Blackpool FC’s demise in recent years has led to a continuous dispute between fans and ownership of the club, something which has been well publicised and is an issue well talked about within the sport media and now in politics.
Will Watt’s article in the Gazette revealing that Conservative Councillor Williams wants a truce between fans and ownership due to the dispute damaging the town shows just how toxic the situation at the club has become.
Not only is it now just a footballing matter but a political and societal issue too and many, like Councillor Williams for example, want a fix.
He told the Gazette: ‘Away supporters may be avoiding games in Blackpool, potential visitors could choose other resorts, even capital investors may be dissuaded from bringing much needed development into a town where it is desperately needed due to the high level of negative publicity this situation is attracting.’
Unfortunately for Councillor Williams I do not believe there is an easy fix to this situation. Too much has happened in recent years for there simply to be a handshake between the two sides so fans can forgive and forget about the impact the Oyston family have had on the club.
Last season is what took the relationship between fans and ownership to an unfixable point, when manager Jose Riga only had a team of players a couple of days before the season started and a total lack of squad stability and quality led to a joint worst ever points total in the Championship.
The relationship was also worsened by several interactions between Karl Oyston and fans, one of which saw Oyston receive a temporary ban from football and others have seen fans sued and fined.
Fast forward to now and things at the club are still far from good as there remains a very real possibility that the Tangerines could be playing in League Two next year.
Councillor Williams was revealed to have met with the BST in an effort to calm the situation down and is writing to the Minister for Sport and the FA in order to assist in the reconciliation between fans and ownership that he wants to see, as is Blackpool North and Cleveleys MP Paul Maynard.
A truce between the current owners and fans would be a meaningless gesture and wouldn’t really improve anything at the club as a large amount of fans now believe the only real solution is new ownership.
Efforts to improve things at the club are of course welcome, but new ownership should still remain the target and a truce would be largely ineffective.
