 | |||
| Full name | Mighty Blackpool | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Tis-Tas Boys | ||
| Founded | 1923; 102 years ago (1923) | ||
| Ground | National Stadium Freetown,Sierra Leone | ||
| Capacity | 45,000 | ||
| Chairman |  Mohamed Bah | ||
| Manager | Alusine ‘Bala’ Kargbo | ||
| League | Sierra Leone National Premier League | ||
| 2024–2025 | 10th | ||
Mighty Blackpool is aSierra Leoneanfootball club based in the capitalFreetown. They play in theSierra Leone National Premier League, the top football league in the country. Blackpool represents the West End of Freetown and their home games are played at theNational Stadium in Freetown.
The club was founded in 1923 under the nameSocro United and they are the oldest and most successful football club in Sierra Leone, having won the Premier League fifteen times and theFA Cup four times. They changed their name to Mighty Blackpool in 1954 to show their admiration for the formerBlackpool andEngland playerStanley Matthews.[1]
Mighty Blackpool have an intenserivalry with city rivalsEast End Lions.
Although Mighty Blackpool have won the league title fifteen times, the last time they were league champions was in the 2001 season after a dramatic finish to the season saw them finish one point ahead ofOld Edwardians.[2]
In 1989 Mighty Blackpool reached the quarter-final stages of theAfrican Cup of Champions Clubs; the first time a club from Sierra Leone had reached that stage. In the first round they beat reigning championsES Sétif fromAlgeria and on the second round beatDjoliba Athletic Club fromMali, before losing toTonnerre Yaounde fromCameroon in the quarter finals.[2]
In the 2007 league campaign, a 2–0 win overGolf Leopards on 15 July meant that Blackpool were on 24 points from 12 games.[3]
Mighty Blackpool's record in theAfrican Cup of Champions Clubs has mostly seen them eliminated in the early rounds. In1968 they were due to playCongolese club,Étoile du Congo in the preliminary round but withdrew from the competition before the matches were played handing Étoile du Congo a walkover, and in1975 they lost 3–0 on aggregate toDjoliba Athletic Club ofMali in the first round. In1979 they again lost in the first round, drawing 4–4 withAccra Hearts of Oak SC ofGhana on aggregate but losing out on penalties 4–2. And in1980 they lost toASF Police ofSenegal 4–1 on aggregate in the first round.
In1989 they reached the Quarterfinal stage of the African Cup of Champions Clubs. In the preliminary round they had a walkover, when Benfica withdrew from the competition. In the first round they beatAlgerian clubES Sétif 5–3 on penalties after the two matches ended all square at 1–1. In the second round they met Djoliba Athletic Club again, this time winning 2–1 on aggregate. They went out of the competition in the Quarter Final stage losing 4–1 toCameroon club,Tonnerre Yaoundé.[4] In1992 they were again eliminated in the first round, this time byCanon Yaoundé of Cameroon after beatingLPRC Oilers ofLiberia in the preliminary round.[5]
In2006 they played in theCAF Confederation Cup, losing toCSS Richard-Toll of Senegal in the preliminary round[6]
Shongbon (Captain)(pro)
Saway Dollar(pro) David Simbo(pro)
Muhmuni Khumson(pro)
Abu Tommy(pro) Adrew Alie(pro)
Komba Tongu(pro)
Daniel Dove(pro)Ibrahim "Inspector" BahAlhassan BanguraUmaru BanguraAlbert ColeObi MetzgerKabba SamuraAbu TommyMichael TommyDavid Simbo
