Marlon Broomes (Stoke)
Matthew Gilks (Norwich)
Alex Baptiste (Mansfield)
Joe Martin (Tottenham)
Jermaine Wright (Southampton)
Steven Kabba (Watford) - LOAN UNTIL 1ST JANUARY
Adam Hammill (Liverpool) - LOAN UNTIL 1ST JANUARY
Daniel Nardiello (QPR)
Zesh Rehmann (QPR - loan) - LOAN UNTIL 1ST JANUARY

Blackpool surprised many last season with the way they went about staying up. Rather than look to fight and battle they arrived and played good football and that proved more than good enough to keep them in the division.

In the end they left it late to finally secure Championship status but thoroughly deserved to stay up for at least another season.

They started the season with a shock going to promotion favourites Leicester City and winning 1-0. Yes I did say promotion favourites, it seems a lifetime ago but Leicester were similar to us today in being tipped for promotion and on the last day Blackpool's draw helped make sure that Leicester were the ones relegated.

It was a good start for Simon Grayson's team who were well organised and played some good attacking football. Wes Hoolihan was the star of the side, a neat and tidy player who had some real creativity in him which could open up any defence and he even added a few goals.

He was certainly one of the best opposition players I saw last season and he helped inspire his side to some excellent wins.
At home they were a match for anyone beating Hull City to move to a season high of eighth place early in the season.

A run of injuries hit them in the autumn though and they won just once in eight games going into Christmas before they met us and played us off the park winning 1-0. That win gave them a boost and they moved away from danger over Christmas with a 4-0 hammering of Coventry and 3-0 stuffing of Burnley. They had several memorable games including a 5-3 win over Charlton as they established themselves around mid table.

Just as they looked safe they hit a bad run at the worst time going eight games without a win before a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday banished relegation fears and a draw at home to Watford on the final ensured Championship football for another year.

The second season in a new division is usually the toughest for a promoted side. Blackpool's league position suggests they just avoided relegation last season which is true but anyone who saw them play will know that on their day they could beat anyone in the division.

Throughout the season they played good football and scored plenty of goals. Simon Grayson has been busy in the transfer market to try and improve the squad and has added several new players.

In has come Marlon Broomes, Matthew Gilks, Alex Baptiste, Joe Martin, Jermaine Wright, Steven Kabba and Adam Hammill with many more expected to come including Daniel Nardiello and Zesh Rehmann from QPR if rumours are to be believed.

Kabba will certainly help add more goals and should do well for them but it's the players they have lost which could prove crucial. Kasper Gorkiss will be missed at the back and the arrival of Zesh Rehmann may not help.

The biggest loss will be Wes Hoolihan who was the difference between staying up and relegation in my opinion last season. His departure will put pressure on young Adam Hammill to provide the creativity and that could be a big ask.

Blackpool will continue to have a side that can on it's day beat anyone but I think they have lost too much quality this summer and in a stronger division they may well struggle to survive this time around.

PREDICTION: 24th in the Championship

I asked Blackpool fans on an unofficial message board for their thoughts on the new season and here is what they had to say.

How do you think Blackpool will fare this season?

Same as last year, stay up and upset some of the big boys along the way

Who are your players to watch out for?

With so many new players it's hard to know, looking forward to seeing if Nardiello can get the goals we need.

Is your Manager the right man for the job?

Best manager we've had in years, i just hope we can keep hold of him

Which three teams will be promoted this season?

Birmimgham, Sheffield United and Reading

Which teams will be relegated?

Doncaster, Preston and Barnsley

How do you think QPR wil fare this season?

Playoffs

Blackpool central defender Ian Evatt has enjoyed spells at both clubs although I am not sure enjoyed is the right way to describe his time at QPR.

He arrived to a great fanfare when he signed from Chesterfield and was compared to Glenn Roeder.

Sadly we never saw him reach those heights as his lack of pace was cruelly exposed in the Championship and he struggled to make an impact.

He fell out of favour with Ian Holloway and got a second chance when Gary Waddock came in but his performances failed to improve and he dropped down a division to help Blackpool to promotion in 2007.

Some more successful defenders to have played for both clubs are defenders Clarke Carlisle and Danny Shittu.

Danny Shittu had a loan spell at Blackpool where he helped them to promotion. A year on he came to QPR on loan before we signed him for £250,000 from Charlton.

Shittu went onto be a massive player for QPR scoring seventeen goals for us.

He also suffered with a bad knee injury but returned to win the clubs player of the year award in his last season at the club before joining Watford.

Carlisle joined from Blackpool in 2001 and although the club were relegated in his first season Carlisle was excellent in defence for QPR and won an England under 21 call up. A bad knee injury not only ended his season but also his chances of joining a Premiership club.

He returned to QPR and had some good times at the club playing really well as we got to the playoff final in 2003 and he played his part in helping us win promotion a year later.

He suffered with off the field problems and moved up north to be closer to his family in 2004.

Perhaps the most famous of them all is Trevor Sinclair. Sinclair joined QPR from Blackpool in 1993 as a replacement for Andy Sinton and he went on to be a top player for us. He played on the left wing or the right and was a very exciting player.

Perhaps his best individual season came when we were relegated from the Premiership. Sinclair played up front and tore teams apart with his skill and pace promoting much attention from bigger clubs.

Sinclair eventually left QPR in 1997 to join West Ham after scoring 21 goals in 186 appearances. He went on to play and star in the 2002 World Cup and finally got to play for his hometown club Manchester City.

We met several times during our spell in division two and remained unbeaten against them. The first game was perhaps the closest when Blackpool played us off the pitch for much of the game but we still managed to race into a two goal lead through former magic Hat Leroy Griffiths double.

Blackpool came back though to earn a draw and in truth should have won the game as we left on that Tuesday night thankful to get anything.

The return game saw the start of a run Blackpool will want to forget as Richard Langley began his goal of the season run against them. He smashed in a stunning volley from the right to help us to a 2-0 win in 2002 and repeated the trick with a lovely run and finish in the 2-1 win at Loftus Road the following season. That win also saw us pick up three points despite being live on tv which was a shock at the time.

The return game was very memorable for every fan who went. QPR fans took over the town in the March sunshine and danced the conga as Richard Langley hit a stunning hat trick to give us a 3-1 win and we sang "We're not going home" to the bemused home support.

Our form against them improved the following season when we opened the season with a 5-0 hammering. Blackpool looked a decent side on the day but couldn't get near us as Ainsworth scored twice and Langley, Gallen and Palmer completed a memorable afternoon.

In January 2004 in the wind and rain we again got the three points. Martin Rowlands got the only goal of the game but we had Chris Day to thank for the win as he produced an exceptional performance to almost single handily win us the game.

Blackpool won promotion in 2007 and the two sides met at Bloomfield Road in December 2007. Rangers produced a very poor performance on a very cold and windy day. Lee Camp kept us in the game and those QPR fans frozen to their seats in the uncovered away stand were treated to a last minute goal from Ben Burgess to win the game for the home side that could easily have been a 5 or 6 goal win for them.

At Loftus Road the game was a cracker. We stormed into an early lead with Buzsaky scoring an amazing goal to give us the lead before Vine and Rowlands looked to have made the game safe just after half time. The 3-0 lead was only just enough though as Wes Hoollihan had a stormer and Blackpool fought back to 3-2 and it took some great saves from Lee Camp to secure all three points.

Click on the match for a report of the game from this web site.