity and Walsall, replacing Crewe Alexandra, Burslem Port Vale and Rotherham County.
The club's first-ever Football League game took place on 5 September 1896, at Lincoln City. The fact that the game took place at all is notable in itself, because it took the Blackpool team six hours to travel what was just a journey. The players, directors and club doctor caught the 7am train from Blackpool North and endured a journey via Manchester and Birmingham. They had to change trains on two occasions, with the players' only exercise being a run up and down the platform.
The game was due to kick off at 2pm, but due to the fact that it was "raining incessantly",Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992, p. 127 causing the pitch to resemble a swamp, the referee delayed the start by fifteen minutes while the players acclimatized themselves.
When the match got underway, Blackpool found themselves a goal behind after five minutes. The Imps doubled their lead a minute before half-time.
The players reluctantly came out for the second half as conditions got steadily worse. Most of the 1,500 spectators had decided that a warm seat by the fireside was infinitely more enjoyable than standing around a muddy field.
Ten minutes after the restart, Blackpool scored their first-ever League goal, courtesy of a Charlie Mount free-kick. Blackpool could not find the equalising goal, however, and five minutes from time they conceded a third. The Athletic News reported that Blackpool had "a weakness in front of goal, plus a rather poor defence."
The club finished the season in eighth position, which would remain their highest placing for the next fourteen years, and had managed to attract relatively large attendances to Raikes Hall. One year later, however, that all changed when they announced a loss of £1,183. The club had started with capital of around £2,000, but the players' wages amounted to almost exactly three-quarters of that total. With attendance numbers declining to an average of two thousand, the club's financial position, which had once been healthy, was now looking bleak.Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992, p. 10
On the pitch, too, Blackpool had begun to struggle. They finished the 1897–98 season in eleventh place and failed to make the first-round proper of the FA Cup. This came after moving to a new home, the Athletic Grounds in the town's present-day Stanley Park, as Raikes Hall required upgrading. The move was made without damaging their financial status too much; they announced a loss of only £441 2s 5½d, despite a reduction in admission prices. The club's League status became increasingly worse, however. They finished the 1898–99 season in sixteenth place, two points ahead of Loughborough, and, along with fellow Lancastrians Darwen, failed to gain re-election. They were replaced by Middlesbrough and Chesterfield. They also set a new and existing club record of consecutive defeats: eight, between 26 November and 7 January.
The first seven home games of that doomed 1898–99 campaign were played at the Athletic Grounds, but when it became apparent that the proposed redevelopment of Raikes Hall would be delayed, the club returned to the ground for the remainder of the season.
During the close season, Frank Wilson, a centre-forward signed from Gravesend United two years earlier, died at the age of 22 from "maniacal exhaustion caused by football and excitement". On the day he died, he should have been transferred to Aston Villa or Sunderland.
Much to the dismay of the Blackpool faithful, in 1899, during the season back in Lancashire League football, it was decided that the club would amalgamate with local rivals South Shore F.C., the thinking being that one club would be more successful than two. South Shore had experienced limited success in the Lancashire League but had put their name on the football map four years earlier when they defeated Notts County in the FA Cup at the former's Cow Gap Lane home in what was a huge giantkilling act.
After the merger, which was completed on 12 December 1899, most of South Shore's players joined Blackpool, with Blackpool moving to South Shore's Bloomfield Road ground.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005, Yore Publications, p. 23,
Blackpool's one season out of the Football League was only moderately successful, with their finishing in third place in the Lancashire League. However, at the League's annual meeting on 25 May 1900, they were able to regain a place in Division Two, along with Lancashire League champions Stockport County.
The club's committee set about rebuilding the team in an attempt to cope with League football again. Notable signings included Joe Dorrington, a goalkeeper from Blackburn Rovers; Harold Hardman, a local schoolboy who played at outside-left but went on to bigger things at Everton and as a director at Manchester United; and Jack Parkinson, who had been the club's top scorer in their first season in the League, returned after a brief taste of First Division football with Liverpool. On his way out of the club was Jack Cox, who was sold to Liverpool for the large sum of £150.
Early 20th century In their first season back in the League, the club attained a twelfth-placed finish despite suffering their record defeat; 10–1 at Small Heath. The referee blew the whistle for time four minutes early, with the score 9–1, and did not realise until the players had reached the dressing room and the crowd had all left. He took them out for the remaining four minutes, during which Small Heath scored a tenth goal. No joy was to be had in the FA Cup yet again.