ACCRINGTON STANLEY F.C.
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'Accrington Stanley' is a football club from Accrington in Lancashire, in the north-west of England, formed in 1968. The previous club of the same name played in The Football League from 1921 until 1962, when they became only the second club ever to resign from the Football League in mid-season. The town regained a club with league status after 44 years, when they were promoted as champions of the Nationwide Conference on 15 April 2006 [1]. One of the clubs relegated from League Two was Oxford United, the team that was elected to replace Stanley as members of the Football League in 1962.
They are not to be confused with Accrington F.C., who were one of the original twelve founder members of the Football League.
| Contents |
| Original club |
| Revival |
| Origin of the name |
| Other details |
| Players |
| Current squad |
| League history |
| External links |
| References |
Original club
The first Accrington Stanley club was formed in 1891 as Stanley Villa and adopted the Accrington name in 1893. The club re-formed after World War I and entered the League in 1921 with the formation of the old Third Division North, along with the other top Northern non-League clubs. In four decades of league football they never achieved promotion from the Third Division. The driving force was Sam Pilkington who helped to secure Peel Park, their original ground. Their best-ever league position was 2nd in that division, in the 1954-55 season and again in 1957-58. Unfortunately, only the top club was promoted at the time, so they never had the chance to compete in Division Two.
In 1960, amid persistent financial difficulties, The 'Owd Reds were relegated to the recently formed Division Four. However, they only managed to complete one full season in this division: bankruptcy followed shortly afterwards. On 12 February 1962 Edwin Slinger, the chairman, resigned and revealed that Stanley owed up to £4,000 in unpaid transfer fees and a similar sum to the Inland Revenue. Pilkington, as life vice president, brought in Bob Lord, who persuaded the rest of the board to resign by promising to buy shares, despite his chairmanship of nearby Burnley F.C. Stanley lost their last League match 4-0 away at Crewe on 2 March 1962 and, at a creditors' meeting shortly afterwards, a further £40,000 of unsecured creditors was revealed. A further amount of £458 owed for National Insurance was enough for Lord and Pilkington to decide to draw the line. The club sent a letter of resignation to the Football League even though none of the creditors was threatening to "pull the plug". The resignation was accepted by Alan Hardaker, the League Secretary on 11 March, mid-way through the 1961/62 season.
The role of Bob Lord in refusing, in his capacity as administrator of the bankrupt club, to accept a bailout offer that would have permitted his close competitor to remain afloat is still not forgiven by some.
Revival
In a meeting in the town library in October 1968 the revival was started and in August 1970 the new club played at a new ground, The Crown Ground. The 'new' club are seen to hold both the legacy of both Accrington F.C. and the old defunct Accrington Stanley. Since the revival, Stanley have clawed their way back up the non-League scene to reach league football. Eric Whalley, a local businessman, took control of the club in 1995 and started the development of the ground, now renamed The Fraser Eagle Stadium. After the club was relegated in 1999, Whalley appointed John Coleman as manager. In 2003, Stanley advanced to the Nationwide Conference, which is the highest level of football outside The Football League (ironically switching places with relegated Oxford United- the team that replaced them in the Football League in 1962). Each season, the winner of the Conference and the winner of playoffs between the next four top teams in the Conference replace the bottom two teams in The Football League.
The club's recent rise to the Conference level, and eventually to the League, is attributed in part to the windfall of hundreds of thousands of pounds reaped by the sell-on clause in the December 2001 transfer of former Stanley star Brett Ormerod to Southampton, which paid Blackpool over a million pounds for his contract. Stanley had taken £50,000 from Blackpool in 1997 with the agreement that Blackpool would pay Accrington a quarter of what they might have received if they in turn transferred Ormerod to another team. The 2002-2003 championship of the Northern Premier League followed quickly on Accrington's getting the cash.
And At 16:51 GST on Saturday 15 April, 2006, Accrington Stanley were born again with a 1-0 win over Woking at The Kingfield Stadium.
On 21 August 2006, Accrington Stanley won their first ever Carling Cup game against two times European Champions Nottingham Forest, with Paul Mullin scoring the only goal of the game on 61 minutes. Easily the club's finest victory in its history, despite Forest putting on a below-par performance whilst resting some of their key players, set up a clash with Premiership new boys Watford at Vicarage Road, which the team were unlucky to lose 6-5 in a sudden-death penalty shoot-out. They also have a Ladies team playing in the Lancashire FA Women's County League Division Two.
