Danny Coid - A Tribute

A day is a long time in football, which makes the fact that Danny Coid has now spent ten years at Bloomfield Road all the more remarkable. Over the coming weeks that remarkable record will either be stretched into an eleventh year, or Coidy will cast into the football wilderness by not having his contract renewed. Whilst most fans would agree that the Seasiders Mr. Versatile deserves another year, this article does not seek to add to that debate, but rather celebrate what Coidy has achieved during his time at Blackpool.

Now aged (just) 27, Coidy is famed for his versatility, having featured for the club in a variety of defensive and midfield positions, his favoured position being right back. He has played in all three tiers of the Football League and is by some margin the club`s longest serving player.

Having joined the youth ranks at Blackpool, Coidy signed professional terms in 1998 and made his debut on May 8th 1999 in a 2-1 home win over Colchester United in Division Two. His first start in tangerine then came against Oldham Athletic the following season, with his first goal coming on the last day of the same season.

The 2000-1 season saw Coidy make an incredible 56 appearances, including appearing in the 4-2 win over Leyton Orient in the Division Three Playoff Final at Cardiff`s Millennium Stadium. The following season the Seasiders were back at Cardiff, beating Cambridge United 4-1 to seal the LDV Vans Trophy, but Coidy was not involved. However, the following season he did make his 100th league appearance in a 0-0 draw with Oldham.

The same season, he was famously linked with moves to Liverpool and Celtic by the Sunday Mirror, the newspaper stating that "Liverpool have had Coid watched at every Blackpool home match this season, with scout Ron Yeats a regular at Bloomfield Road."

The 2003-4 season saw Coidy play and score in the 2-0 win over Southend United in the LDV Vans Trophy Final. The following season he made his 200th league appearance in a game against Stockport County. However, in a 1-1 home draw with Tranmere on 10th December 2005, Coidy broke his ankle and was out of action for around eight months. Despite this, come the 2007 League One Playoff Final victory over Yeovil (where he was an unused substitute), he had clocked up 281 appearances in tangerine.

Coidy has stepped up to Championship football with few problems when called upon, and made his 250th league appearance in this season`s 1-1 draw with Norwich at Carrow Road. He also featured in the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest that secured a third season of Championship football for the Seasiders (potentially his last game at Bloomfield Road in tangerine), as well as the 1-0 away win at Swansea on the last day of the season that saw the club finish in a higher position and with a higher points total than the previous season (potentially his last game in tangerine).

At a time when players spending ten years at a club is almost unheard of, no one can doubt Danny Coid`s sensational contribution to the club over the past decade, and as the man himself says, 'Just to be part of Blackpool still means a lot to me.' We can only hope that Coidy means as much to whoever finds themselves in charge at the club next season.