Celebratory evening marking 50th anniversary of Blackpool's 'Promotion at Preston' cancelled over coronavirus fears

Blackpool FC’s Former Players’ Association had arranged a ‘Legends’ Night’ dinner to take place at the Stanley Matthews Lounge at Bloomfield Road on Thursday, April 9.

But the event has now been cancelled owing to the concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

John Cross, of the Blackpool Former Players' Association (FPA), said: “It is with much regret that we have decided to cancel the 50th Anniversary celebrating the ‘Promotion At Preston’ event that was due to take place on April 9.

“In view of the current situation with the coronavirus and the fact that all football is now suspended until at least April 3, Derek Spence and I think it best if the celebration is cancelled - possibly to be rescheduled for a later date when all these health worries are over.”

He added: “’m really gutted about this, but as I was hoping for in excess of 200 - maybe 300 or more - to come along, many of whom would be in the elderly at risk category I could see a lot of people not wanting to attend and the event would not be the massive success that we would have hoped for.

“For those of you who have already purchased tickets then you will be able to get your monies refunded from the BFC ticket office.

“Thanks for your understanding and support.”

Striker Fred Pickering scored a hat-trick in Blackpool's 3-0 win on April 13, 1970, to secure promotion to the top tier.

The result later assisted in Preston being relegated to the Third Division for the first time in the club's history.

The game was played in front of a crowd of over 34,000, with over 15,000 of those in attendance believed to be from Blackpool, with many more locked outside the stadium.

Any profits from the evening were to be split between the FPA, Gary Parkinson and local footballer Kenny Cram who has sadly contracted sepsis and has had a leg amputated at the hip.