Blackpool appoint ex-Bolton boss Evatt as manager

Former Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt has been appointed as Blackpool’s manager under a two-and-a-half-year deal.

After four and a half years at Bolton, the 43-year-old left in January to become a manager.

Steve Bruce was fired earlier in October, and Evatt replaces him, who spent seven years with the Tangerines during his professional career.

With nine points from 13 matches, Blackpool are at the bottom of the third tier.

“I have firsthand experience with what this club and its supporters can accomplish. We all want to see fearless attacking football at Bloomfield Road, which is a particularly difficult field for any team to play.

In his first game as manager of the club, he made 254 appearances. Saturday’s trip to Peterborough, a team that struggled previously, will be his first.

After a brief spell in charge of Chesterfield the previous year, Evatt left Barrow for his managerial position in June 2018.

After the Covid-interrupted 2019-20 season, he led the Bluebirds to promotion to the English Football League, before leaving to take over then League Two Bolton in the summer of 2020.

He eventually helped them return to League One at the first opportunity with a third-place finish despite a poor season opener.

In 2022-22 and 23-24, they received back-to-back play-off victories in the third tier, but they were unable to reclaim the Championship.

In the League One play-off final in May 2024, they defeated Oxford United, who struggled for form during the first half of last term, leading to his departure in January of that year.

Under Bruce, Blackpool had a poor start to the season, finishing ninth in League One last year, and by the time he left, the team had lost seven of their 11 league games and were second from the bottom of the table.

Under the temporary leadership of Stephen Dobbie, the club has won one game out of three in all competitions. However, since beating Barnsley 1-0 on September 20, they have not won the league.