In the third division of English football, Blackpool have made a big call to sack manager Steve Bruce after a poor start to the League One season, winning just two out of first 11 matches. The 64-year-old
became the manager of Blackpool in September 2024 after replacing Neil Critchley, and he guided the Bloomfield Road-based side to ninth place finish in the league in the 2024-25 campaign.
With that, the club hierarchy were hoping to see more progress at the start of the ongoing 2025-26 season in League One, but it wasn’t quite there. After Blackpool suffered a 2-0 home defeat to AFC Wimbledon, their seventh in the first 11 matches of the campaign, finding themselves second from bottom in the 24-team competition with just eight points, Steve Bruce was given his marching orders.
Blackpool have given coaches Stephen Dobbie and Steve Banks in interim charge of club
The coaches Stephen Dobbie and Steve Banks have been put in interim charge at Blackpool until they find the replacement of Steve Bruce in the managerial role. Following the recent loss at home, the fans booed off the team and coaching staff, and in the post-match interview, the former Manchester United player stated that they “were nowhere near what’s required” of them.
He was quoted as saying to BBC Radio Lancashire, “I can try and make as many excuses as I want but it's not in my nature to do it. Today we were nowhere near what's required of what we need to be and for that I need to take responsibility.” During his tenure at Blackpool, Steve Bruce took a two-week leave of absence last year after the death of his four-month-old grandson Madison before thanking “the footballing world” for supporting him in his tough time.
It will be interesting to see whether Steve Bruce returns to managing in club football again just like some of the contemporaries at his age.
