Ian Evatt: Blackpool have appointed former Bolton Wanderers boss as their new manager

“It’s incredibly emotional to come back here and be given this chance,” he told the Club’s website., outside

“I know first hand what this club and its supporters can achieve together. We all want to find fearless attacking football where the most difficult place for any team to play.”

His first game in charge of the club he has made 254 appearances for as a player will be Saturday’s trip to rivals Peterborough.

Evatt began his managerial career with Barrow in June 2018 after a brief spell in Caretaker charge at Chesterfield last season.

He led the bluebirds to promotion to the English Football League after the covids in the 2019-20 season and left League Two Bolton in the summer of 2020.

Despite a poor start to the season he eventually guided them back to league one at the first time of asking with a third placed finish.

Back-to-back Play-off games in the third tier followed in 2022-23 and 23-24 but they did not secure promotion back to the championship.

They lost to Oxford United in the league one Play-Off game in May 2024 and struggled for form in the first half of last term, which led to his departure in January of that year.

Finishing ninth in the league a season, Blackpool had a poor start to this season under Bruce and by the time he left, the club had lost seven of their league games and were second from the bottom of the table.

Stephen Dobdie took charge of the club on a temporary basis and saw one win from three games in all competitions, although they did not win in the league since beating Barnsley 1-0 on 20 September.

DOBBIE and Steve Banks will remain on the coaching staff, while Evatt will be assisted by former Team-Mate Stephen Crainy.