Blackpool FC: Ian Evatt eyeing Bolton Wanderers reunion with Bristol Rovers raid | OneFootball

Blackpool are looking to strengthen after pulling clear of League One relegation trouble, and they're eyeing one of Ian Evatt's former players.

League One club Blackpool could be set to make a move for a goalkeeper with whom their manager Ian Evatt has a previous connection.

The 2025-26 season turned out to be a bit of a rollercoaster for Blackpool. In the middle of March, they were still in the League One relegation places.

But a run of seven wins and a draw from their final nine matches pulled them up to 13th place in the final table and safety, and now with the season done, the chase will start to strengthen their first-team squad ahead of next season.

And one of the players that the club could be interested in acquiring this summer is a goalkeeper with whom manager Evatt already has a connection from his time at Bolton Wanderers, with their regular goalkeeper throughout the 2025-26 season, Bailey Peacock-Farrell, potentially set to depart on a free.

Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Luke Southwood eyed up by Blackpool

Posting to his Patreon on Sunday morning, journalist Alan Nixon has reported that Blackpool are interested in taking on Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Luke Southwood this summer.

Evatt previously worked with Southwood at Bolton Wanderers during the 2024-25 season, having signed the stopper from Cheltenham Town, but Evatt the club by mutual consent in January 2025 after an indifferent run of form.

Southwood, who'd signed a two-year contract at Bolton the previous summer, left the club for The Memorial Ground at the end of the 2024-25 season, and after starting the campaign in-between the sticks for the Gas, he had to play second fiddle in the second half of the campaign to Brad Young.

Nixon reports that Evatt wants to reunite with the 28-year-old goalkeeper at Bloomfield Road, and that Peacock-Farrell - whose short-term contract with Blackpool ends at the end of this season - could be set to leave the club as a result of this.

Luke Southwood has been made available by Bristol Rovers on their 2025-26 retained list

Perhaps the writing was on the wall for Bailey Peacock-Farrell at Blackpool on the final day of the 2025-26 League One season, when he was dropped for their trip to Reading.

The goalkeeper had signed on a season-long loan from Birmingham City the previous summer, but the deal was made permanent until the end of the season in January.

And Peacock-Farrell may feel as though there wasn't much more that he could have done to try and secure a new contract at Blackpool for next season, keeping clean sheets in each of his final two games of the season as the Seasiders pulled themselves clear of the drop zone and up towards mid-table.

Southwood and Ian Evatt have a connection from their time together at Bolton, but Southwood didn't have an easy time of things after leaving the club for Bristol Rovers at the end of 2024-25. Despite being named as the club's vice-captain before the start of the season, he lost his place to Brad Young in January and was unable to reclaim it.

With Southwood having been made available for loan or transfer by Bristol Rovers on their end-of-season retained list, there's a strong chance that the goalkeeper will soon be reunited with his former manager at Bloomfield Road, as Blackpool look to build on their excellent end to the 2025-26 season and push higher, next time around.