West Lancashire derby

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The West Lancashire derby (sometimes also known as the M55 derby) is a local derby in English football, between Blackpool F.C. and Preston North End F.C.^[1]

1 Background
2 FourFourTwo
3 Matches
4 Players and managers
5 Supporters
6 Head-to-head record
7 References

[edit] Background

The derby is also known as the M55 derby because the town of Blackpool and city of Preston are at either end of the M55 motorway. The two club stadiums are only seventeen miles apart.^[2] In the 2003 The Football Fans Census, fans of both clubs listed the derby as being the main derby, with fans of both clubs agreeing that the other club is their main rival. One of only 44 such rivalries in England.^[1]

Preston fans refer to Blackpool and the Blackpool fans as Donkey Lashers, in reference to the walking of donkeys along Blackpool beach.^[1] Likewise, Blackpool fans refer to Preston and their fans as Nobbers using a simplistic-but-deliberately-insulting amendment of the word North from Preston North End which is changed to Nob and sometimes Knob.^{[citation needed]} Gary Peters, who was Preston manager from 1994 to 1998, took the rivalry so seriously he would not use the word "Blackpool" in public, always referring to the club as "that lot with the tower".^[3]

[edit] FourFourTwo

In April 2008, FourFourTwo football magazine ran a four page article about the derby, entitled, "Sheep Shaggers vs Donkey Lashers". The article concentrated on events around the match at Deepdale in December 2007, and the history of the derby.^[4]

[edit] Matches

Matches between the two clubs have at times had significant consequences. On 1 May 1948, Blackpool inflicted what still remains Preston's record loss in the League: 7-0 at Deepdale. Jimmy McIntosh scored five goals and Alex Munro and Walter Rickett scored one apiece.^[5]^[3]

One of the most significant West Lancashire Derbies took place on 13 April 1970, at Deepdale. Blackpool won the Second Division match 3-0, a result which saw them promoted back to the First Division, which was then the top flight in English football, while the result later assisted in Preston being relegated to the Third Division for the first time in the club's long history. Blackpool striker Fred Pickering scored a hat-trick in front of a crowd of over 34,000, over 15,000 of whom were from Blackpool, with 3,000 fans locked outside the stadium. Blackpool's joy was short-lived, however, as they spent just one season in the First Division before being relegated the next year.^[6]^[7]

Prior to the 2007-08 season the last West Lancashire derby in the 1999-2000 season was also significant for Preston, under the management of David Moyes. Their win at Bloomfield Road in April 2000 sealed their promotion from Division Two, to the second tier of English football for the first time int twenty years, and with it revenge for the defeat in 1970. ^[8] Later that month Preston were crowned champions while by the end of the season Blackpool were relegated to Division Three, the bottom division of the Football League, leaving two divisions between the clubs. The two clubs would not play each other for another seven years during which time, Preston finished fourth in their first season in Division One and reached the Play-Offs, losing out on promotion to the Premier League to Bolton Wanderers in the Final. Two further Play-Off appearances followed in 2004-05, again reaching the Final and the following season, the semi-finals. Meanwhile Blackpool languished in the bottom two divisions, before finally winning promotion back to the second tier in the 2006-07 season.

Preston have won 13 more West Lancashire Derbies than Blackpool with 44 wins compared to Blackpool's 31 and 17 draws. The teams have met just three times in the FA Cup with Preston winning all three matches. It is only in the League Cup where Blackpool have won more matches albeit winning two compared to Prestons one win.^[9]

[edit] Players and managers

Whilst there are a few players who have played for both clubs, such as current Preston North End players Brett Ormerod and Adam Nowland and current Blackpool club captain, Michael Jackson, even fewer players have been directly transferred between the two clubs.

One such exception is Tony Ellis who, in two spells with Preston from 1987-89 and 1992-94, was a fan favourite and was the club's Player of the Year in 1992-93 and 1993-94. He also, during his second spell at the club, scored a hat-trick for Preston at Bloomfield Road in a 3-2 Preston victory. However, after a much-publicised fall out with Preston manager John Beck over a new contract and his role within the club, Ellis signed for Blackpool for £165,000, a move for which many Preston fans have never forgiven him.

