Thousands of Accrington Stanley fans
gathered on Broadway to welcome the League Two champions on
their victory bus parade.
As the bus pulled into Broadway there was rapturous
applause and cheers, with many of the fans singing the club
anthem.
Drums were beating and red and white
flags waving.
Fans were proudly wearing the club shirts and there was a
sea of red and white.
Young and old came to show their support and join in
the celebrations. Players signed autographs on booklets and
fans shirts and clothing.
The cup was passed around the crowd
so fans could hold it and have their photograph taken with
it. Winning this championship was a landmark moment in the
club’s history. Andy Holt, John Coleman and Jimmy Bell were
celebrating along with the players.
This victory celebration was well
deserved as Stanley operate with one of the lowest budgets
in the whole of the football league. It was a remarkable
feat and testament to the hard work and team spirit at the
club.
Accrington FC was established in 1886
and in 1888 along with eleven other teams from the North and
the Midlands, formed the Football League. They were in the
First Division in 1892 before resigning in 1893. The town
team returned when Division Three North and South started in
1921 as Accrington Stanley.
Their early years in this division
were pretty uneventful but die-hard Stanley fans at the time
always cited that the team were top of Division Three North
when league matches ceased at the advent of the Second World
War in 1939. At that stage, they had played three and won
three.
Probably Accrington Stanley’s best
period of form came under Glaswegian manager Walter
Galbraith who took the role in 1952. He introduced many
Scots players to the club, and indeed in their best three
seasons from 1955 to 1957, they finished second, third and
third, respectively. Unfortunately, only the top team from
the North and South third tier went to Division Two, so
Stanley’s status remained unchanged.
It was in 1958 that Stanley received
a promotion of sorts. The two third division system was
scrapped and Division Four was introduced, the top twelve
from the two third divisions would remain in Division Three,
and Stanley did so – for one season!
Their first season in the newly
formed Third Division was a disaster. Stanley conceded 123
goals and finished nine points adrift at the bottom. The
1960/61 season saw them finish 18th in Division
Four. This would be their last full season in the football
league as in March 1962, Stanley resigned from the league
amid debts in the region of £62,000.
The club was finally liquidated in
1966, only to rise again, like a Phoenix from the ashes, as
Accrington Stanley 1968, two years later. The new club
started life in the Lancashire Combination, many tiers below
the Football league but determined one day to re-join it.
It was not until 1999, however, when
a certain Liverpool man, a former player who had only been a
manager for two years, took the job as Stanley manager that
Accrington’s fortunes began to turn. John Coleman led the
team to three promotions, culminating in their return to the
Football League in 2006. This earned them the accolade of
“The Club Who Wouldn’t die.”
Coleman left the club briefly to
manage Rochdale, and the managerial role at Accrington went
to James Beattie. Neither role lasted long and Coleman
returned to Stanley and the rest, as they say, is the stuff
of Football Folklore.
For the first time since 1958,
Accrington Stanley is back in the third tier of the English
Football League. We at Acorn News wish them well. Will the
promotion prove too much for them once more? I doubt it; not
while they have players like Billy Kee and a manager like
John Coleman. Let’s not forget Chairman Andy Holt and his
Board of Directors also, without whose financial backing and
support this success would have been impossible to achieve.