Mick Downer's Blog

After two years of construction and four months of highly disruptive roadworks, the new Commonedge Community Sports Village in Blackpool has finally been completed. Monday June 19th 2023 finally saw the changing block and car park open and the first junior footballers from Spirit of Youth JFC taking part in an organised training session on the highly impressive 3G pitch. Being newly retired and having far too much time on my hands, I took regular photos of the construction process on the daily dog walks. Not overly exciting but it’s important to record the history of tomorrow as the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone progresses. Click here

May 2024 saw the  20th anniversary of the Gledhill Cup final of May 2004 that was played between the Alliance Champions Old Vic FC and Division 2A title winners, McDonald Property FC in the Blackpool & Fylde Sunday Football Alliance. It was said to be one of the most exciting Gledhill finals of all time as the Old Vic came from 3-1 down to win 4-3 in extra time. Here is the full match report from May 7th 2004 as well as extracts from the match programme. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blackpool & Fylde Sunday Football Alliance Gledhill Final.  Sportspy Reports (07/05/04) Reporting on the high drama of last night’s Gledhill Trophy Final played at Bloomfield Road between McDonald Property FC (2A) and the Old Vic (Prem). What an occasion. Shortly before 7pm the decent sized crowd took their seats full of anticipation. With many wives, girlfriends, proud parents, young children, small babies and friends turning...

                Late 2022, I was sat in the Lytham Archives on Bannister Street browsing through 1930 editions of the Lytham St Annes Express when the above headline jumped off the page. A headline that if seen today would rightly make national and perhaps international news. July 9 th , 2023, marks the 93 rd anniversary of one of St Annes’ worst tragedies. It may also have been one of the worst beach drownings in the history of the United Kingdom. Up until recently, I was completely unaware of this tragedy. I suspect that I am not the only one. Since that time, I’ve conducted further research from the newspapers of the day and the internet. This has only increased my interest in the circumstances that surrounded the drownings. On numerous occasions I’ve found myself lying awake in the quiet hours thinking about that particular Wednesday in July 1930. It’s an incredibly sad story but one that needs to be told. The majority of this article is take...