Last year during Heritage Week I was lucky enough to go on a tour of Hallam FC so this year being away and seeing a chance to go round Accrington Stanley I jumped at it.
I couldn’t have been so lucky. About 20 of us assembled in the club shop and were welcomed by Robert Houseman . From then on the passion, enthusiasm, the wanting the club to succeeded, just oozed out of him.
Accrington we’re one of the founder members of the football league but dropped out early on due to the cost of travel etc. They have had an interesting history which has been written about in some detail.
My interest on the day was the ground. we were told that Accrington Stanley are the smallest club in the EFL system with home crowds hovering around 2000 passionate fans. Sitting midway between Blackburn and Burnley, two clubs who have reached the heights of English football they have always struggled to have a huge fan base. Because of their name, their footballing exploits and a famous milk advert they have always had a warm place at the heart of english football.
There have been different guises of football in Accrington with the current name due to a merger with Stanley Villa. Their most controversial period was in the 1960’s when due to financial problems they had to resign from the league, but only a few day after they were given enough money to carry on, but the Football League would not let them back, the Chairman of the football league at the time was Bob Lord, the chairman of Burnley.
Seemingly the end they re-emerged in 1968 and fought their way through the non league system to get back into the Football League where they rose to League 1 but have now dropped back to league 2.
More recently they have been owned by Andy Holt and it is one of his brands ‘Wham’ that adorn the front of the shirts and the stadium.
We entered the ground at the home end where a time-line on the walls show the history of the club and this is a feature all around the ground where pictures of ex players, managers, teams and past games are evident.
Immediately standing on the covered terracing behind the goal you are hit by the beautiful playing surface, they win accolades for that, and the view in the distance of the Lancashire countryside hills. Behind the goal is a fixed drum where the ultras stand. Down both sides is covered seating and at the far end the open away standing end although often teams also are given extra space on one side because their supporter base could be larger.
There are food and drink kiosks built into the stands with one offering being the local butter pie. on a trip to the nearby Clitheroe market I spied an apple pie but in the same shape you would get a traditional steak pie at a football match, it would be interesting to see how many of those would be sold as an alternative on match day!
We visited the changing rooms and an upstairs lounge often used by the players and guests on match days unless a sponsor had booked it. Next was the amazing Coley’s bar, a venue for Accrington fans, special events but also away supporters who are welcomed to join the home fans to this well specked, spacious area.
Open from 10 am before Saturday !5.00 pm matches it is an example as to how everyone should be treated. This would be an eye opener to some of the clubs where I have experienced almost cattle like facilities for away supporters. The visit moved on through the Chairman’s lounge and a quick peek into another function room which was to be used for a funeral party that afternoon.
At the end of the visit we viewed a recent mural painted on the end of the Crown Pub and were offered a free ticket to Saturdays’ home fixture which unfortunately I couldn’t take up.
The ‘Wham’ stadium is amazing for such a small club. It is so clean, tidy, organised, and just shouts out to you Accrington Stanley, I would be proud to be a fan every week. I will be back to see a game as soon as possible, in fact every football fan should diary a trip.
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