page_title: Blackpool
section_title: Sport
hierarchical_section_title: Blackpool / Sport
caption_attribution_description: en:Bloomfield Road, home of en:Blackpool F.C. In view is the Mortensen North Stand straight ahead and the Pricebusters Matthews (West) Stand to the left. Photograph taken by Simon Povey in 2006 using a Nikon D1 (www.SimonPovey.co.uk)
context_page_description: Blackpool is a large town and seaside resort on the Lancashire coast in North West England. The town is on the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, 15 miles northwest of Preston, 27 miles north of Liverpool, 28 miles northwest of Bolton and 40 miles northwest of Manchester. It had an estimated population of 139,720 at the 2011 Census, making it the most populous town in Lancashire.
  Throughout the Medieval and Early Modern period, Blackpool was a coastal hamlet in Lancashire's Hundred of Amounderness, and remained such until the mid-18th century when it became fashionable in England to travel to the coast in the summer to improve well-being. In 1781, visitors attracted to Blackpool's 7-mile sandy beach were able to use a new private road, built by Thomas Clifton and Sir Henry Hoghton. Stagecoaches began running to Blackpool from Manchester in the same year, and from Halifax in 1782. In the early 19th century, Henry Banks and his son-in-law John Cocker erected new buildings in Blackpool such that its population grew from less than 500 in 1801 to over 2,500 in 1851. St John's Church in Blackpool was consecrated in 1821.
caption: Bloomfield Road Stadium, home of Blackpool F.C.
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