Last weekend, Wigan Athletic and Blackpool began the new season with fixtures away at Colchester United and Coventry City, but on this day five years ago, it was a very different story as both clubs attempted to get their 2010-11 Premier League campaign off to a winning start.
At the time, Wigan were no strangers to English football's top flight. After winning promotion in 2005, they had spent five years establishing themselves in the highest tier of the league pyramid and were beginning the new season having finished six points above the relegation zone.
However, from Blackpool's perspective, the short trip to the DW Stadium would represent their biggest game in decades after they had earned promotion to the Premier League via the Championship playoffs. Given the size of the club and the transfer budget made available to manager Ian Holloway, they were considered certainties for relegation but the club's fans were determined to enjoy the ride against some of the biggest clubs in the world.
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Before the opening game, Holloway had made half-a-dozen signings and he included three of them - Craig Cathcart, Elliot Grandin and Marlon Harewood - in his starting lineup for the contest in the North-West. Wigan boss Roberto Martinez had strengthened his squad with the impressive acquisitions of South American duo Mauro Boselli and Antolin Alcaraz and they were given a chance to impress their new supporters with a start against the Seasiders.
From the opening whistle, though, Blackpool looked intent on showing that they hadn't earned promotion just to make up the numbers as Brett Ormerod came within inches of making contact with a Gary Taylor-Fletcher cross that would have given the Tangerines an early lead. However, they didn't have to wait long for their first goal as Harewood delivered the ball into Taylor-Fletcher to provide the finish from close range after 16 minutes.
By the half-hour mark, Wigan were fortunate not to be further behind, but Blackpool finally got the second goal that they deserved seven minutes from half time when Harewood's shot from distance proved too good for Chris Kirkland. The former West Ham United and Aston Villa man had missed the second half of the previous campaign through injury but he was making up for lost time as he netted a second before the break when capitalising on Kirkland spilling a shot from Taylor-Fletcher.
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Blackpool were in dreamland, but it was a nightmare opening 45 minutes for the Latics, who were roundly booed off the pitch by their own fans. Martinez made two substitutions, introducing Ronnie Stam and Hendry Thomas, but they were defensive moves in the hope of restricting Blackpool's joy in attack. The duo made an impact, but they couldn't prevent the Seasiders from grabbing a fourth in the closing stages.
The goal came in fortuitous circumstances as Alex Baptiste's cross found its way in at the near post, but it capped a remarkable afternoon at the DW Stadium. Elsewhere, Chelsea had hit West Bromwich Albion for six, but the headlines were dominated by Holloway's minnows, who showed that you don't necessarily require established Premier League players to make an impact in England's top flight.
The following weekend, Blackpool would be brought back down to earth with a resounding 6-0 defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, and they would eventually be relegated back to the Championship after losing 4-2 to Manchester United on the final day of the season. However, apart from their famous double over Liverpool, their campaign would be best remembered for how they marked their arrival in the Premier League and it remains one of the stand-out opening-day results in the division's history.
Darren Plant
