Blackpool To illuminate Premier League

Blackpool are the 20th and final side to have booked their place in the 2010/11 edition of the Premier League after beating Cardiff City in the Championship play-off final by a 3-2 scoreline this afternoon. The Tangerines were amongst the favourites to be relegated to League One at the start of the campaign which explains why they were as big as [60.0] on Betfair Bookmakers to get promoted. But Ian Holloway’s side are nothing if not resilient and increasingly dangerous when the chips are down and this afternoon’s match was no exception, winning in 90 minutes after twice going a goal down.

Former Newcastle man Michael Chopra opened the scoring for Cardiff, Blackpool skipper Charlie Adam hit back and then the highly-rated Joe Ledley scored Cardiff’s second, leaving Blackpool with a mountain to climb. Uphill task it may have been but goals from Gary Taylor-Fletcher and journeyman striker Brett Ormerod put Blackpool up just before the break. That was obviously good news for their fans who had made the long trip down to Wembley but it was even better news for a handful of punters on Betfair Bookmakers. Those who had backed Ian Holloway’s troops to be up at the break secured in-running odds of 75.0 and those who had backed the “any unquoted” runner on the half-time score market (either side to score three goals in the first-half) got 48.0.

The second-half promised more of the same early on but Blackpool were understandably more concerned with winning promotion than entertaining the fans at Wembley or the viewers back home in a match that was believed to be worth £90 million to the victor. Conditions were hot and stifling, the pitch was heavy and slow and with Cardiff running out of steam and Blackpool protecting what they had, that’s how the match stayed. Blackpool were backed at 9.0 to win the match when 2-1 down and at 55.0 to win by a 3-2 scoreline.

There will no doubt be plenty of celebrating tonight and for a couple of weeks beyond that but very soon Ian Holloway will have to start thinking about what he needs to do to prepare his side for the dizzy heights of the Premier League. The ink may not yet have dried on the newspapers reporting on his team’s historic victory but already bookies are writing off his teams’ chances of avoiding the drop next season, with Blackpool chalked up as the 1.4 favourites to go straight back down.