2017–18 Blackpool F.C. season explained

Club:	Blackpool
Season:	2017–18
Manager:	Gary Bowyer
Owner:	Owen Oyston
Chairman:	Karl Oyston (until 8 February)
Stadium:	Bloomfield Road
League:	League One
League Result:	12th
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	First round
Cup2:	EFL Cup
Cup2 Result:	First round
Cup3:	EFL Trophy
Cup3 Result:	Third round
League Topscorer:	Kyle Vassell (11 goals)
Season Topscorer:	Kyle Vassell (11 goals)
Pattern La1:	_blackpool1617h
Pattern B1:	_blackpool1617h
Pattern Ra1:	_blackpool1617h
Pattern So1:	_blackpool1617hl
Pattern La2:	_blackpool1819a
Pattern B2:	_blackpool1819a
Pattern Ra2:	_blackpool1819a
Pattern Sh2:	_blackpool1819a
Pattern So2:	_blackpool1112al
Pattern La3:	_blackpool1617a
Pattern B3:	_blackpool1617a
Pattern Ra3:	_blackpool1617a
Pattern Sh3:	_blackpool1617a
Pattern So3:	_blackpool1617al
Prevseason:	2016–17
Nextseason:	2018–19

The 2017–18 season was Blackpool F.C.'s 109th season in the Football League, and their first season back in League One following promotion from the 2016–17 Football League Two Play-Offs, against Exeter. Along with competing in League One, the club also participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy.

The season covers the period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018.

First-team squad

No.	Name	Pos.	Nat.	Place of Birth	Age	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee	Ends
Goalkeepers
1	Ben Williams	GK		Manchester		6	0	Bury	3 July 2017	Free	2018
25	Myles Boney	GK				4	0	Academy	1 July 2015	Trainee	Undisclosed
28	Joe Lumley	GK		Harlow		18	0	Queens Park Rangers	8 January 2018	Loan	2018
37	Christoffer Mafoumbi	GK		Roubaix		6	0	Free State Stars	20 July 2017	Free	2019
Defenders
2	Kelvin Mellor	RB		Crewe		89	14	Plymouth Argyle	4 July 2016	Free	2018
3	Andy Taylor	LB		Blackburn		61	2	Walsall	1 July 2016	Free	2018
5	Clark Robertson	CB/LB		Aberdeen		137	5	Aberdeen	1 July 2015	Free	2018
6	Will Aimson	CB/DM		Christchurch		69	0	Hull City	14 January 2016	Undisclosed	2018
12	Nick Anderton	LB		Preston		11	0	Barrow	1 July 2017	£75,000	2019
16	Curtis Tilt	CB		Walsall		45	1	Wrexham	1 July 2017	Undisclosed	2019
20	Ollie Turton	RB		Manchester		43	1	Crewe Alexandra	1 July 2017	Free	2019
Midfielders
4	Jim McAlister	CM		Rothesay		80		1	Dundee	29 July 2015	Free	2018
8	Sessi D'Almeida	DM		Bordeaux		27	1	Barnsley	19 August 2017	Undisclosed	2018
14	Jimmy Ryan	CM		Liverpool		38	3	Fleetwood Town	6 July 2017	Free	2019
15	Sean Longstaff	CM		North Shields		45	9	Newcastle United	21 July 2017	Loan	2018
17	Viv Solomon-Otabor	LW		London		46	5	Birmingham City	26 July 2017	Loan	2018
23	Colin Daniel	LM		Eastwood		85	8	Port Vale	1 July 2016	Free	2019
24	Callum Cooke	AM		Peterlee		33	2	Middlesbrough	18 July 2017	Loan	2018
44	Jay Spearing	DM		Wallasey		34	0	Bolton Wanderers	4 October 2017	Free	2018
Forwards
7	Kyle Vassell	CF		Milton Keynes		71	24	Peterborough United	1 July 2016	Free	2018
9	Mark Cullen	CF		Ashington		92	22	Luton Town	30 June 2015	£180,000	2018
10	Max Clayton	SS		Crewe		7	1	Bolton Wanderers	1 July 2017	Free	2019
11	Armand Gnanduillet	CF		Angers		57	10	Leyton Orient	19 August 2016	Free	2018
18	Danny Philliskirk	CF		Oldham		72	11	Oldham Athletic	7 January 2016	Undisclosed	2018
19	Jamille Matt	CF				39	3	Fleetwood Town	1 July 2016	Free	2018
21	Dolly Menga	CF		Verviers		8	0	Free agent	10 November 2017	Free	2018
22	Dan Agyei	CF		Kingston upon Thames		9	0	Burnley	18 January 2018	Loan	2018
27	Scott Quigley	CF		Shrewsbury		8	0	The New Saints	16 August 2017	£35,000	2019
30	Nathan Delfouneso	CF		Birmingham		120	22	Swindon Town	21 January 2017	Free	2018
32	Rowan Roache	CF				5	0	Academy	5 December 2016	Trainee	2019
36	Raúl Correia	CF				1	0	Radcliffe Borough	31 January 2017	Undisclosed	2018

