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NPower Championship Final
Howard Webb named as Play off Final ref Kevin Friend 4th official, Sian Massey reserve Ref assistant!
Npower Championship play-off final
Venue: Wembley
Date: Saturday, 19 May
Kick-off: 1500 BST
Coverage: Watch highlights on The Football League Show; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC local radio; text commentary on the BBC Sport website
TEAM NEWS
Midfielder Jack Collison has handed West Ham a major fitness boost ahead of the Championship play-off final with Blackpool on Saturday.
The 23-year-old has recovered from the dislocated shoulder he suffered in the semi-final secong leg against Cardiff.
Collison has been a key figure for the Hammers and scored both their goals in the first leg of the semi in Wales.
Continue reading the main story
“It's a two-horse race. It's not a long race now, just a sprint and we're going to try and dip towards the line”
Blackpool boss Ian Holloway
Both West Ham and Blackpool are aiming for an instant return to the top flight after being relegated in 2011.
The London side go into the game as favourites, having narrowly missed out on automatic promotion on the final day, finishing two points behind second-placed Southampton.
In the regular season, Sam Allardyce's side put eight goals past Blackpool in their two fixtures, beating them 4-0 at Upton Park in October and then 4-1 at Bloomfield Road in February.
Collison's return to fitness means Allardyce has a near full-strength side for the game at Wembley.
"Everyone who has been playing recently is fit, the squad is strong and we just have one final day to select the side," said manager Sam Allardyce.
"It's been a bit of a long wait since we played Cardiff but we are rested, eager and hopefully we can give our best performance of the season.
"We are the favourites with all the pressure on us, so we have to handle that as we have done all season. Hopefully we can deliver and beat Blackpool for third time this season.
"But it won't be easy, we will treat them with the utmost respect and make sure we try to expose the weaknesses they have in their side if we can and as early as we can.
"We've got to live with the pressure to spur us on to give us our best performance. The pressure should bring the best out of us and not be one of those games where we actually freeze on the big stage."
West Ham have been criticised at times this season - most notably by their own supporters - for a perceived lack of attacking verve to their play, while Blackpool have won a host of admirers for their swashbuckling style.
West Ham & Blackpool in the Championship play-off final
2004: West Ham lose out as Neil Shipperley's goal takes Crystal Palace up to the Premier League.
2005: A year later, West Ham make amends as Bobby Zamora's goal gives them a 1-0 win over Preston.
2010: Brett Ormerod's goal proves decisive as Blackpool beat Cardiff 3-2 at Wembley.
However, Seasiders boss Ian Holloway feels such talk of a contrast in style between the side's is unfair on Allardyce's side.
"I think it's unfair on Sam," said Holloway. "I think he's a fantastic manager. Basically, he's brilliant at the important things in the game.
"Sam can play any way, he can play any style. He's just very, very gifted at what he does. He knows what wins."
Blackpool are chasing a second Championship play-off triumph in three seasons after beating Cardiff 3-2 at Wembley two years ago. They reached this year's final courtesy of a narrow two-legged win over Birmingham.
"I really cherish this achievement," said Holloway. "In the league we drew with Birmingham and we lost down there and in the play-off games we beat them here and drew down there. We did it in such a pressure situation as well. I couldn't be prouder."
Blackpool head into the final off the back of nine games without defeat and Holloway has been working on ways to prevent a repeat of his side's league encounters with West Ham this season.
"I've been staring at West Ham, how they beat us twice, come up with one or two things and hopefully we've worked on them," added Holloway.
"It's all down to Saturday, it's all down to the lads, it's all down to the will and sometimes the will is more important than the skill.
"It's a two-horse race. It's not a long race now, just a sprint and we're going to try and dip towards the line."
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
• This is the 54th competitive meeting in 105 years. West Ham have won 23 of the previous 53, and Blackpool 17.
• The Hammers are seeking a fourth consecutive triumph over Blackpool, having scored a total of 11 goals in winning the last three.
• Sam Allardyce's side did the league double over the Seasiders this term with comprehensive victories; 4-0 at Upton Park in October, and 4-1 at Bloomfield Road in February. Seven different players scored those eight goals, and the London club had goalkeeper Rob Green sent off after 53 minutes in the second game, when the Hammers were 2-1 up.
• It's 41 years since Blackpool last beat West Ham; 4-0 at home in January 1971, in the third round of the FA Cup.
• They have never met in the play-offs.
West Ham United
• The 5-0 aggregate victory over Cardiff in the play-off semi-finals took West Ham's winning sequence to four and unbeaten run to eight (W6, D2). They have lost only one of their last 20, since the start of February.
