2009/10 to 2017/18

Blackpool spent one of the nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18 in the Premier League and five in the Championship, with three lower down. Their best finish was 19th, in 2010/11. They didn’t win a major trophy. Over those nine summers they paid £3m in transfer fees and took in £15.7m, a net profit of £12.7m.

Few clubs packed more into this decade than Blackpool. Sixth in the Championship in 2009/10 was enough to win promotion through the play-offs, and a first Premier League season followed. Charlie Adam, signed from Rangers for around £500,000, ran the midfield. They went down in 19th with 39 points, one behind Wolves in 17th.

Then the unravelling. Adam left for Liverpool in 2011. Another sixth place in 2011/12 brought another play-off campaign but no return, and the finishes fell away: 15th, 20th and finally 24th in 2014/15, with 26 points. Matt Phillips and Tom Ince were sold along the way.

Blackpool's real story is of a club that reached the top flight and could not quite hang on. On 115.football that single Premier League season is the moment that matters. Keep Adam, find a couple more points, and Bloomfield Road gets a second season among the elite instead of a long slide.