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Accrington Stanley F.C.

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Accrington Stanley are a football club from Accrington in Lancashire, formed in 1970 in the north-west of England. The previous club of the same name played in the Football League between 1921 and 1962 when they became only the second club 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 [link]. 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. While Stanley have never been particularly successful, they are generally thought of as a true part of the history of British football, especially that in Lancashire. The team's name is often invoked as a symbol of British sport's legion of plucky but hopeless causes (much like British ski-jumping's 'heroic failure' Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards).

Contents

Original club

The first Accrington Stanley club was formed in 1891 as Stanley Villa and adopted the Accrington name in 1895. The club re-formed after the First World War 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 managed to achieve 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, Stanley 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, but at a creditors meeting shortly after 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 the 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 unforgiven 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. Since then, Stanley have clawed their way back up the non-league scene. Eric Whalley, a local businessman, took control of the club in 1995 and started the development of the ground, now renamed the Interlink Express Ground. After relegation in 1999, Whalley appointed John Coleman as manager. Stanley are now competing in the Nationwide Conference, which is the highest level of football outside the Football League. 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 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 F.C., which paid Blackpool F.C. over a million pounds for his contract. Stanley had taken fifty thousand pounds 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.

Accrington Stanley confirmed their place in the Football League on Easter Saturday, 15 April 2006, with a 1-0 win at Woking.

Origin of name

There are various theories relating to the origin of the word Stanley in the club's name. Stanley is the family name of the Earl of Derby and, as major landowners in the northwest of England, their name was attached to streets and pubs. The main theory is that the founders lived in Stanley Street and/or met in a pub named the Stanley Arms in Accrington. In all probability the exact answer will never be known.

Trivia

Boy 1 enters shot, puts ball on top of fridge, and opens it
James A: "Got any lemonade?"
Boy 1: "If you want!" (he takes a bottle of milk from the fridge)
James A: "Milk.....Ugh!"
Boy 1: "It's what Ian Rush drinks."
James A: "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!"

Current Squad

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League history

Season Division Position Significant Events (original club)
Joined the Lancashire Combination League
1900-1901 Lancashire Combination League 9th
1901-1902 Lancashire Combination League 3rd
1902-1903 Lancashire Combination League 1st Champions
Lancashire Combination League becomes Lancashire Combination Division One
1903-1904 Lancashire Combination Division One 2nd Runners Up
1904-1905 Lancashire Combination Division One 7th
1905-1906 Lancashire Combination Division One 1st Champions
1906-1907 Lancashire Combination Division One 5th
1907-1908 Lancashire Combination Division One 7th
1908-1909 Lancashire Combination Division One 12th
1909-1910 Lancashire Combination Division One 3rd
1910-1911 Lancashire Combination Division One 7th
1911-1912 Lancashire Combination Division One 9th
1912-1913 Lancashire Combination Division One 2nd Runners Up
1913-1914 Division One 7th
1914-1915 Division One 6th
English football is postponed due to World War 1
1919-1920 Lancashire Combination Division One 7th
1920-1921 Lancashire Combination Division One 6th
Elected into Division Three - North upon Football League expansion
1921-1922 Division Three - North 5th
1922-1923 Division Three - North 8th
1923-1924 Division Three - North 13th
1924-1925 Division Three - North 17th
1925-1926 Division Three - North 18th
1926-1927 Division Three - North 21st
1927-1928 Division Three - North 9th
1928-1929 Division Three - North 18th
1929-1930 Division Three - North 16th
1930-1931 Division Three - North 13th
1931-1932 Division Three - North 14th
1932-1933 [Division Three - North 13th
1933-1934 Division Three - North 20th
1934-1935 Division Three - North 18th
1935-1936 Division Three - North 9th
1936-1937 Division Three - North 13th
1937-1938 Division Three - North 22nd
1938-1939 Division Three - North 22nd
English football is postponed due to World War 2
1946-1947 Division Three - North 20th
1947-1948 Division Three - North 6th
1948-1949 Division Three - North 20th
1949-1950 Division Three - North 13th
1950-1951 Division Three - North 23rd
1951-1952 Division Three - North 22nd
1952-1953 Division Three - North 24th
1953-1954 Division Three - North 15th
1954-1955 Division Three - North 2nd
1955-1956 Division Three - North 3rd
1956-1957 Division Three - North 3rd
1957-1958 Division Three - North 2nd Runners Up
Placed into Division Three upon Football League re-organisation
1958-1959 Division Three 19th
1959-1960 Division Three 24th Relegated
1960-1961 Division Four 18th
1961-1962 Division Four
Resigned
Accrington Stanley resigned from the Football League and joined Lancashire Combination Division Two
1962-1963 Lancashire Combination Division Two 8th
1963-1964 Lancashire Combination Division Two 1st Champions
1964-1965 Lancashire Combination Division One 21st Relegated
1965-1966 Lancashire Combination Division Two
Resigned
Accrington Stanley resigned from the 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-joined the Lancashire Combinations League
1970-1971 Lancashire Combinations League 6th
1971-1972 Lancashire Combinations League 2nd Runners Up
1972-1973 Lancashire Combinations League 3rd
1973-1974 Lancashire Combinations League 1st Champions
1974-1975 Lancashire Combinations League 10th
1975-1976 Lancashire Combinations League 2nd Runners Up
1976-1977 Lancashire Combinations League 3rd
1977-1978 Lancashire Combinations League 1st Champions
1978-1979 Cheshire County Division Two 5th
1979-1980 Cheshire County Division Two 2nd Runners Up
Accrington Stanley were not promoted because of ground difficulties
1980-1981 Cheshire County Division Two 1st Champions
1981-1982 Cheshire County Division One 13th
Placed in North West Counties Division One upon merger of the Cheshire County & Lancashire Combinations football leagues
1982-1983 North West Counties Division One 10th
1983-1984 North West Counties Division One 7th
1984-1985 North West Counties Division One 15th
1985-1986 North West Counties Division One 11th
1986-1987 North West Counties Division One 2nd Runners Up
1987-1988 Northern Premier League 8th
1988-1989 Northern Premier League 6th
1989-1990 Northern Premier League 3rd
1990-1991 Northern Premier League 4th
1991-1992 Northern Premier League 8th
1992-1993 Northern Premier League 6th
1993-1994 Northern Premier League 16th
1994-1995 Northern Premier League 15th
1995-1996 Northern Premier League 7th
1996-1997 Northern Premier League 11th
1997-1998 Northern Premier League 20th
1998-1999 Northern Premier League 22nd Relegated
1999-2000 Northern Premier Division One 1st Champions
2000-2001 Northern Premier League 9th
2001-2002 Northern Premier League 6th
2002-2003 Northern Premier League 1st Champions
2003-2004 Conference 10th
2004-2005 Conference 10th
2005-2006 Conference 1st Champions
2006-2007 League Two

External links

|- !colspan="3" style="background:#ccf; text-align:center;"|Football League Two, 2006-2007 |- |colspan="3" style="padding:0 5% 0 5%; text-align:center; font-size: smaller;"| Accrington Stanley | Barnet | Boston United | Bristol Rovers | Bury | Chester City | Darlington | Grimsby Town | Hartlepool United | Hereford United | Lincoln City | Macclesfield Town | Mansfield Town | Milton Keynes Dons | Notts County | Peterborough United | Rochdale | Shrewsbury Town | Stockport County | Swindon Town | Torquay United | Walsall | Wrexham | Wycombe Wanderers     [ edit]

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