Pool achieve what looked impossible

IT'S May 22, 2060. A bloke with a microphone stands in the sponsors lounge of the Charlie Adam East Stand and shouts: "And ladies and gentleman, please welcome onto the stage, the Blackpool squad who won promotion to the Premier League exactly 50 years ago!"

A group of doddery old fellas step forward to rapturous applause. But the biggest cheer of all is for the man coming in last, Ian Holloway, as he totters forward and waves to the adoring public.

He'll be 97 then but will no doubt grab the mic, rattle off a few one-liners and leave everyone in stitches.

Make no mistake, for those still around it will happen.For this manager, these players, this day, will go down as one of the greatest the club has ever experienced.

We're lucky to be here, witnessing history being made.

Blackpool, a small seaside resort in Northern England (as the radio commentator sitting behind me so patronisingly put it), are heading to Stamford Bridge, the Emirates and Old Trafford. And this most glorious of promotions, achieved against all the odds, isn't just a wonderful, beautiful moment for the people of the Fylde, it is a much-needed triumph for the world of football. It is proof that in this depressing era – when money speaks loudest and the weak keep getting weaker, the rich richer – the mould can still occasionally be broken, the underdog can still make it, David can still whack Goliath on the chin and knock him cold.

Words can't describe how Blackpool fans are feeling today.

Their club is in the Premier League. (Blackpool Evening Gazette)