THE BLACKPOOL SHOWER
Owner who sunbathes on stadium roof, gravedigger who quit because club’s so miserable and players staying in dodgy hotels. They’re…
BLACKPOOL was unusually hot last summer and one day the club’s owner, Owen Oyston, sought some sun. Cooped up inside his penthouse suite in the hotel at Bloomfield Road, Oyston — who was 85 on Thursday — decided to head further up in his pursuit.
Sunbathing gear on, he scaled the Jimmy Armfield Stand.
He reached the top, thought the rusting structure might be a smart place to brighten his tan and lay on the roof for the afternoon. Not a care in the world, clearly.
Club staff roll their eyes and laugh when the incident is retold, the sheer absurdity of an owner catching rays on top of a football stadium not lost on them, but this is no joke.
Fedora enthusiast Oyston owed former director Valeri Belokon around £25million — and still does — after an acrimonious High Court battle for ‘unfair prejudice’.
A judge ruled in November 2017 that Oyston had ‘illegitimately stripped’ the Seasiders, something the pensioner vehemently denies despite all logic and proof.
Oyston has passed up two opportunities of loans to repay his debt, of which, up to now, he has paid £ 10m of the £ 34m owed according to the final judgment. And so Blackpool is a club in limbo, desperate for change.
He has moved the asking price while in discussions with parties interested in buying the club and clearly does not wish to relinquish control despite public utterings to the contrary.
Others have blagged free threeweek stays in the club hotel while fooling Oyston into believing they have money to help. The place is in utter chaos.
His sunbathing might seem trivial, even amusing, but that Oyston cancelled all meetings that day, not wanting to be disturbed, paints a blasé picture, possibly even delusional.
Oyston, clinging on to power for all he is worth, has no definitive plan of how to end this mess. As always, supporters are left in the middle. Friendships have eroded, families split, as thousands have stood firm in refusing to watch their team play.
The ground is nine-tenths empty most weeks, only swollen by away support.
A small portion attend but the majority do not and a four-yearlong ‘Not A Penny More’ campaign has been successful in financially squeezing an owner they have despised for nearly three decades.
This evening serves as the biggest test yet when Arsenal arrive for an FA Cup third-round tie. It is Blackpool’s most glamorous game since they beat Cardiff City at Wembley nine years ago to reach the Premier League. ‘There is real anger from some towards those who still attend who, in their opinion, have divided the fan base and abandoned the team,’ said Blackpool Supporters’ Trust chair, Christine Seddon.
‘Thankfully, most fans manage to focus on where the real problem lies — Owen Oyston — but there is no doubt that when this is all over and we have our club back, there will be a fair few wounds which need to heal.’
Expect demonstrations. ‘We are calling on all fans to make their feelings known towards the owners of our club in a non-violent but direct way,’ the Muckers Supporters Group said, also highlighting the barbaric scenes which saw hundreds of Sunderland fans allowed into Bloomfield Road through an exit gate before Blackpool’s home defeat on New Year’s Day.
‘Sunderland proved that the current ownership doesn’t care about fans — even down to not having the correct procedures in place for stewarding a big crowd. The EFL need to investigate.’
Oyston is a condemned man on the Fylde Coast and goes into this tie with a threat of bailiffs seizing assets at the club next week to raise cash for Belokon.
The last major raid saw Oyston disconnect the lift to his penthouse and escape.
Money is running out and one source admitted they cannot see how long he can reasonably keep the club going, despite two cup runs generating in the region of £700,000.
That cash is not injected into the team, of course, and the outlook is bleak despite a decent season in League One. Players talk openly of blocking out the animosity and concentrate on their jobs. That manager Terry McPhillips has them 10th is a product of fighting against the odds. Unfortunately, the odds stacked against them are all internal.
THE preparation for matches is at an all-time low, Oyston’s sanctioning of two hotels last month both perfect examples. Before a defeat at Oxford United, the squad were supposed to stay 47 miles away in Warwick.
Staff fought back and only late intervention saw them find suitable accommodation.
The idea was to save every penny, as was the case in London last week. There were 12 miles between their base — described as ‘ the pits’ by one player — and AFC Wimbledon’s Kingsmeadow ground. There were fears they would fail to submit the teamsheet in time thanks to London traffic. Blackpool somehow left with a goalless draw.
That they didn’t possess enough frost sheets to cover the pitch before tonight’s game, leaving a big stretch open to the coastal elements, comes as absolutely no surprise.
Oyston has been served with at least two writs from player agencies for unpaid fees. There is the prospect of key men being sold this month.
None of this is helping the team Oyston claims to love so dearly. They have trained at three different locations already this season and have now returned to the decrepit Squires Gate, which has barely changed since the era of Sir Stanley Matthews.
Four players twisted their ankles during the first week back at Squires Gate. The sand filling deep holes in the ground was not robust enough.
A local gravedigger, roped in on the cheap, helped fill them in but quit after a few days because the
job was miserable. Legal wrangles are never-ending. There is one ongoing with the club restaurant, Rowley’s, after they moved out. Oyston has a civil case against his own grandson, Sam, for alleged missing money.
The owner’s non- existent relationship with son and ex-chairman Karl after sacking him last year is well documented. Divorce proceedings with his wife, Vicki, got under way last year.
All the while, Oyston — who badgered poor staff with ‘bizarre requests’ on Christmas Day — privately keeps talking about the prospect of one day reaching the
Premier League again. Pantomime season clearly lasts all year round.
Fans are holding on to the faint promise of something, anything, from Belokon.
‘Our hope for the new year is that Mr Belokon pulls the financial trigger which will finally see Owen Oyston leave the club for ever,’ Seddon added. ‘The legal system moves incredibly slowly but thoroughly and this stalemate cannot continue.’
All these supporters want is to see some sunlight in this kingdom of rust.