Franchise Notes: League Championship Blackpool Keeper Forced To Wear Signed Shirt

League Championship side Blackpool's "strange season has taken another bizarre twist" after midfielder Andrea Orlandi let slip that goalkeeper Joe Lewis was "forced to wear an autographed shirt in last week's match against Reading because the club did not have any spares." Having begun the season by canceling its preseason trip to Spain after being left with only eight contracted professionals, the Tangerines have "lurched from one crisis to another and were relegated last week having been bottom of the Championship table" since October (London GUARDIAN, 4/14). ... Rotor Volgograd, one of Russia's "leading clubs" in the '90s, which "famously" beat ManU in the UEFA Cup 20 years ago, has been wound up after going bankrupt. The team from the Volga region of Russia was competing in the second division in the southern zone, "which is effectively Russian football's third tier" (REUTERS, 4/10).