A hot afternoon in North London played host to a cracking Playoff Final today as Blackpool and Cardiff made their way to Wembley to fight for the final Premiership place which is reported to be worth Pounds 90 Million to the successful club.
Blackpool were the outsiders for the promotion spot when the Playoffs began and even after beating Nottingham Forest they were also the outsiders to win this Final, with odds climbing to 3/1 for a Blackpool win.
Those odds climbed when the game kicked off and Chopra put Cardiff in the lead, slipping through the defense before slotting the ball past the ‘keeper. Blackpool drifted out to 6/1 for the win on the exchanges at that point and anyone picking up those odds would have been delighted with the outcome.
Blackpool equalized with an Adam freekick and although Ledley put Cardiff back in front, their lead was short lived as Taylor-Fletcher bravely headed Blackpool level before Ormerod smashed them into a 3-2 lead on the brink of halftime. The high scoring first half gave way to a subdued second as Blackpool held onto the lead despite Chopra threatening up front for the Welsh team.
Blackpool now advance into the Premiership for the first time in forty years, a memorable day for them and a huge day for the club.