This week, a key Blackpool player committed to the club for the long term, and Neil Critchley explained why the Tangerines chose to extend his stay.
Neil Critchley believes Olly Casey’s new contract personifies what Blackpool are all about as he continues to shape them in his image.
Casey signed a new contract earlier this week, keeping him at Bloomfield Road until at least the end of the 2025/26 season. The Tangerines have the option of extending the contract for another year, and the move provides the defender with some stability without having to worry about his long-term future away from the club.
Casey progressed through the Leeds United youth system and made three senior appearances for the Whites before being purchased for an undisclosed fee in 2021. He had a brief taste of the Championship, but it was at Forest Green Rovers last year that he got his first proper taste of men’s football, playing almost the entire season but being relegated.
Casey credits his success at Blackpool to the hard school of hard knocks. Relegation last year, as well as much-appreciated patience, has now paid off as he’s become increasingly important to the team this year. He’s done very well, he’s been brilliant to be fair,” Critchley said. As a club, that is what we want to be: giving young players a chance to come and develop, get in the team, and progress, and then rewarding them.” Olly has had to be patient and work very hard.
Critchley has approached Casey in the same way he has approached Trent Alexander-Arnold, Caoimhin Kelleher, Curtis Jones, and Harvey Elliott during his time at Liverpool. He was the manager of the under-18s and then the under-23s, and he helped shape the careers of players like Neco Williams and Sepp van den Berg, who went on to play in the Premier League and the Bundesliga.
“I tell all the young players between the ages of 18 and 22 or 23 that you need psychological stamina,” he says. Continuous ups are extremely uncommon. When he first arrived, he had to be patient, go out on loan, and wait for his opportunity.
He’s gotten in and taken that. It’s a reward for his perseverance, ability, and character. As a football club, we want to help those young players come in, give them a chance, help them develop, and then reward them.
