Michael Appleton has been appointed Blackpool boss for the second time.

Appleton has signed a contract until June 2026 and succeeds Neil Critchley, who quit the Sky Bet Championship club earlier this month to become Steven Gerrard’s assistant manager at Aston Villa.

“I am absolutely delighted to be here,” Appleton told the Blackpool website.

“To be able to come back to the club, with where the club is at during this moment in time, after two really successful seasons, I can’t wait to get started.

“This club now feels like the right club at the right time.

“The fans will certainly have seen glimpses of what I tried to do in my days at Lincoln.

“I want to play aggressive, forward-thinking football and we have certain things that we want from the players when we’re playing, dependent on opposition clearly.

“We just want to be exciting and get people off their seats.”

Appleton returns to Bloomfield Road on the back of a three-year stint in charge at Lincoln.

The 46-year-old spent just 65 days in charge of Blackpool between November 2012 and January 2013.

Appleton’s 11-game league reign was the shortest in Blackpool’s history. He resigned to take over at nearby Blackburn, but he was sacked after just 67 days at Ewood Park.

Blackpool owner Simon Sadler said: “I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Michael back to Blackpool.

“I am very much looking forward to seeing what he can achieve during his second stint with us.

“All of the prospective head coaches were strong candidates and we spent several hours with each to get to know them better.

“After debating their individual pros and cons, we were unanimous in our decision to choose Michael Appleton.”