Mighty Blackpool is a

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in the capital

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

. They play in the Sierra 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 the National Stadium in Freetown. The club was founded in 1923 under the name Socro United and they are the oldest and most successful football club in Sierra Leone, having won the Premier League fifteen times and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

four times. They changed their name to Mighty Blackpool in 1954 to show their admiration for the former

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

player Sir

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

.Mighty Blackpool F.C. Sierra Leone
BBC Mighty Blackpool have an intense

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

with city rivals East End Lions.

History

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 of Old Edwardians. In 1989 Mighty Blackpool reached the quarter-final stages of the African Cup of Champions Clubs; the first time a club from Sierra Leone had reached that stage. In the first round they beat reigning champions

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne (), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional association football, football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in 1958 and its colours are bl ...

from

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and on the second round beat

Djoliba Athletic Club Djoliba Athletic Club is a Malian football club and one of the two biggest teams in Mali alongside the Stade Malien. The team is based in the capital city of Bamako. It has its headquarters and three training stadia at Complex Sportif Héréma ...

from

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

, before losing to Tonnerre Yaounde from

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

in the quarter finals. In the 2007 league campaign, a 2–0 win over Golf Leopards on 15 July meant that Blackpool were on 24 points from 12 games. Mighty Blackpool's record in the African Cup of Champions Clubs has mostly seen them eliminated in the early rounds. In

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

they were due to play Congolese 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 in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

they lost 3–0 on aggregate to

in the first round. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

they again lost in the first round, drawing 4–4 with Accra Hearts of Oak SC of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

on aggregate but losing out on penalties 4–2. And in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

they lost to ASF Police of

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

4–1 on aggregate in the first round. In

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

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 beat

n club

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 to

club,

Tonnerre Yaoundé Tonnerre Kalara Club of Yaoundé is a professional football club based in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The club was most prominent during the 1980s, winning all of their 5 national championships. They have also won the national cup 5 times. Among the clu ...

. In

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

they were again eliminated in the first round, this time by Canon Yaoundé of Cameroon after beating LPRC Oilers of

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

in the preliminary round. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

they played in the

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

, losing to CSS Richard-Toll of Senegal in the preliminary round

Honours

League

* Sierra Leone National Premier League champions: 6 :: 1968 (not official championship), 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001

Cups

* Sierra Leonean FA Cup winners: 4 :: 1983, 1988, 1994, 2000

Performance in CAF competitions

* African Cup of Champions Clubs: 6 appearances ::

: withdrew in preliminary round ::

: First Round ::

: Quarterfinals ::

: First Round *

: 2 appearances ::

– Preliminary round * CAF Cup Winners' Cup: 3 appearances ::1984 – First Round ::1994 – Second Round ::2008 – Eliminated in the second round by CSS of Senegal (Stade Demba Diop) ::The Starting Line Up in 2008 ::Coach: Christian Cole ::Assistant: Charlie Wright ::1. Shongbon (Captain) ''(pro)'' ::2. Saway Dollar ''(pro)'' ::3. Ibrahim Kargbo Meuncle ::4. Pizzo ::5. David Simbo ''(pro)'' ::6. Lanssana Bayoh ::7. Muhmuni Khumson ''(pro)'' ::8. Abu Tommy ''(pro)'' ::9. Adrew Alie ''(pro)'' ::10. Komba Tongu ''(pro)'' ::11. Daniel Dove ''(pro)''

Notable former players

* Ibrahim "Inspector" Bah * Alhassan Bangura * Umaru Bangura * Albert Cole * Obi Metzger * Kabba Samura * Abu Tommy * Michael Tommy * David Simbo

Notes

{{Sierra Leone League Association football clubs established in 1923 Football clubs in Sierra Leone 1923 establishments in Sierra Leone