• They closed the regular season in third place, two points off an automatic promotion spot and suffered the fewest defeats in the division (eight).
• The club finishing immediately outside the top two has been the most successful in the play-offs in the last 20 years, gaining promotion seven times - the most recent being Swansea last season.
• West Ham are hoping to become the 16th club to make an immediate return to the Premier League.
• The Upton Park club are paying their first visit to the new Wembley, and their 10th in total to the hallowed turf. They were last there to pick up League Cup runners-up medals in April 1981, and were last winners there in 1980, when Trevor Brooking's headed goal was sufficient to beat Arsenal 1-0 to win the FA Cup.
• This is only West Ham's third crack at the play-offs. The most recent resulted in promotion to the Premier League, following a 1-0 win over Preston in the final in May 2005 at the Millennium Stadium, through Bobby Zamora's winner.
• Only one of three previous play-off experiences as a manager produced promotion for Sam Allardyce. He took Bolton up to the Premier League in 2001.
Blackpool
• Blackpool's 3-2 aggregate win over Birmingham in the play-off semi-finals took their unbeaten sequence to nine games (W5, D4), a sequence started on 31 March.
• The 2-2 draw at St Andrew's on 9 May was the first time in 11 play-off matches that they had failed to win.
• The only club in play-off history to rise from the fourth to the top tier entirely through this route (between 2001 and 2010), they have not been beaten in these end-of-season mini-tournaments, since the second leg of the Division Two semi-final (third tier), home to Bradford, in May 1996.
• Blackpool ended the regular season two places and 11 points inferior to West Ham. They won four fewer games (20 to 24), lost three more (11 to eight) and scored 79 goals to West Ham's 81.
• The club finishing fifth in the second tier after 46 regular fixtures has gone on to gain promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs six times in the last 20 years.
• This is Blackpool's third visit to the new Wembley, and their eighth overall to Wembley.
• Ian Holloway is fighting his fourth play-off campaign as a manager, and is hoping to win promotion for the second time, after guiding Blackpool to a 3-2 triumph over Cardiff in the Wembley final in May 2010, when Charlie Adam, Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Brett Ormerod were their scorers.
• Blackpool could become only the second club to make an immediate return to the Premier League through the play-offs. Leicester were the first to do so in 1996.
Venue: Wembley
Date: Saturday, 19 May
Kick-off: 1500 BST
Coverage: Watch highlights on The Football League Show; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC local radio; text commentary on the BBC Sport website
TEAM NEWS
Midfielder Jack Collison has handed West Ham a major fitness boost ahead of the Championship play-off final with Blackpool on Saturday.
The 23-year-old has recovered from the dislocated shoulder he suffered in the semi-final secong leg against Cardiff.
Collison has been a key figure for the Hammers and scored both their goals in the first leg of the semi in Wales.
Continue reading the main story
“It's a two-horse race. It's not a long race now, just a sprint and we're going to try and dip towards the line”
Blackpool boss Ian Holloway
Both West Ham and Blackpool are aiming for an instant return to the top flight after being relegated in 2011.
The London side go into the game as favourites, having narrowly missed out on automatic promotion on the final day, finishing two points behind second-placed Southampton.
In the regular season, Sam Allardyce's side put eight goals past Blackpool in their two fixtures, beating them 4-0 at Upton Park in October and then 4-1 at Bloomfield Road in February.
Collison's return to fitness means Allardyce has a near full-strength side for the game at Wembley.
"Everyone who has been playing recently is fit, the squad is strong and we just have one final day to select the side," said manager Sam Allardyce.
"It's been a bit of a long wait since we played Cardiff but we are rested, eager and hopefully we can give our best performance of the season.
"We are the favourites with all the pressure on us, so we have to handle that as we have done all season. Hopefully we can deliver and beat Blackpool for third time this season.
"But it won't be easy, we will treat them with the utmost respect and make sure we try to expose the weaknesses they have in their side if we can and as early as we can.
"We've got to live with the pressure to spur us on to give us our best performance. The pressure should bring the best out of us and not be one of those games where we actually freeze on the big stage."
West Ham have been criticised at times this season - most notably by their own supporters - for a perceived lack of attacking verve to their play, while Blackpool have won a host of admirers for their swashbuckling style.
West Ham & Blackpool in the Championship play-off final
2004: West Ham lose out as Neil Shipperley's goal takes Crystal Palace up to the Premier League.
2005: A year later, West Ham make amends as Bobby Zamora's goal gives them a 1-0 win over Preston.