Origin of the name
The original town team, Accrington F.C., were amongst the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888, before resigning from the league after just five years. A team called Stanley Villa already existed at the time, named as such because they were based at the Stanley Arms on Stanley Street in Accrington. With the demise of Accrington FC, Stanley Villa took the town name to become Accrington Stanley. There was also a team originally based in West London called Stanley F.C., who played against the likes of Fulham F.C. and QPR in the late 19th Century before folding.
Stanley are currently pushing for fans in the Asian, mainly Chinese market (similar to Manchester United) for revenue, calling themselves "the world's most famous little club".[1]
During the late 1940s Accrington Stanley's ground was used as a winter camping ground for the Chipperfield family Circus. Elephants were housed in the dug-outs, and the football pitch became home for lions, tigers, snakes and monkeys.
Other details
★ The club was name-checked in a celebrated British advert for milk, from the 1980s.[2] The scene was two boys with thick Scouse accents in Liverpool football shirts in a kitchen, looking for something to drink after a game of football. The dialogue ran as follows:
Boy 1 enters shot, puts ball on top of fridge, and opens it
:Boy 2: ''"Got any lemonade?"''
:Boy 1: ''"If you want!"'' (he takes a bottle of milk from the fridge)
:Boy 2: ''"Milk.....Ugh!"''
:Boy 1: ''"It's what Ian Rush drinks."''
:Boy 2: ''"Ian Rush?"''
:Boy 1: ''"Yeah, an' he says if I didn't drink lots of milk, when I grow up I'll only be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley!"''
:Boy 2: ''"Accrington Stanley? ... Who are they??!"''
:Boy 1: ''"Exactly!"''
Boy 2 tries to get to Boy 1's milk.
:Boy 1: ''"Nah, gerroff!"''
:Boy 2: ''"Gimmie some!"''
★ Jon Anderson of Yes is a passionate fan of the club, as is former England cricketer and Sky Sports pundit David Lloyd.
Players
:''As of July 25 2007.''
Current squad
League history
| Season | Division | Position | Significant Events (original club) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 'Joined the Lancashire Combination' | |||
| 1900-1901 | Lancashire Combination | 9 | – |
| 1901-1902 | Lancashire Combination | 3 | – |
| 1902-1903 | Lancashire Combination | 1 | Champions |
| 'Lancashire Combination becomes Lancashire Combination Division One' | |||
| 1903-1904 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 2 | Runners Up |
| 1904-1905 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 7 | – |
| 1905-1906 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 1 | Champions |
| 1906-1907 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 5 | – |
| 1907-1908 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 7 | – |
| 1908-1909 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 12 | – |
| 1909-1910 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 3 | – |
| 1910-1911 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 7 | – |
| 1911-1912 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 9 | – |
| 1912-1913 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 2 | Runners Up |
| 1913-1914 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 7 | – |
| 1914-1915 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 6 | – |
| 'English football is postponed due to World War I' | |||
| 'Lancashire Combination Division One becomes Lancashire Combination' | |||
| 1919-1920 | Lancashire Combination | 7 | – |
| 1920-1921 | Lancashire Combination | 6 | – |
| 'Elected into Division Three - North upon The Football League expansion' | |||
| 1921-1922 | Division Three - North | 5 | – |
| 1922-1923 | Division Three - North | 8 | – |
| 1923-1924 | Division Three - North | 13 | – |
| 1924-1925 | Division Three - North | 17 | – |
| 1925-1926 | Division Three - North | 18 | – |
| 1926-1927 | Division Three - North | 21 | – |
| 1927-1928 | Division Three - North | 9 | – |
| 1928-1929 | Division Three - North | 18 | – |
| 1929-1930 | Division Three - North | 16 | – |
| 1930-1931 | Division Three - North | 13 | – |
| 1931-1932 | Division Three - North | 14 | – |
| 1932-1933 | Division Three - North | 13 | – |
| 1933-1934 | Division Three - North | 20 | – |
