Accrington Stanley came about thanks to a reformation drive in 1968. But the story of the club goes much further back to 1891.
A wonderfully colorful and pictorial timeline at the rear of the Clayton End inside the home Stadium tells the tale of one of English football’s most historic club’s.
With a rich tradition in English football the Lancashire region of England is home to some of the earliest association football sides. The names are world famous – Blackburn Rovers and Burnley to name only two.
The town of Accrington, which sits only 5 miles from Blackburn, had been without a football team for many years following the collapse of the original Accrington Stanley in 1966. Following a meeting at the Bold Street Working Men’s Club in 1968 a revival of the club was initiated; a journey that led to promotion for Stanley to League Two in 2006.
In 2018 the club went a step further with promotion to English Football League 1.
This has seen the arrival of many traditional clubs to the intimate Ground. The previous weekend had seen the once mighty Ipswich Town defeated. But it was the turn of Gillingham from Kent to visit Lancashire on a very wet Autumn afternoon.
Accrington Stanley vs. Gillingham FC
EFL – English Football League One
Four long years past between the resignation of the old Accrington Stanley from the Football League and the formation of the new club,
But the two sides are intrinsically linked by history.
Many visitors to the ground are welcomed by the sign which states ‘the club that wouldn’t die’.
The original club, Accrington was among the twelve founder members of the English Football league in 1888, before resigning from the league after just five years.
A team called Stanley Villa already existed at the time, and they were named as such because they were based at the Stanley Arms Working Men’s Club on Stanley Street in Accrington.
With the demise of Accrington FC, Stanley Villa became Accrington Stanley.
The current Accrington Stanley Football Club was formed after a meeting at the Bold Street Working Mens Club. The current home ground (known traditionally as the Crown Ground) was acquired and a former Stanley player called Jimmy Hinksman was appointed as the new club’s manager.
By the 1970-71 season Stanley were playing in the Lancashire Combination set up.
A crowd of just under 620 fans watched the team in their first game when they defeated Formby with Terry Tigle playing in the first match. To this day he is the only known player to play for both the old and new Accrington Stanley.
The big breakthrough for Stanley came in 2006 when a place was secured in the professional league system. Consolidation in the system was achieved before the return of club legend John Coleman in 2015.
Financial issues started to hinder club morale just as it had in its early years. Local business backing was secured but promotion to League One was denied thanks to a defeat to AFC Wimbledon in the play offs.
The historic season for Stanley came in 2017-18 as they won promotion to League One for the first time.
The Lancashire side had suffered five successive defeats at the end of 2017 but then never looked back – winning 18 of their remaining 22 league games.
Promotion was clinched at home against Yeovil Town and the club lifted the title trophy against Lincoln City in the penultimate game.
Life in League Two has not been as straight forward as Accrington might have hoped. Last season (2018-19) saw the side finish in 14th place with an almost identical record to Gillingham.
Bigger names this season have adventured to Accrington including Sunderland, Coventry City and Ipswich Town. This has brought bigger crowds to the inner city stadium and much needed business to local public houses.
One such pub is the Crown on Whalley Road which sits less than 100 yards from the stadium.
As the 3 pm kick off approached crowds of visiting Gillingham fans begin to appear fresh from the long journey from Kent.
Gillingham this season are managed by a man of many clubs the exuberant Steve Evans.
Appointed during the summer by Chairman Paul Scally, Gillingham have struggled to get any sort of form together.
If the near side referee assistant was seeking an easy afternoon then she was in for a surprise.
Time and time again the home fans sitting behind her berated her flagging as Accrington opened the game.
The visiting goal was peppered with efforts in the early stages but on three occasions the goals were ruled out. The home side also hit the post three times with visiting goalkeeper Bonham adding to the home fans pain by making a string of superb saves to deny Stanley.
It took a spectacular Regan Charles-Cook effort to separate the teams.
He scored his first goal of the season by engineering space and curling an effort past the home goalkeeper on 59 minutes.
Accrington Stanley is a interesting visit for any follower of lower League English football. Not so much a cult club more the Lancashire underdog like Blyth Spartans.
The Wham Stadium (still known to many fans as the Crown Ground) is a small ground. But it is set in a picturesque area with views to the nearby hills that sit behind the Coppice Terrace.
The ground has recently seen some new investment with the construction of a new 1,100 capacity single tiered stand. Called the Eric Whalley Stand after a former owner, this is a tidy looking stand which has helped improve the overall feel of the stadium.
But its the home fans inside the Accrington Stadium who make the place a little special. Crowded in behind the goal the local supporters express a passion that is seldom found these days in the top tiers of English football.
Accrington Stanley: Evtimov, Johnson, Hughes, Elese, Opoku, Clark, Finley, Conneely, McConville, Zanzala, Bishop. Subs ON: Pritchard, Carvalho, Charles.
Gillingham: Bonham, Tucker, Ehmer, Ogilvie, O’Conner, Jones, Byrne, O’Keefe, Mandron, Charles-Clark, Hanlon. Subs ON: Ndjoli, Lee, Jakubiak
FT: 0-1
Fans: 2,200