Reflections On Wembley

You can’t move for Blackpool coverage at the moment, and if we were to bring you every single piece of coverage we’d have to invent some extra hours to go into the day!

So instead, we’ve collected together some of the best reactions to ‘Pool’s Wembley win for you to digest below…

Speaking immediately after the game, Ian Holloway said:

‘Can’t put it into words, I am bursting with pride.

‘My lads kept going and they kept doing the same thing. I’m so proud it’s absolutely outstanding.

‘I’m gutted for the Cardiff lads but I’ve never worked with a group of people who deserve this more.

‘It’s absolutely magnificent, not just for my team but for the whole area that we’re from.

‘You don’t understand what it means, they are all going to have so much money coming in now from the Premier League and I can’t tell you how we feel to do that for them. It’s outstanding.’

Meanwhile, skipper Charlie Adam said that ‘Pool deserved their win:

‘It was a tough match and the desire to come back from two goals down was tremendous, it shows our spirit.

‘I think we deserve to go where we’re going to go and to get to that place. I can’t speak, it’s been unbelievable.

‘Blackpool at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge – you can’t ask for anything else.’

The £90 million goalscorer Brett Ormerod also struggled to find the words to describe his feelings on leading the Seasiders to the promised land:

‘I don’t know what to say to be honest. I’m absolutely speechless.

‘I don’t think anyone thought (we could do it) at the beginning of this season. We got written off, but the gaffer changed it. He deserves a knighthood.’

Chairman Karl Oyston was left pinching himself… presumably at the thought of being able to afford an even more expensive Ferrari now!

Also speaking to Sky Sports, the chairman said:

‘I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, (watching the game) there’s a mixture of disbelief and you feel physically sick.

‘We’ve got a lot of work to do to really bring things up to scratch.

‘We’ve got another stand to build at Bloomfield Road and a training ground to develop.

‘There’s a lot that we need to do and this gives us the opportunity to do all of the things we’ve previously been unable to do because of financial constraints.’

Oyston also reserved special praise for Ian Holloway, adding:

‘He’s changed everyone’s approach and galvanised the whole club. He’s given us all a common purpose that everyone has bought into, including me, the board and all the staff – and this is the result.’

Speaking to the official website, Wembley man of the match Keith Southern said:

‘It’s really surreal at this moment in time.

‘The lads didn’t know what to do in the changing room, they just felt like they were in a dream and somebody was going to wake them up.

‘I live a mile away from Goodison Park and a mile and a half away from Anfield and I think I’m going to walk to those games. I’ll then walk home from them as well as that’s been my dream all season.’

Meanwhile, club president Valery Belokon saluted the incredible job that Ian Holloway has done:

‘Ian Holloway will go down as the first manager to lead Blackpool into the Premier League, and he deserves all the glory.

‘As for me, who knows? In 20 years, I might be coming to Bloomfield to be greeted by banners saying ‘Belokon Out’.’

Shifting focus back to Ollie, the gaffer has promised to attack next season:

‘We will try and score goals and play entertaining football.

‘We have got to be careful because we will be trying to attack people in the biggest league in the world, but I don’t like boring football so we’ll have a go and if we get trounced out of sight we will. I don’t care.’

Of course there’s a great deal more coverage out there – more than we could possibly publish for you, so have a trawl around the web and drink it all in… these are truly crazy, brilliant times!