| 1934-1935 | Division Three - North | 18 | – |
| 1935-1936 | Division Three - North | 9 | – |
| 1936-1937 | Division Three - North | 13 | – |
| 1937-1938 | Division Three - North | 22 | – |
| 1938-1939 | Division Three - North | 22 | – |
| 'English football is postponed due to World War II' | |||
| 1946-1947 | Division Three - North | 20 | – |
| 1947-1948 | Division Three - North | 6 | – |
| 1948-1949 | Division Three - North | 20 | – |
| 1949-1950 | Division Three - North | 13 | – |
| 1950-1951 | Division Three - North | 23 | – |
| 1951-1952 | Division Three - North | 22 | – |
| 1952-1953 | Division Three - North | 24 | – |
| 1953-1954 | Division Three - North | 15 | – |
| 1954-1955 | Division Three - North | 2 | – |
| 1955-1956 | Division Three - North | 3 | – |
| 1956-1957 | Division Three - North | 3 | – |
| 1957-1958 | Division Three - North | 2 | Runners Up |
| 'Placed into Division Three upon The Football League re-organisation' | |||
| 1958-1959 | Division Three | 19 | – |
| 1959-1960 | Division Three | 24 | Relegated |
| 1960-1961 | Division Four | 18 | – |
| 1961-1962 | Division Four | – | Resigned |
| 'Accrington Stanley resigned from The Football League and joined Lancashire Combination Division Two' | |||
| 1962-1963 | Lancashire Combination Division Two | 8 | – |
| 1963-1964 | Lancashire Combination Division Two | 1 | Champions |
| 1964-1965 | Lancashire Combination Division One | 21 | Relegated |
| 1965-1966 | Lancashire Combination Division Two | – | Resigned |
| 'Accrington Stanley resigned from Lancashire Combination Division One and folded' | |||
''Between 1966 and 1970 Accrington Stanley did not exist''
| Season | Division | Position | Significant Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| 'Accrington Stanley are re-formed and re-join the Lancashire Combination' | |||
| 1970-1971 | Lancashire Combination | 6 | – |
| 1971-1972 | Lancashire Combination | 2 | Runners Up |
| 1972-1973 | Lancashire Combination | 3 | – |
| 1973-1974 | Lancashire Combination | 1 | Champions |
| 1974-1975 | Lancashire Combination | 10 | – |
| 1975-1976 | Lancashire Combination | 2 | Runners Up |
| 1976-1977 | Lancashire Combination | 3 | – |
| 1977-1978 | Lancashire Combination | 1 | Champions |
| 1978-1979 | Cheshire County Division Two | 5 | – |
| 1979-1980 | Cheshire County Division Two | 2 | Runners Up |
| 'Accrington Stanley were not promoted because of ground difficulties' | |||
| 1980-1981 | Cheshire County Division Two | 1 | Champions |
| 1981-1982 | Cheshire County Division One | 13 | – |
| 'Placed in North West Counties Division One upon merger of the Cheshire County & Lancashire Combination football leagues' | |||
| 1982-1983 | North West Counties Division One | 10 | – |
| 1983-1984 | North West Counties Division One | 7 | – |
| 1984-1985 | North West Counties Division One | 15 | – |
| 1985-1986 | North West Counties Division One | 11 | – |
| 1986-1987 | North West Counties Division One | 2 | Runners Up |
| 1987-1988 | Northern Premier League | 8 | – |
| 1988-1989 | Northern Premier League | 6 | – |
| 1989-1990 | Northern Premier League | 3 | – |
| 1990-1991 | Northern Premier League | 4 | – |
| 1991-1992 | Northern Premier League | 8 | – |
| 1992-1993 | Northern Premier League | 6 | – |
| 1993-1994 | Northern Premier League | 16 | – |
| 1994-1995 | Northern Premier League | 15 | – |
| 1995-1996 | Northern Premier League | 7 | – |
| 1996-1997 | Northern Premier League | 11 | – |
| 1997-1998 | Northern Premier League | 20 | – |
| 1998-1999 | Northern Premier League | 22 | Relegated |
| 1999-2000 | Northern Premier Division One | 1 | Champions |
| 2000-2001 | Northern Premier League | 9 | – |
| 2001-2002 | Northern Premier League | 6 | – |
| 2002-2003 | Northern Premier League | 1 | Champions |
| 2003-2004 | Conference | 10 | – |
| 2004-2005 | Conference National | 10 | – |
| 2005-2006 | Conference National | 1 | Champions |
| 2006-2007 | League Two | 20 | – |
| 2007-2008 | League Two | ||
External links
★ Official website
★ Club Messageboard
★ Unofficial fan website
★ Accrington Stanley Kits from the Past
★ Accrington Stanley Shirts
★ Accrintonton Stanley Asian website
References
1. Watch out United, Accrington are advancing on the Asian market
2.
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