Accrington Stanley F.C.

Accrington Stanley F.C.

Full name	Accrington Stanley Football Club
Nickname(s)	Stanley, The 'Owd Reds, Accy
Founded	1968
Ground	Crown Ground, Accrington (Capacity: 5,057 (2,000 seated)
Chairman	Ilyas Khan
Manager	John Coleman
League	League Two
2009–10	League Two, 15th
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Accrington Stanley is an English football club from Accrington in Lancashire, in the North West of England, who play in Football League Two, the fourth-highest division in the English football league system.

The club was formed in 1968, by Stanley Wotherington, with the town regaining a club with league status after 44 years when they were promoted as champions of the Football Conference on 15 April 2006.^[1]

Ilyas Khan has been chairman of the club since saving it from possible oblivion in late 2009 (along with club President Peter Marsden). The club employs Robert Heys as Chief Executive and David O'Neill as Managing Director and Head of Operations.

In 2008, the club was the subject of a documentary series, Accrington Stanley... Exactly!. The name was a reference to a 1980s milk advert which mentioned the team. "Accrington Stanley, Who Are They?...." "Exactly".^[2]

History

Accrington had been without a football team following the collapse of the original Accrington Stanley in 1966. The original team had been formed in 1891, and played in The Football League from 1921 to 1961; it had spent its final four seasons in the Lancashire Combination. 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. Since their formation, Stanley have climbed the non-League pyramid to reach The Football League. Eric Whalley, a local businessman, took control of the club in 1995 and started the development of the club's ground. After the club was relegated in 1999, Whalley appointed John Coleman as manager. In 2005-06, Stanley won the Football Conference and were promoted to League Two, switching places with relegated Oxford United - in a reversal of fortune, the team that had been elected to replace the former Accrington Stanley as members of the Football League in 1962.

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, who 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 2002-03 championship of the Northern Premier League followed quickly on Accrington's getting the cash.

On 21 August 2006, Accrington Stanley won their first ever Football League Cup match, beating Nottingham Forest 1–0. Their first appearance in the second round resulted in a loss on penalties against at the time Premiership team Watford at Vicarage Road.

2006-07 saw Accrington Stanley finish 20th in League Two. Stanley finished higher a year later in 2007-08, rising to 17th. 2008-09 saw Stanley finish higher still in 16th place with 50 points.

The club also has a women's team playing in the Lancashire FA Women's County League Division One.

On the 26th March 2009, Eric Whalley announced he would be selling his stake in the club and stepping down as chairman after 14 years.^[3]

In the 2009-10 FA Cup, Accrington Stanley reached the fourth round proper, their best FA cup performance, equalling the original club's best performance.^[4]. Accrington Stanley again raised their performance in 2009-10 season and finished 15th with 61 points.

Name

The original town club, Accrington, 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 W.M.C. on Stanley Street in Accrington. With the demise of Accrington, Stanley Villa took the town name to become Accrington Stanley.

Television advertisement

The club was mentioned in a British advert for milk, in the 1980s, which briefly brought the club to the attention of the general public.^[2][5] The advertisement featured two young boys in Liverpool replica shirts and made reference to Accrington Stanley's obscurity in comparison to the former club's success at the time.

Notable supporters

• Jon Anderson, member of the band Yes
• David Lloyd, former England cricketer and Sky Sports pundit
• Brett Ormerod, professional football player who played for the club during their non-league days
• David Dunn, football player for Blackburn Rovers seen regularly at Accrington Stanley games
• Paul Beck, 300 appearances for Stanley including a hat-trick in the FA Cup 1st Round against Gateshead

Players

In a PFA Fans' Favourites survey published by the Professional Footballers' Association in December 2007, Chris Grimshaw was listed as the all-time favourite player amongst Accrington Stanley fans.^[6]

Current squad

As of 7 September 2010.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Alex Cisak 2 DF Jonathan Bateson 3 DF Dean Winnard 4 DF Sean Hessey 6 MF Andrew Procter (captain) 7 MF Jimmy Ryan 8 MF Charlie Barnett 9 FW Craig Lindfield 10 MF Ray Putterill 11 MF Sean McConville 12 DF Phil Edwards 13 DF Leam Richardson

No. Position Player 14 MF Luke Joyce 15 MF Andy Parkinson 16 MF Chris Turner 17 DF Peter Murphy 18 DF Michael Hall 19 FW Rory Boulding 20 MF Alan Burton 22 DF Andy Owens 23 DF Tom Smyth 24 FW Terry Gornell 25 GK Ian Dunbavin

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 21 DF Zak Riley (at Burscough F.C. until 4 October 2010)[7]

Honours

• Conference National:
  • Winners: 2005-06

• Northern Premier League:
  • Winners: 2002-03

• Northern Premier League Division One:
  • Winners: 1999-2000

• Northern Premier League Challenge Shield:
  • Winners: 2002-03

• North West Counties League Division One:
  • Runners up: 1986-87

• Cheshire County League Division 2:
  • Winners: 1980-81
  • Runners up: 1979-80

• Lancashire Combination:
  • Winners (2): 1973-74, 1977–78
  • Runners up (2): 1971-72, 1975–76

• Lancashire Combination Cup:
  • Winners (3): 1971-72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1976–77

• Lancashire Combination League Cup:
  • Winners: 1971-72

League history

References

External links

• Official website