John Hills shares the emotion of being part of Blackpool’s play-off history.
Blackpool youth product John Hills admits it was special to experience a play-off final with his hometown club.
The retired defender enjoyed three stints at Bloomfield Road as a player, before later returning as a youth coach following his retirement.
After progressing through the Seasiders’ various youth ranks, the 47-year-old was snapped up by Everton after impressing the Toffees in an FA Youth Cup tie.
That wasn’t the end of Hills’ association with Blackpool, with the now-Bamber Bridge assistant coach originally returning the Fylde Coast on loan in 1998, before making the move permanent.
On this day (May 26) in 2001, he was part of the team that claimed a 4-2 victory over Leyton Orient at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in the third division play-offs, before later returning to the Welsh capital for the final of the EFL Trophy.
“You look at Blackpool’s record in the play-offs, it’s one of the best, so to be part of that history is good,” he said.
“I’ve been to watch games at Wembley as a kid, and I always wanted to play there, so it’s unfortunate that the two times I got there we were at the Millennium Stadium, but that in itself was an unbelievable experience.
“To see a sea of Tangerine around the place was brilliant, it was a really special occasion.
“The play-offs are tough, and it’s small margins, but if you look at the team we had, there were some really strong players, so going into it, we believed we could do it with the quality we had.
“If you look at the games, we were deservedly winners in the semi-final and the final, and that was down to our quality.”
Hills’ final stint as a player on the Fylde Coast
John Hills (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)John Hills (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
John Hills (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hills went on to depart Blackpool once again in 2003, before returning for a third and final stint four years later.
It was during his final spell in Tangerine that he started to take the first steps in what he was going to do after his playing career.
“At 31, I broke my ankle at the end of the season and my contract was coming to an end, so it was really bad timing,” he stated.
“I did have a move lined up to play in Croatia, which I was considering. Blackpool didn’t offer me a new deal, but everything else fell through with my injury.
“When I got fit, I went on trial to Oldham and Swindon, but I was still limping and I didn’t have any joy finding another club, so I had to retire from professional football.
“I ended up signing for Fleetwood, who were Conference North at the time. Andy Pilley was the chairman there, and he was brilliant with me. He understood I was still struggling but had the belief in me.
“Micky Mellon was the manager at the time, and that’s when I started doing my badges, and we set up a youth team at Fleetwood.
“I ended up going to Fylde as player assistant manager after that, and was taking the academy lads at Blackpool part time, and then I got the chance to become academy manager. I did that for a couple of years, which I really enjoyed.”
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