Varney: Blackpool's Decline Unbelievable Friday, 10th Apr 2015 11:12 Luke Varney will always hold a special place in the Blackpool history books but he finds it difficult to believe how far the club’s fortunes have declined in the space of just four years. The Tangerines will come to Portman Road on Saturday having already been relegated to League One, a far cry from their Premier League heroics in the 2010/11 season when Varney - pictured above celebrating a goal against Mick McCarthy's Wolves with ex-Blues loanee DJ Campbell and Charlie Adam - was on loan there from Derby County. Varney recalled: “I must admit that was probably one of the best years of my career. It was a whirlwind because everything seemed to happen so fast — up until Christmas we were brilliant and after that we were terrible, so it was one of them. “But on a personal level I got a few goals and collected a few shirts off some of the biggest names in the game, including Steven Gerrard, Cesc Fabregas and Yaya Toure. “I hunted them down even though the gaffer, Ian Holloway, was telling us not to swap shirts. I just thought ‘I’m having them, I don’t care’. “He was telling us it sent out the wrong message — that we didn’t think we would be back again the following season — but I was only on loan there and I thought there was a good chance that would be the case anyway. “I scored on my debut, a 2-2 home draw with Fulham, and I’ll always be the first Blackpool player to score a Premier League goal. It was our second goal but the first was an own goal. “I was just amazed when I was told that I was starting as I’d only got there on the Thursday. I was staying in a hotel in Blackpool and there were stag and hen parties running up and down the corridors on the Friday night. “All I could think about was making my Premier League debut the next day. I ended up having a really good game and scored so it was a fantastic time for me and a great part of my career. “But while it was a great season for me, unfortunately it ended in relegation, although I have some great memories and still have a lot of friends from my time there.” Varney remembers how most pundits predicted Blackpool would be relegated but also how their fate was only clinched on the final day of the season when they led twice at Old Trafford but were eventually beaten 4-2 by champions Manchester United. He added: “We took the lead twice and were thinking we might beat United and stay up. I spoke to a reporter at half-time, when it was 1-1, and he said that as things stood we were clear by two points. “But then Wigan scored and Stephen Hunt scored for Wolves, which killed us a bit. I hit the bar with a header and I was thinking goal difference might come into it. But at the end of the day none of that mattered and we went down. It was very disappointing but we had great year.” Blackpool boss Ian Holloway left a lasting impact on Varney, who said: “He was just as you would imagine if you’ve seen him on television. Yes, he’s mad but he was also brilliant at the same time. “Sometimes he liked to take us completely away from the football because the day-to-day routine can become a bit repetitive. “There were days when we would turn up and he’d take us to the café for a full English and then go home. It was that sort of place. We had no proper training facilities and we would train on the beach. “The gaffer would go down early to clear up the dog poo and mark out the pitch in the sand using his feet. It was absolute madness but still a great time. “It was like Ipswich with the great camaraderie we have here. It took us a long way but unfortunately not far enough. In December we couldn’t train on our pitch. They had a hot-air tent but they said they couldn’t afford to switch it on. “But we went away and beat Sunderland then Stoke. It was just amazing what went on there, stuff you wouldn’t believe like washing our own kit. It was crackers but it had the effect of bringing us all together.” Varney finds it sad that Blackpool are set for life in England’s third tier, adding: “It’s terrible. There isn’t one player or member of staff from my time who is still there. For things to have changed that much in just four years is horrific. “I know the chairman gets a lot of flak for it but I don’t really know all the ins and outs. I was a loan player at the time so I didn’t really get involved with that side of it. “To see where they are now, it’s a travesty and I just hope that one day they can get back to where they were. It’s a great place and the buzz around it, what with it being a holiday spot, you can probably imagine what a fantastic time it was when we were in the Premier League. “The year after I left they were in the play-offs again and lost to West Ham. That proved there was still a great spirit there at the time and I really can’t believe what has happened to them in such a short space of time.”
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