Kenny Dougall’s brace against Lincoln City at the Wembley stadium helped Blackpool secure promotion from League One to the Championship next season.
Former Liverpool under 23s coach, Neil Critchley succeeded Simon Grayson as the head coach of Blackpool, after the latter was sacked following a run of seven defeats in nine league games. Critchley, 41, who managed Liverpool twice that season in the absence of Jurgen Klopp, impressed the Blackpool owners and started his career at the club with a draw against Fleetwood in the local derby. A loss against Tranmere Rovers in the following match saw them finish in the 13th position that season.
The Seasiders poorly started the next season. After experiencing a 7-2 defeat against Liverpool in the pre-season friendly, they got knocked out of the EFL Cup by Stoke city in the very first round. The tie finished goalless after 90 minutes and went to penalties, with Stoke being the victors. Moreover, they lost six games out of the first nine league games which pushed them to the 18th spot in the table.
However, since then, they were a completely different side and changed things upside down. They lost just six out of 37 games that followed and finished third in the league with 80 points. Meanwhile, they also suffered an unfortunate defeat against Brighton Hove Albion in the fourth round of the FA cup away from home. Nonetheless, they qualified to play in the promotion playoffs after six years.
They faced Oxford United, who finished 6th in the league, away from home and won 3-0 in the first leg. Having said that, they managed only a 3-3 draw in the second leg but won 6-3 on aggregate and made their way to the finals where they faced Lincoln City at Wembley.
Lincoln City had the better of the Tangerines having won the first league game against them away from home. They also managed a draw at home after a late equalizer from Brennan Johnson.
The 20-year-old Welsh, haunted the Seasiders once again when Ollie Turton put his cross in his own net within 50 seconds. Kenneth Dougall who had scored against Oxford United in the semifinals levelled just before halftime. Immediately after halftime, the 27-year-old Aussie scored once again from outside the box and completed Blackpool’s comeback. Lincoln, who were unable to respond, handed Blackpool their sixth promotion through the English football league playoffs, and with this they also get to play in the Championship for the first time since 2014-2015.
However, the wait goes on for the Imps who last played in the second tier sixty years ago. But they have certainly kept their momentum going yet were unable to respond to Dougall’s brace despite several chances in the second half.
The Blackpool boss had his say after the game:
How not to start a play-off final – we did it. I have to say the response from that [own goal] was magnificent and it sums up the character and resilience of this group. We stayed calm and we played our way back into the game thanks to a fantastic strike from Kenny. The next five or 10 minutes [after the own goal], the team settled me down with the way they played and there was a calmness about us, there was no panic.
