Blackpool players finally receive promotion bonuses
Blackpool's chairman has confirmed that his players have finally been given their bonuses for winning promotion to the Premier League in May.
Reports suggested some of the squad were unhappy at returning to pre-season training having still not been paid."I don't know if it caused dissent but we didn't get the first chunk of Premier League money until Thursday," Karl Oyston told the Blackpool Gazette.
"The players have received it. I'm delighted. I think they deserved it."
The Seasiders secured promotion to the top flight after beating Cardiff 3-2 in a play-off match that was said to be worth £90m to the winning club.
Oyston added: "Maybe one or two players thought we'd be there handing them a bagful of money as they walked off the pitch."
Some members of the squad are thought to have demanded their money - reported to be up to £400,000 each - when they returned to training in July. But the Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor said on 31 July that players were not worried about the money and insisted they would receive their bonus by 6 August.
Having secured the payments for last season, Oyston is now hopeful that further bonuses can be earned with a successful spell in England's top division.
"I hope they earn another £5m this year by keeping us in the Premier League," he stated.
Blackpool are back in the top flight for the first time since 1971 and are currently upgrading the East Stand at their Bloomfield Road stadium in a bid to raise capacity to 17,600.
The club were due to play host to Wigan in their opening match on Saturday but switched the tie to Wigan's DW Stadium in case work on the new stand was not complete.
Meanwhile, Blackpool boss Ian Holloway has expressed his disappointment at failing to sign striker DJ Campbell, who scored 11 goals while on loan from Leicester last season.
"The one deal I wanted to do more than anything else was DJ. I'm sorry I am not in control of that," added Holloway.
"We're not going to pay £2m or £3m for him because he is 28 but I tried my utmost and we almost did it. It was almost there, then his club turned round and said no and the boy has now scored five goals in his last five games."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/blackpool/8874290.stm
