The first game at Bloomfield Road of the post-Oyston era was always going to be a day where events on the pitch were overshadowed by the wider significance of the match to those off it and so it proved as the Blackpool fans had the first and final impact on a day that always going to belong to them.
That said, the game was not without its drama and supporters returning to Bloomfield Road for the first time in four (or in some cases five) years to create an atmosphere reminiscent of their days in the Premier League were soon reminded of the club’s more modest standing in the football pyramid these days when Southend headed in an opener from a corner.
The goal came against the run of play, Harry Pritchard having already forced visiting goalkeeper Nathan Bishop to tip a shot bound for the top corner over the bar.
The goal quietened the home crowd for all of two seconds before they launched back into their post-Oyston themed version of Herman’s Hermits I’m into Something Good which provided the soundtrack to most of the afternoon.
Buoyed by the home fans’ defiant response to the unscripted opener, the Seasiders pursued an equaliser and when Liam Feeney provided a rare moment of composure on an afternoon ruled by freneticism and adrenalin they had it.
The winger drifted in from the left taking several Southend players with him enabling Armand Gnanduillet to occupy the now vacated space, Feeney rolled the ball into the Ivorian’s path and the striker smashed in the goal most inside the stadium had been waiting four years to cheer.
The home fans raised the decibel levels once again and the players charged forward in search of a second before the break, but a bobbling pitch put pay to any hopes of cohesion in attack and the football became increasingly slapdash as half-time approached.
Southend, stubborn in their role as party-poopers, retook the lead within three minutes of restart from another corner – the sort of near post header that is either “well-worked” or “poorly-defended” depending on which side of the dugout you sit.
The home supporters continued to sing, the home drum continued to beat and the home players continued to be tenacious in their efforts to cap a joyous day on the Fylde coast with a victory.
But the game grew ragged as the tangerines switched from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 and looked to long balls, crosses and long throw-ins for a route back into the game.
There had been a brief moment in the first half where Blackpool supporters had sung the name of former French playmaker Ludovic Sylvestre and as the game wore on those who had done so were probably bemoaning the absence of a player of similar guile among the current squad. No tangerine-shirted player seemed willing to occupy the sort of positions in front of the penalty area where Sylvestre once thrived and as the visitors’ back five dealt with each ball into the box with relative comfort, the Blackpool supporters’ homecoming looked destined for defeat.
But Feeney with the calmest head and deftest feet on the pitch had other ideas, embarking on one final surge down the left and floating over a cross that was flicked on to the head of Southend substitute Taylor Moore, who became the most popular man in Blackpool for a few minutes, diverting the ball past his own goalkeeper.
Bloomfield Road roared its approval, some fans ran on to the pitch and everyone of a tangerine persuasion left the stadium with the smiles that had been etched across their faces when they had arrived, still intact.
The fans had returned to watch their team and unsurprisingly they were still Blackpool. The departure of the Oystons does not make them immune to conceding from set-pieces against the run of play or misplacing the odd pass any more than it stops a ball bobbling on an uneven pitch. But regardless of their imperfections, it is safe to assume that all the home supporters left Bloomfield Road with one overriding thought: that it is great to have their team back.
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