The Pilgrims were then fighting a battle against relegation from the Championship under Paul Mariner, which they would eventually lose, and Blackpool, managed by Ian Holloway on his first return to Home Park since leaving to manage Leicester in November 2007, harboured outside hopes of making the Play-offs where they would eventually beat Cardiff City to reach the Premier League.
In front of a crowd of 10,614, the Tangerines would triumph 2-0 with goals from Charlie Adam and Stephen Dobbie, but now the roles of the two sides are almost reversed. Argyle are in second place under Derek Adams with one eye on promotion whilst Blackpool are currently mid-table, harbouring hopes of a play-off place and looking to build some stability under Gary Bowyer following a decline that has seen with fall through the leagues.
Their last meeting proved to be significant for a number of reasons and we will now look at few facts from that encounter.
- Ian Holloway returned to Home Park as the visiting manager in a competitive game for the first and only time to date.
- Ryan Leonard made his solitary appearance for the Pilgrims as a second substitute before going to enjoy a successful career with Southend United.
- Current Everton teammates Seamus Coleman and Yala Bolasie found themselves marking each other as they lined-up as right-back and left-midfielder for the Tangerines and the Pilgrims respectively. Republic of Ireland international Coleman was on loan at Blackpool at the time from the Toffees, whilst Bolasie had broken into the Pilgrims' side following a loan spell with Barnet and would later have spells with Bristol City and Crystal Palace before moving to Goodison Park for £30million in the summer of 2016.
