Salop’s star shines bright in the festive four.

1 January 2025: Blackpool 1, Shrewsbury Town 1.

Salop playing at Blackpool on a Bank Holiday is a fixture that generates real sense of excitement among that section of the fan base that rates watching their team whilst wearing a ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hat the pinnacle of hedonistic indulgence. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm does not extend to the occasions when the Bank Holiday in question is New Years’ Day. Nowadays the effective end of the Christmas festivities comes with the final whistle of the first football match of the calendar year, which also signals the start of a period of holiday-making hibernation during the remaining months of the winter.

Blackpool may not be a resort that never sleeps, but several of its attractions remained open for the enjoyment of those venturing out on New Year’s Day. This included some of the town’s chip shops, so on the first day of the year I was able to place a tick on my 2025 bucket list in the box marked ‘a walk up the seafront and eat a portion of fish and chips from a seaside chippy’. One of the perks of celebrating Christmas for its religious significance is that you can make use of the full twelve days without the guilt of self-indulgence.

Plenty of Town fans had made the trip to Bloomfield Road and were in fine fettle in the concourse in the corner of the East Stand. My fettle took a bit of a nosedive when a steward told me that matchday programmes were not on sale in the ground and I should have purchased one before going through the turnstiles. He told me that if I saw the stewards on the door, they might be willing to allow me a pass to go outside to buy one. There were two stewards on the exit door, an older one who was clearly senior to the other. The senior steward told me that I could not go outside myself but if I gave his colleague some money, he would pop over to the programme seller for me. The younger steward screwed up his face: with much apology he told me that his contract did not allow him to hold money on behalf of a third party. The senior steward shrugged and took three one-pound coins from me and disappeared outside. His colleague then explained: he was an agency steward, and his terms of employment with the agency prevented him from taking money from a member of the public because of the possibility of a dispute arising, say over what change that needed to be handed back. The other steward was directly employed by the club, so adhered to a different job description. When the senior steward returned with my programme, I showered him with thanks – after all he could easily have taken a ‘job’s-worth’ attitude. He seemed truly motivated by the desire to ensure my visit to the stadium was enjoyable and give a positive impression of his employer.

As with the other fixtures of the festive period, Gareth Ainsworth’s team selection contained surprises. The standout change was Charles Sagoe Jr being given a start after not figuring on the bench after being omitted from the matchday squad for the last two matches. From the starting line up against Northampton Talyor Perry, Alex Gilliead, Leo Castledine George Lloyd and John Marquis were omitted. Along with Sagoe Jr, the replacements were: Tom Bloxham, Carl Winchester, Jordan Rossiter and, playing as a lone striker, JJ Kayode. All the changes were in attack and midfield; Ainsworth principal gift this Christmas appears to have been a settled back five.

Salop opened the game looking quite confident. Sagoe Jr on the left and Bloxham on the right both went on expeditions into the opposition half, creating a frisson of excitement among the visiting supporters, but unfortunately neither were able to provide much of an end product. Bloxham unleased the first venomous shot of the match, only for it to fly wide over the target.

Blackpool were patient, probing forward in a series of well organised moves, which the Salop defence found reasonably easy to frustrate. Whilst the visitors conceded most of the possession to the hosts, this was not really apparent to spectators as Blackpool’s opportunities were limited. On the brink of half-time, a Mal Benning shot forced a sharp save from home ‘keeper Harry Tyler, who could parry the ball out for a corner kick. It was the only goal attempt that hit the target in the first forty-five minutes.

At the break the visitors would have felt well satisfied. If they could continue to keep Blackpool at bay, Salop looked well capable of scoring a goal on the break. Football would be a much easier game if your opposition did exactly what was required of them. Unfortunately, they can have a mind of their own.

Immediately from the restart, Blackpool upped the tempo of their play looking to dominate their opponents. Under persistent pressure, Salop’s defending became frantic with the ball being cleared haphazardly up field, this only inviting the hosts to attack again. Blackpool’s attempts at goal became ever more regular and ominous. Even so, the Seasiders’ manager Steve Bruce seemed impatient and on sixty minutes made a quadruple substitution.

The four replacements had barely put studs to turf when Blackpool took the lead. A speculative long ball forward found substitute CJ Hamilton deep on the left and his first touch of the match was a diagonal pass back to the centre. Running forward into space, Rob Apter met the ball on the edge of the area and fired it into the top let corner of the goal. Bloomfield Road erupted in celebration.

With Blackpool’s goal coming after fifteen minutes of complete domination, it seemed likely that the last half-an-hour would see the home side completely overwhelming their opponents. However, the game took another dramatic turn. It might have been that Blackpool’s goal caused them to sit back, or possibly that the quadruple substitution unsettled the rhythm of their play. The cause might have been Ainsworth’s triple substitution: replacing Sagoe Jr, Winchester and Kayode with Jordan Shipley, Funso Ojo and John Marquis. Whatever the reason, Salop came back into the game strongly. From having had virtually no possession, they were suddenly pushing forward with purpose. On eighty minutes Salop’s efforts were rewarded. Ojo played an incisive pass through the Seasiders’ defence to Bloxham. The wide man took the ball into the box and fired it into the net from a narrow angle. It was now the visiting supporters that were making all the noise.

Just as in the last game before Christmas at Wigan, Salop had ventured into Lancashire and come from behind to snatch the type of draw that seems like a win. An intense holiday programme had seen Town unbeaten over the four matches, having taken six points. The pragmatist might observe that two wins, a draw and a defeat would have produced an extra point, but the confidence that the unbeaten run should breed is probably worth sacrificing that point.

A festive League One table recording every team’s last four results, places Salop in twelfth position. The none of the other teams currently sitting in the bottom seven of the overall League One table, took more than two points out of the last twelve. Intriguingly, both Peterborough United and Bristol Rovers only took a single point and seem to be slipping into the relegation mix. Ainsworth’s eight matches in charge have gradually edged Salop into a position where a modicum of hope of avoiding relegation now exists. However, there are still many stiff tests,