Players who have played for both clubs include:

Albert Brown: Preston North End (1904-1905), Blackpool (1905-1906)
Billy Tremelling: Blackpool (1925-1930), Preston North End (1930-19??)
Dickie Watmough: Blackpool (1934-1937), Preston North End (1937-19??)
Frank O'Donnell: Preston North End (1935-1937), Blackpool (1937-1946)
Hugh O'Donnell: Preston North End (1935-1939), Blackpool (1939-1946)
Ray Charnley: Blackpool (1957-1967), Preston North End (1967-1968)
Mike Conroy: Preston North End (1993-1995), Blackpool (1998-1999)
Tony Ellis: Preston North End (1987-89 and 1992-94), Blackpool (1994-1997)
David Eyres: Blackpool (1989-1993), Preston North End (1997-2000)
Mike Flynn: Preston North End (1989-1993), Blackpool (2003-2004)
Colin Greenall: Blackpool (1980-1986), Preston North End (1992-1993)
Gerry Ingram: Blackpool (1967-1968), Preston North End (1968-1971)
Michael Jackson: Preston North End (1997-2004), Blackpool (2006-present)
Gordon Milne: Preston North End (?-1960), Blackpool (1967-1970)
Adam Nowland: Blackpool (1998-2001), Preston North End (2005-present)
Brett Ormerod: Blackpool(1997-2001), Preston North End (2006-present)

Three players who played for one club went on to manage the other club:

Sydney Beaumont, who played one league game for Preston North End in 1911-12, was manager of Blackpool for the 1927-28 season.
Sam Allardyce, who played for Preston North End from 1986 to 1989 and also in 1992, was manager of Blackpool from 1994 to 1996.
Paul Simpson, who played for Blackpool from 2000 to 2002, was manager of Preston North End from 2006 to 2007.

[edit] Supporters

On 6 May 1978, at a concert by The Vibrators in Preston, a young man from Preston was stabbed to death during clashes between Preston and Blackpool fans.^[10]^[7]

Despite there being no match between the two clubs since 2000, the rivalry between the two sets of fans reignited itself on 2 September 2006, when a mini-riot broke out on Preston railway station between Blackpool fans returning from their match at Millwall and local Preston fans returning from an England match in Manchester. Bottles, cans and signs were hurled as the two sets of fans fought each other, and two British Transport Police officers were injured in what the police described as a large-scale disorder.^[11]^[12]

Blackpool were promoted to the Championship at the end of the 2006-07 season, winning the play-off final at Wembley. Promotion ensured that the rivalry with Preston North End would once again happen on the pitch with each club being in the Championship in the 2007-08 season. In June 2007, following threats from Blackpool and Preston hooligans to cause mayhem when the two clubs meet, Preston's top police officer, Chief Superintendent Mike Barton, warned that "The history of these derbies means we will have to have a significant policing operation both at Deepdale and Bloomfield Road." This led to the police making plans for "significant operations" at the two matches involving the clubs. ^[13] In November 2007 Blackpool police warned football hooligans not to attend the match in Preston on 8 December 2007. The Blackpool Gazette reported on 17 November 2007, how comments on a message board used by the Blackpool Muckers hooligan firm claimed that Blackpool fans were planning to infiltrate the home stands at the Deepdale stadium in Preston, with members of the Preston hooligan firm also posting threats. The match had already been moved forward to a 12:30pm kick off at the request of the police in an attempt to avoid violence and local pubs told not to open until 12:00pm and not to serve alcohol until 12:30pm, the same time as the kick off.^[14]

Blackpool won the match 1-0. However, the day saw outbreaks of violence in both Preston and Blackpool. A huge police operation saw 300 police officers on duty outside Deepdale and in Preston city centre. Blackpool fans arriving at Preston railway station went through airport-style security scanners to check for potential weapons. Blackpool hooligans went on a rampage smashing windows and ripping seats out of specially chartered buses laid on to transport them from the railway station to Deepdale, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. Nine people were arrested.^[15] Later that same day, a group of about 30 Preston hooligans attacked a pub in Blackpool in "revenge" throwing bins and bottles at the pub while innocent staff and customers were inside.^[16]

The return fixture on 15 March 2008 at Bloomfield Road, was marred by racist and homophobic chanting. Nine Blackpool fans were immediately banned from the stadium for twelve months. Two fans were arrested at the match on suspicion of racial disorder. Blackpool FC and the police said they would be investigating whether to ban any additional fans. Some Preston fans were accused of homophobic chants and some Blackpool fans accused of racist chants. The Football Association stated that they were awaiting the Referees report before making a decision about whether to take any action.^[17]^[18]^[19]

By contrast to the violence that sometimes surrounds the West Lancashire derby, fans of both clubs have joined together to raise money for local charities. In March 2007, Blackpool and Preston fans joined together for a seventeen-mile sponsored bicycle ride between Deepdale and Bloomfield Road in aid of the Brian House Childrens Hospice in Bispham, Blackpool, and Derian House Children's Hospice in Chorley.^[2] Dubbed as "To Hell and Back", about 140 cyclists took part.^[20]