Keith Southern reflects on Blackpool’s Championship play-off final victory over Cardiff City on this day (May 22) in 2010.
Former Blackpool midfielder Keith Southern believes the 2010 Championship play-off winning squad had all the right attributes to pull off a shock promotion.
The 45-year-old, who is now a coach with Everton, pinpoints a desire to prove people wrong and a confidence in their firepower as a couple of the key things that drove the Seasiders to the Premier League.
Ian Holloway’s side were forced to come from behind twice in their 3-2 victory over Cardiff City on this day (May 22) 16 years ago, with Charlie Adam and Gary Taylor-Fletcher providing the equalisers, before Brett Ormerod’s winning goal at the end of the first half.
“I still can’t believe it to this day,” Southern said.
“It still gets shown on Sky Sports - there’s many play-off finals with huge drama, but that one seems to get shown more than most for some reason, which is quite nice because it keeps the memory of it alive.
“It was just an incredible season. To obviously play there (at Wembley) and come from behind on a couple of occasions to get over the line, it was emotional, it was chaotic, it was frantic, but it meant everything to the players and the fans.
“We had a brilliant connection. I don’t think we were going to be denied; it was just meant to be on that particular day.
“We often fell behind in games throughout the season, it was a common theme. It wasn’t planned that way. When you do it once or twice, and it becomes a habit, the belief grows because we had goalscorers in the team and on the bench.
“When you’ve got that, you’re always in the game; you’re never dead, so we always felt we had a real opportunity with the firepower we had.
“We had a great party after in the hotel in Covent Garden. It went on late into the evening, it was a memorable evening. You didn’t want it to come to an end, because you’re waking up the next morning and it’s gradually moving away from you - and now we’re 16 years on.”
‘It brought a team spirit’
Keith Southern (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)placeholder image
Keith Southern (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Southern spent a decade in total at Bloomfield Road following his move from Everton in 2002 - at a time where reaching the Premier League certainly wasn’t on the club’s agenda.
“It felt a million miles away,” he admitted.
“We were only ever one league away, but we were always trying to consolidate in the Championship at that time. We went up in 2007, and we were still in the infancy of trying to be that established team.
“The first year, we stayed up on the final, and then we made slight progress the year after. We were gradually making little movements, but there was nothing to suggest that we could get anywhere near the play-offs or the top end going into that season.
“It came out of the blue - I think we had the second lowest budget at the time. There were some juggernauts in the league at that time, it was a really tough league to get out of.
“A lot of the players, myself included, found ourselves at Blackpool for a reason, where we’d been let go with things not working at other clubs. Everyone was there for different reasons, but it brought a team spirit and a mentality of wanting to prove people.
“We wanted to play as high as we possibly could, so there was a real desire even before that season. Year in, year out, we were trying to overcome obstacles bit by bit.
“It's a very powerful characteristic to have that determination to not give in when things are going against you, and the lads showed in abundance that we could do it.”
The majority of the squad from 2010 were reunited last year, as they took part in a legends game at Bloomfield Road.
“I always try to go back during the regular season to take my boys and my wife - we always get a lovely reception,” Southern added.
“It was even more special when you get a lot of the boys who played on that day back putting our boots on.
“An awful lot of us, including myself, are a little bit heavier and certainly a little bit slower, but the memories never fade.
“Football is weird, you have that dressing room camaraderie and then you don’t see each other for 10 years, but when you see those familiar faces, it’s like you’ve never been away from each other. It’s a special feeling.”
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