2010: Brett Ormerod's goal proves decisive as Blackpool beat Cardiff 3-2 at Wembley.
However, Seasiders boss Ian Holloway feels such talk of a contrast in style between the side's is unfair on Allardyce's side.
"I think it's unfair on Sam," said Holloway. "I think he's a fantastic manager. Basically, he's brilliant at the important things in the game.
"Sam can play any way, he can play any style. He's just very, very gifted at what he does. He knows what wins."
Blackpool are chasing a second Championship play-off triumph in three seasons after beating Cardiff 3-2 at Wembley two years ago. They reached this year's final courtesy of a narrow two-legged win over Birmingham.
"I really cherish this achievement," said Holloway. "In the league we drew with Birmingham and we lost down there and in the play-off games we beat them here and drew down there. We did it in such a pressure situation as well. I couldn't be prouder."
Blackpool head into the final off the back of nine games without defeat and Holloway has been working on ways to prevent a repeat of his side's league encounters with West Ham this season.
"I've been staring at West Ham, how they beat us twice, come up with one or two things and hopefully we've worked on them," added Holloway.
"It's all down to Saturday, it's all down to the lads, it's all down to the will and sometimes the will is more important than the skill.
"It's a two-horse race. It's not a long race now, just a sprint and we're going to try and dip towards the line."
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
• This is the 54th competitive meeting in 105 years. West Ham have won 23 of the previous 53, and Blackpool 17.
• The Hammers are seeking a fourth consecutive triumph over Blackpool, having scored a total of 11 goals in winning the last three.
• Sam Allardyce's side did the league double over the Seasiders this term with comprehensive victories; 4-0 at Upton Park in October, and 4-1 at Bloomfield Road in February. Seven different players scored those eight goals, and the London club had goalkeeper Rob Green sent off after 53 minutes in the second game, when the Hammers were 2-1 up.
• It's 41 years since Blackpool last beat West Ham; 4-0 at home in January 1971, in the third round of the FA Cup.
• They have never met in the play-offs.
West Ham United
• The 5-0 aggregate victory over Cardiff in the play-off semi-finals took West Ham's winning sequence to four and unbeaten run to eight (W6, D2). They have lost only one of their last 20, since the start of February.
• They closed the regular season in third place, two points off an automatic promotion spot and suffered the fewest defeats in the division (eight).
• The club finishing immediately outside the top two has been the most successful in the play-offs in the last 20 years, gaining promotion seven times - the most recent being Swansea last season.
• West Ham are hoping to become the 16th club to make an immediate return to the Premier League.
• The Upton Park club are paying their first visit to the new Wembley, and their 10th in total to the hallowed turf. They were last there to pick up League Cup runners-up medals in April 1981, and were last winners there in 1980, when Trevor Brooking's headed goal was sufficient to beat Arsenal 1-0 to win the FA Cup.
• This is only West Ham's third crack at the play-offs. The most recent resulted in promotion to the Premier League, following a 1-0 win over Preston in the final in May 2005 at the Millennium Stadium, through Bobby Zamora's winner.
• Only one of three previous play-off experiences as a manager produced promotion for Sam Allardyce. He took Bolton up to the Premier League in 2001.
Blackpool
• Blackpool's 3-2 aggregate win over Birmingham in the play-off semi-finals took their unbeaten sequence to nine games (W5, D4), a sequence started on 31 March.
• The 2-2 draw at St Andrew's on 9 May was the first time in 11 play-off matches that they had failed to win.
• The only club in play-off history to rise from the fourth to the top tier entirely through this route (between 2001 and 2010), they have not been beaten in these end-of-season mini-tournaments, since the second leg of the Division Two semi-final (third tier), home to Bradford, in May 1996.
• Blackpool ended the regular season two places and 11 points inferior to West Ham. They won four fewer games (20 to 24), lost three more (11 to eight) and scored 79 goals to West Ham's 81.
• The club finishing fifth in the second tier after 46 regular fixtures has gone on to gain promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs six times in the last 20 years.
• This is Blackpool's third visit to the new Wembley, and their eighth overall to Wembley.
• Ian Holloway is fighting his fourth play-off campaign as a manager, and is hoping to win promotion for the second time, after guiding Blackpool to a 3-2 triumph over Cardiff in the Wembley final in May 2010, when Charlie Adam, Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Brett Ormerod were their scorers.
• Blackpool could become only the second club to make an immediate return to the Premier League through the play-offs. Leicester were the first to do so in 1996.
Last edited by Admin on Fri 18 May 2012, 2:57 pm; edited 8 times in total
