1991–92 Blackpool F.C. season

The 1991–92 season was Blackpool F.C.'s 84th season (81st consecutive) in the Football League. They competed in the 22-team Division Four, then the fourth tier of English football. They finished fourth, missing out on automatic promotion by one point for the second consecutive season after a final-day defeat at Lincoln City, and were promoted via the play-offs to the new Division Two.[1] It was Billy Ayre's first full season as manager.

Blackpool F.C.
1991–92 season
Owner and chairmanOwen Oyston
ManagerBilly Ayre
Division Four4th (promoted via play-offs to Division Two)
FA CupSecond round
League CupSecond round
Top goalscorerLeague:
Dave Bamber (28)

All:
Dave Bamber (36)
Highest home attendance8,007 (v. Burnley)
Lowest home attendance2,155 (v. Mansfield Town)

The first two home League fixtures saw Blackpool extend their win streak at Bloomfield Road to fifteen League games. Their 24-game unbeaten run at home ended, after just over a year, with a defeat by Crewe Alexandra on 23 November.

Dave Bamber was the club's top scorer for the second consecutive season, with 36 goals (28 in the league, one in the play-offs, one in the FA Cup and six in the League Cup).

The six goals Blackpool scored against Aldershot were expunged from the record books when the latter went out of business in March 1992, hence only 71 of Blackpool's actual 77 league goals scored in the 1991–92 season are accounted for in the table below.

Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
2 Rotherham United 42 22 11 9 70 37 +33 77 Promoted
3 Mansfield Town 42 23 8 11 75 53 +22 77
4 Blackpool 42 22 10 10 71 45 +26 76 Promoted through play-offs[a]
5 Scunthorpe United 42 21 9 12 64 59 +5 72 Participated in play-offs
6 Crewe Alexandra 42 20 10 12 66 51 +15 70
Source: [citation needed]
Notes:
  1. ^ Blackpool won the play-offs and were promoted.

Play-offs

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Semi-finals

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Blackpool and Barnet met in the two-legged semi-finals of the play-offs. Barnet won the first leg by a single goal, at Underhill on 10 May. Blackpool, however, managed to turn the tie around in the return leg at Bloomfield Road three days later. Paul Groves (40') and an Andy Garner penalty in front of the South Stand, ten minutes into the second half, gave the Seasiders a 2–0 victory on the night and 2–1 on aggregate. A pitch invasion ensued at the final whistle.

Final

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On 23 May, Blackpool met Scunthorpe United in the final at Wembley. Blackpool manager Billy Ayre was accompanied by the club mascot — his son, David — during the pre-match walk out to the centre circle.

The game finished 1–1 after normal time and extra time, a Tony Daws strike equalising Dave Bamber's close-range header. It went to a penalty-shootout, which Blackpool won 4–3. Mitch Cook, Paul Groves, Andy Garner and David Eyres were the successful takers for Blackpool, but it was Steve McIlhargey's save from substitute Graham Alexander that set up the victory. After Eyres' effort, Scunthorpe's other substitute, Jason White, stepped up, put the ball over the bar, and Blackpool were promoted.

Blackpool1-1
(4-3 on penalties)
Scunthorpe United
Bamber (Report) Daws
Attendance: 22,741

Player statistics

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Appearances

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Name League Play-offs FA Cup League Cup Total
Dave Bamber 44 3 2 4 53[2]
Paul Groves 44 3 2 4 53[2]
David Eyres 43 3 1 4 51
Ian Gore 43 3 1 4 51
Tony Rodwell 42 3 2 4 51
Steve McIlhargey 29 3 2 4 38
Mike Davies 30 3 1 4 38
Andy Garner 31 2 1 3 37
Phil Horner 29 3 1 2 35
Trevor Sinclair 29 2 2 2 35
Gary Briggs 26 0 1 2 29
Andy Gouck 25 1 0 2 28
Paul Stoneman 20 0 2 3 25
Dave Burgess 17 3 1 0 21
Alan Wright 12 0 0 4 16
Jason Kearton 15 0 0 0 15
Dylan Kerr 13 0 0 0 13
Mitch Cook 8 3 0 0 11
Mark Taylor 9 0 1 0 10
Grant Leitch 7 0 0 0 7
Mark Bonner 4 0 1 0 5
Chris Hedworth 4 0 1 0 5
Carl Richards 3 0 0 1 4
Mark Murray 2 1 0 0 3
Andy Howard 1 0 1 0 2
Jamie Murphy 0 1 1 0 2
Gary Brook 1 0 0 0 1
Neil Mitchell 1 0 0 0 1

Players used: 28

Goals

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Name League Play-offs FA Cup League Cup Total
Dave Bamber 28 1 1 6 36
Paul Groves 10 1 1 1 13
Tony Rodwell 11 0 0 0 11
David Eyres 10 0 0 0 10
Andy Garner 4 1 0 0 5
Phil Horner 4 0 0 0 4
Trevor Sinclair 3 0 0 0 3
Andy Gouck 2 0 0 0 2
Mark Taylor 2 0 0 0 2
Mike Davies 1 0 0 0 1
Dylan Kerr 1 0 0 0 1

Total goals scored: 88

Transfers

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Date Player From Fee
1991 Mark Bonner Trainee
1991 Andy Howard Unknown Unknown
1991 Dylan Kerr Leeds United Loan
1991 Grant Leitch Trainee
1991 Neil Mitchell Trainee
1991 Mark Murray Unknown Unknown
1991 Paul Stoneman Unknown Unknown
9 January 1992 Jason Kearton Everton Two-month loan
26 March 1992 Mitch Cook Darlington Unknown
Date Player To Fee
1991 Dave Lancaster Unknown Unknown
1991 Alan Wright Blackburn Rovers £400,000

Notes

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  1. ^ After formation of the Premier League, the Football League restructured and Division Three became Division Two
  2. ^ a b Ever-present

References

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  • Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992. Breedon Books Sport. ISBN 1-873626-07-X.