County hit the road for the first time in the 2024/25 season this weekend, as we make the short trip to Blackpool looking to build on a comfortable opening day victory.
Despite a much changed County side exiting the Carabao Cup against Blackburn in midweek, our opening league fixture gave plenty of reasons for optimism as Cambridge were confidently dispatched in SK3, thanks to goals from Louie Barry and Kyle Wootton.
That win left us second in the very early live league table, and we now head to Bloomfield Road looking to win our first two league games in an EFL season for the first time since 1999, when Grimsby Town and Tranmere Rovers were beaten in the Championship.
Saturday will be a step-up in opposition however, against a Blackpool side who finished just short of the play-off places last season. Despite a surprise defeat away at Crawley on the opening day, The Seasiders are defending a proud home record in League One that has seen them go unbeaten at Bloomfield Road since November.
Our Opponents:
Last season was Blackpool’s first back in League One, following The Seasiders’ relegation from the Championship in 2023 after a two-year stay in the second tier.
A turbulent 2022/23 campaign at Bloomfield Road began with manager Neil Critchley departing in the Summer to take up a role under Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa. The Club then went through three permanent bosses over the course of the season (Michael Appleton, Mick McCarthy and Stephen Dobbie), but the trio would win just 11 league games between them, leading to a 23rd place finish.
Preparing for life back in the third tier, it was announced last Summer that Critchley would return to Bloomfield Road following a brief spell in charge of QPR. The 45-year-old was the man who guided The Tangerines to promotion from League One via the play-offs in 2021, and upon his return he was tasked with repeating the feat, as well as rebuilding a relationship with a fanbase left disappointed by his exit 12 months prior.
His second spell got off to a solid start, with the Club hovering just outside the play-off places for much of the campaign. It took until January for the team to win three league games in a row for the first time, whilst a poor record on their travels continued to hamper their progress up the league table.
Their form at Bloomfield Road was formidable throughout the season, with only Bolton, Portsmouth and Derby County, the top three in League One, picking up more points at home than Blackpool’s 48 last season. They lost just three league games at home all season, last doing so to Northampton Town on 28th November.
On the road it was a different story, as they picked up just 25 points from 23 games on their travels, the fewest of any side that finished in the top half. Critchley’s men mustered just seven away wins all season, and only 22 goals.
A well-timed run of four straight wins in April saw them take the battle for a play-off spot down to the final day, but ultimately it was that record away from home that cost them a place in the top six. A 3-2 defeat at Reading in their final game consigned them to an 8th place finish, three points short of Barnsley in the final play-off place.
There have been eight incomings over the Summer as Critchley aims to go one better this time round, with the most notable of those signings being the return of fan favourite, Jordan Rhodes up front. The prolific Scot was on loan at Bloomfield Road from Huddersfield Town last season, scoring 15 goals in 29 appearances in League One, and has now joined on a 12-month deal.
Though many will have been hoping for a fresh start this season, those away troubles reared their head again on opening day, as a below-par first-half performance saw them lose 2-1 away at last season’s League Two play-off winners, Crawley Town.
They did earn a morale-boosting midweek win in the Carabao Cup though, scoring four times in the final twenty minutes away at ten-man Burton Albion, to earn a second round tie against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
They now prepare for their home opener in front of a crowd bolstered by 4,000 travelling County fans, and will be hopeful that their record on their own patch will have them challenging at the right end of the table again this season.
Match Stats:
- This will be the first meeting between the two sides since April 2005. Our last game at Bloomfield Road was twenty years ago on Wednesday, a game that County won 4-0 thanks to goals from Danny Jackman, Warren Feeney and two from Luke Beckett.
- This will be the 78th competitive meeting between two sides, who first met in November 1894. County have won 26 of the previous encounters, with Blackpool winning 33.
- The last time County won their first away game of an EFL season was back in 2000, where a side managed by Andy Kilner won 3-1 at Gillingham.
