Blackpool Football Supporters Movement Honoured with Blue Plaque

A Blue Plaque recognising an important chapter in the history of Blackpool Football Club’s supporters was unveiled at The Armfield Club on Bloomfield Road on 30 August 2025. The plaque commemorates the activities of the Seasiders Independent Supporters Association and the wider supporters’ movement that developed during one of the most turbulent periods in the football club’s history.

The Seasiders Independent Supporters Association, generally known as SISA, was formed in January 2013 as concerns among supporters about the ownership and direction of Blackpool Football Club continued to grow. The organisation provided an independent voice for supporters and became part of a much wider campaign seeking changes in the way the club was being run. In 2014 SISA evolved into Blackpool Supporters’ Trust, creating a formally constituted organisation through which supporters could continue to represent their interests. The dispute between sections of Blackpool’s support and the club’s then owners, the Oyston family, became one of the most prominent supporter campaigns in English football. Concerns extended beyond performances on the pitch and focused increasingly on ownership, governance, financial management and the relationship between a football club and the community it represented. Blackpool Supporters’ Trust subsequently campaigned for stronger regulation within football and provided evidence to the Government’s Fan-Led Review of Football Governance. The movement became associated with demonstrations, marches and the highly visible Not A Penny More campaign, through which many supporters withdrew their financial support from the club. Years of protest were followed by a fundamental change in 2019 when the Oyston family’s ownership came to an end and Blackpool businessman Simon Sadler acquired the club. For many supporters, the change represented an opportunity to rebuild the relationship between Blackpool FC, its supporters and the wider town. The 2025 Blue Plaque was intended to recognise that wider story. Blackpool Civic Trust recorded that the plaque represented the activities of SISA and described the supporters’ movement that began in 2013 as helping to bring Blackpool Football Club back into the heart of its community. It also acknowledged the movement’s contribution to the wider campaign for independent regulation within English football.

First game under new ownership with a full stadium. Blackpool 2-2 Southend. © Les Baldwin

The location chosen for the plaque was particularly appropriate. The Armfield Club stands on Bloomfield Road, close to the football ground that has been Blackpool FC’s home since 1901. Opened in October 2020, it was created independently by Blackpool supporters as a permanent meeting place for fans, friends, families and former players. Its name honours Jimmy Armfield, whose entire Football League playing career was spent with Blackpool and whose connection with the club extended across generations of supporters. The idea of creating an independent supporters’ club had existed for many years, particularly after the old supporters’ club in the West Stand disappeared during the redevelopment of Bloomfield Road in 2001. Following the change of ownership at Blackpool FC, supporters transformed an empty building near the stadium into The Armfield Club. The venue opened in October 2020, with Jimmy Armfield’s eldest son, John Armfield, involved in its opening.

The Armfield Club therefore provided more than simply a convenient wall on which to place the plaque. It represented a physical legacy of the same supporter community being commemorated. Created by Blackpool fans for Blackpool fans following years in which the relationship between supporters and the football club had become deeply fractured, the building demonstrated how that collective energy could subsequently be directed towards creating something permanent for the town’s football community.

John Armfield was present when the Blue Plaque was unveiled on 30 August 2025, alongside Elaine Smith MBE, Chair of Blackpool Civic Trust. Its unveiling formally placed the supporters’ campaign within Blackpool’s recorded local heritage, recognising that the history of Blackpool Football Club has been shaped not only by its players, managers and owners, but also by generations of people who have supported it. The plaque at The Armfield Club consequently records an unusual piece of Blackpool history. What began with the creation of an independent supporters’ organisation in 2013 developed into a prolonged campaign for change at Blackpool FC and contributed to a wider national debate about football governance. The Armfield Club, opened seven years later, became a lasting reminder of the solidarity created during those years and provided an appropriate home for a Blue Plaque recognising the supporters who played their part in reclaiming their football club.