Statistics

^[1] |-!colspan=14|Player(s) out on loan:|-!colspan=14|Player(s) who left the club:|}

Goals record

Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name					Total
1	7		CF	Kyle Vassell	11	0	0	0	11
2	15		CM	Sean Longstaff	8	0	0	1	9
	30		CF	Nathan Delfouneso	9	0	0	0	9
4	2		RB	Kelvin Mellor	6	0	0	1	7
5	18		CF	Danny Philliskirk	2	1	0	3	6
6	11		CF	Armand Gnanduillet	4	0	1	0	5
	17		LW	Viv Solomon-Otabor	5	0	0	0	5
8	23		LM	Colin Daniel	4	0	0	0	4
9	5		CB	Clark Robertson	3	0	0	0	3
	14		CM		3	0	0	0	3
11	24		AM	Callum Cooke	2	0	0	0	2
12	8		DM	Sessi D'Almeida	0	0	0	1	1
	10		SS	Max Clayton	0	0	0	1	1
	16		CB	Curtis Tilt	1	0	0	0	1
	20		RB	Ollie Turton	1	0	0	0	1
	35		CF	Finlay Sinclair-Smith	0	0	0	1	1
Own Goals					1	0	0	0	1
Total					60	1	1	8	70

Disciplinary record

Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name										League Trophy			Total
1	16		CB	Curtis Tilt	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0	0
2	14		CM		10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	0
3	23		LM	Colin Daniel	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	0
4	30		CF	Nathan Delfouneso	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	5	0	0
5	2		RB	Kelvin Mellor	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	0
	20		RB	Ollie Turton	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	0
7	7		CF	Kyle Vassell	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	8		DM	Sessi D'Almeida	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0
	44		DM	Jay Spearing	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
10	11		CF	Armand Gnanduillet	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	17		LW	Viv Solomon-Otabor	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	28		GK	Joe Lumley	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
13	5		CB	Clark Robertson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	15		CM	Sean Longstaff	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	18		CF	Danny Philliskirk	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	21		CF	Dolly Menga	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	24		AM	Callum Cooke	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	37		GK	Christoffer Mafoumbi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	43		RB	Caleb Richards	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
	—		GK	Ryan Allsop	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total					55	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	61	0	0

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2017					£75,000	^[2]
1 July 2017					Free	^[3]
1 July 2017					Undisclosed	^[4]
1 July 2017					Free	^[5]
1 July 2017					Free	^[6]
3 July 2017					Free	^[7]
6 July 2017					Free	^[8]
20 July 2017					Free	^[9]
16 August 2017			Scott Quigley		£35,000	^[10]
18 August 2017					Undisclosed	^[11]
4 October 2017					Free	^[12]
10 November 2017					Free	^[13]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2017					Released
1 July 2017					Released
1 July 2017					Released
1 July 2017					Released
1 July 2017					Released
1 July 2017					Released
1 July 2017					Released
1 July 2017					Released
1 July 2017					Released	^[14]
1 July 2017			Macauley Wilson		Released
5 July 2017			Christian N'Guessan		Free	^[15]
6 July 2017					Free	^[16]
3 August 2017					Undisclosed	^[17]
1 September 2017					Undisclosed	^[18]
19 September 2017					Free	^[19]

Loans in

Start date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	End date	Ref.
18 July 2017					30 June 2018	^[20]
18 July 2017					30 June 2018	^[21]
21 July 2017					6 January 2018	^[22]
26 July 2017					6 January 2018	^[23]

Loans out

Start date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	End date	Ref.
15 July 2017			Denzel Williams		TBA	^[24]
21 July 2017			Jack Sims		TBA	^[25]
25 July 2017					2 January 2018	^[26]
2 August 2017					TBA	^[27]
29 August 2017					30 June 2018	^[28]
31 August 2017					30 June 2018	^[29]
13 September 2017			Caleb Richards		8 October 2017	^[30]
2 December 2017			Caleb Richards		2 January 2018	^[31]

Competitions

Friendlies

As of 1 June 2017, Blackpool have announced five pre-season friendlies against Southport, Macclesfield Town,^[32] Salford City, Radcliffe Borough and Chorley.^[33]

