Beat It

Leicester City will play Blackpool in their first proper match of the season on 11th August.

Much like their famous roller coaster, Blackpool has a long history of ups and downs. They have ranged from periods in the top flight of football through to a season when they finished just four places above the bottom of the whole league. In their heyday they had a number of international players, peaking in 1953 when four of their players lined up in the England squad against Hungary. The match made history, although unfortunately for all the wrong reasons as it ended England's unbeaten run of home wins since 1901.

Blackpool are nicknamed Pool, The Seasiders (how original) and The Tangerines, due to the colour of their strip. According to this website, they have a short life under hot ambient tropical conditions. We can only hope things get a bit steamy at the Walkers Stadium Saturday week.

My assessment, albeit based on limited information and even more limited experience, is that we should beat them. They only just scraped up from Division One at the end of last season following the playoffs and if we are to trust Mr Mandaric and his team, our team should be rocking. It is early in the season though and their captain is Michael Jackson . When asked how he saw the outcome of the match he offered this warning.