Memories - Oh Blackpool!

It’s certainly been an interesting week at the seaside.

Blackpool’s emphatic first day 4-0 win at the mighty Wigan combined with a flurry of activity in the transfer market and topped off by the resignation of Chairman Karl Oyston. If they hadn’t chalked up that win, we might have been fooled into believing they were trying to emulate Newcastle!

I remember – many years ago – being sent to watch the Tangerines play against Birmingham in a Christmas fixture. My sister-in-law was hosting a party at her home in Solihull on the evening of the game and so it may well have been New Year’s Eve.

With an order from the paper for 400 words, I was under strict instructions from my missus not to be late for the party and so when the Blues won by seven goals (by, I think, seven different goal scorers) I had what appeared the easiest of jobs.

As I wandered down from the press box I expected it to be a straightforward job; find one of the lucky seven, get some wise words, add in the managers’ quotes and then off to Solihull to write up the report with a bottle of my brother-in-law’s imported beer for company.

Once I had spoken to the managers, I strolled to the players’ entrance to wrap things up.

I had covered a few games at St. Andrews already that season and so knew many of the players. I recall I even had a good angle on at least two of the scorers and so had practically written the report in my head when I was told the Brum boys had already left the stadium.

Apparently they were also off to a party and they disappeared so quickly that they must have left the ground without even taking off their kit.

So from having my pick of seven, suddenly I found myself without any of the main characters to talk to.

Now, after a result like that there is of course one other key player and so it was with some trepidation that I eventually approached the Blackpool team bus.

If I had been the Blackpool keeper that day I think that the last person I would wish to talk to was a representative of Her Majesty’s Press Corps! But, to his eternal credit (and I’m afraid I can’t remember his name – much to my own discredit), he stepped off the coach to talk to me.

After introducing myself and commiserating with him I offered up the opinion (white lie) that he wasn’t really at fault for the goals anyway at which point he smiled and said: “Well at least Ricky didn’t score.”

I’ll have to admit that at this point I was left a little confused – I mean just about everyone else in the stadium had put one past this poor guy that afternoon ... aside from the programme sellers and ... Ricky.

The 'Ricky' in question was Birmingham’s winger Ricky Otto a guy who had served prison time, but who I always found to be very amiable and easy going.

“What’s so special about Ricky?” I asked.

“He’s my cousin,” the keeper replied. “It would have been a nightmare if he’d scored.”

Bingo! Not Pulitzer Prize winning stuff I grant you, but a fun piece that would interest fans of both clubs and raise a smile among most other fans reading the next day’s paper.

If anyone knows the name of the mystery keeper and what he's up to now, I'd love to hear from you.