League One

Matches

On 21 June 2017, the league fixtures were announced.^{[34] [35]}

FA Cup

On 16 October 2017, Blackpool were drawn at away to Boreham Wood for the first round.^[36]

EFL Cup

On 16 June 2017, Blackpool were drawn away to Wigan Athletic in the first round.^[37]

EFL Trophy

On 12 July 2017, the group stage draw was completed with Blackpool facing Wigan Athletic, Accrington Stanley and Middlesbrough U23s in Northern Group B.^{[38] [39]} After winning their group, Blackpool were drawn at home to Mansfield Town in the second round.^[40] A third round away trip against Shrewsbury Town was next on the cards for the Seasiders.^[41]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Blackpool players: League One.
2. News: Blackpool Sign Anderton. 26 June 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 26 June 2017.
3. News: Blackpool Swoop For Clayton. 23 June 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 22 June 2017.
4. News: Hartley Becomes A Seasider. 16 June 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 16 June 2017.
5. News: Tilt Becomes First Summer Signing. 15 June 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 15 June 2017.
6. News: Turton Agrees Blackpool Move. 22 June 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 20 June 2017.
7. News: Blackpool Sign Williams. 3 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 3 July 2017.
8. News: Jimmy Ryan Moves To Blackpool. 6 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 6 July 2017.
9. News: Mafoumbi Pens Blackpool Contract. 20 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 20 July 2017.
10. News: Scott Quigley Completes Transfer From TNS. 16 August 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 16 August 2017.
11. News: Blackpool Sign Sessi D'Almeida. 21 August 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 18 August 2017.
12. News: Club Confirms Signing of Spearing. 6 October 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 4 October 2017.
13. News: Club Confirms Signing of Menga. 10 November 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 10 November 2017.
14. News: Retained List Announced. 31 May 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 31 May 2017.
15. News: Trio Join Development Squad. 5 July 2017. Burnley Official Site. 5 July 2017. 8 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170708213807/https://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/news/2017/july/trio-join-development-squad/. dead.
16. News: Tom Aldred: Bury sign Blackpool defender on a two-year deal. 6 July 2017. BBC. 6 July 2017.
17. News: Brad Potts Completes Transfer To Barnsley. 4 August 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 3 August 2017.
18. News: Osayi-Samuel Moves To QPR. 4 September 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 1 September 2017.
19. News: Sebastian Des Pres signs for Development Squad. 22 September 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 19 September 2017.
20. News: Allsop Arrives On Loan. 18 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 18 July 2017.
21. News: Callum Cooke Completes Season-Long Loan. 18 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 18 July 2017.
22. News: Blackpool Confirm Longstaff Loan Deal. 21 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 21 July 2017.
23. News: Birmingham City Winger Arrives On Loan. 26 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 26 July 2017.
24. News: Denzel Williams Loaned To Bamber Bridge. 17 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 15 July 2017.
25. News: Sims Heads Out On Loan. 21 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 21 July 2017.
26. News: Guiseley Loan For Correia. 25 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 25 July 2017.
27. News: Roache Joins Southport On Youth Loan. 3 August 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 2 August 2017.
28. News: Jamille Matt Heads Out On Loan. 29 August 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 29 August 2017.
29. News: Motherwell Loan Move For Hartley. 1 September 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 31 August 2017.
30. News: Richards Extends Loan Spell At Warrington Town. 14 September 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 13 September 2017.
31. News: Richards Joins Southport For A Month. 7 December 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 2 December 2017.
32. News: Two Pre-Season Friendlies Confirmed. 31 May 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 31 May 2017.
33. News: Three More Pre-Season Games Announced. 1 June 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 1 June 2017.
34. News: 2017/18 Fixtures Released. 29 June 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 21 June 2017.
35. News: Fixture List. 29 June 2017. Blackpool Official Site. June 2017.
36. News: Blackpool Drawn To Face Boreham Wood In Emirates FA Cup. 17 October 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 16 October 2017.
37. News: Blackpool Travel To Wigan In Carabao Cup. 16 June 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 16 June 2017.
38. News: Middlesbrough Complete Checkatrade Trophy Group. 13 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 12 July 2017.
39. News: Checkatrade Trophy Fixture Dates Confirmed. 26 July 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 26 July 2017.
40. News: Blackpool To Host Mansfield Town In Checkatrade Trophy. 11 November 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 10 November 2017.
41. News: Blackpool To Face Shrewsbury In Round Three of Checkatrade Trophy. 8 December 2017. Blackpool Official Site. 8 December 2017.