STILL NO TANGERINE DREAM

Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Chris Hull at St John’s Church in Poulton, Blackpool, yesterday. He was well known to thousands of football fans throughout the town as the larger-than-life PA announcer at Blackpool FC’s Bloomfield Road until 2006.

During his incredible quarter of a century, stands have fallen and risen, great players have been and gone and there have been some tough times for the Seasiders fans to put up with, not least the situation the club is in at the moment-and see previous blog.
Hull, was the man behind the public address microphone at Bloomfield Road for 28 years, retiring as the longest serving PA man at any of the country’s 92 professional clubs.

But throughout it all, one thing never changed, his dulcet tones which drifted across the ground from the public address box.
“I have spent half my life on the mic at Bloomfield Road and there’s never been a dull moment, ” said Hull.

During his reign, eight different Blackpool chairman took over the helm and more than a dozen managers came and went. Present incumbent Neil Macdonald, the fifth manager in two years, has 13 players signed on as Blackpool face a new season, having just been relegated.
Hull, 55, did much more than hold a microphone. As a Seasiders fanatic, he had a colourful history at the club, including raising money with sponsored bed-pushes and parachute jumps when Pool almost went out of business in the early 1980s.

But what some fans might not know was that, during the week, he had a much more serious role running a successful funeral business on the Fylde coast. He said on retirement;
“...because of the continuing expansion of the business, it’s impossible for me to commit to being at every single first team fixture.”
“I have supported the club for 50 years, have never been paid a penny for doing the PA role and I will always be available to serve our football club.”
“I have seen us play in all four divisions of the professional game and I hope one day that the youngsters of the town will get the opportunity to see Blackpool back in the top two divisions.”
“This is my town, I was born here and I will always support it and the football club to the hilt.”


He will be spinning in his grave following the latest revelations at the club, reported this weekend, including fans ready to demonstrate against owner Karl Oyston, who has been banned for 6 weeks following written abuse of a fan and sent on an FA re-education course and fined. Allegedly, £11 million of club money has been paid to a company owned by Oyston family. The pitch is a disgrace with no investment, the club is a shambles, there are no training balls and the players have to use the beach for training when the pitch is unplayable. We wish Neil and the Seasiders good luck.