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 by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

an Association football, football club based in the capital

Freetown Freetown is the 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, educational and po ...

. They play in the

Sierra Leone National Premier League Sierra Leone National Premier League is a professional football league in Sierra Leone. It was founded in 1967. The league is sponsored by the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, one of the major Sierra Leonean banks. East End Lions and Mighty Blackpoo ...

, the top football league in the country. Blackpool represents the West End of Freetown and their home games are played at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

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 knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

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

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

player Sir

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...

. 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 East End Lions is a Sierra Leonean professional soccer, football club based in the capital Freetown. They play in the Sierra Leone National Premier League, the top football league in Sierra Leone. East End Lions represents the East End of Freeto ...

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 ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...

from

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and on the second round beat Djoliba Athletic Club from

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

, before losing to Tonnerre Yaounde from

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

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 they were due to play Congolese club,

Étoile du Congo Étoile du Congo is a Congolese football club based in Brazzaville. History L’Étoile du Congo started as a team in the Fédération Athlétique Congolaise (FAC), a league run by Catholic missionaries in the Belgian Congo. The church provid ...

in the preliminary round but withdrew from the competition before the matches were played handing Étoile du Congo a walkover, and in 1975 they lost 3–0 on aggregate to Djoliba Athletic Club of

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 so ...

they again lost in the first round, drawing 4–4 with

Accra Hearts of Oak SC Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports club based in Accra (Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving football club in Ghana and its tra ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

on aggregate but losing out on penalties 4–2. And in 1980 they lost to ASF Police of

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

4–1 on aggregate in the first round. In

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

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

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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 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 club's most notabl ...

. In 1992 they were again eliminated in the first round, this time by Canon Yaoundé of Cameroon after beating LPRC Oilers of Liberia in the preliminary round. In 2006 they played in the CAF Confederation Cup, losing to CSS Richard-Toll of Senegal in the preliminary round

Honours

League

champions: 6 :: 1968 (not official championship), 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001

Cups

Sierra Leonean FA Cup Sierra Leone FA Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is the national knockout cup competition in Sierra Leone. It was established in 1967. The competition is run by the Sierra Leone Football Association. Cup winners qualify for the CAF Confederation ...

winners: 4 :: 1983, 1988, 1994, 2000

Performance in CAF competitions

* African Cup of Champions Clubs: 6 appearances :: 1968: withdrew in Preliminary Round :: 1975: First Round ::

: First Round :: 1980: First Round ::

: Quarterfinals :: 1992: First Round * CAF Confederation Cup: 2 appearances :: 2006 – 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 Alhassan "Al" Bangura (born 24 January 1988) is a Sierra Leonean former footballer who played as a midfielder. Bangura played for the Sierra Leone national team and is notable for having been the victim of human trafficking when he was a teena ...

* Umaru Bangura * Albert Cole * Mohamed Kamara * Obi Metzger *

Kabba Samura Kabba Samura (born 26 October 1981 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean international soccer player and as well a Swedish Citizen European passport holder. Playing career Early career Samura began his career with Mighty Blackpool i ...

* 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