Thread: We Happy Few
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Old 17-08-2021, 17:13   #9
Tin Monkey
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Re: We Happy Few

There seems to be a lot of negativity on this thread and it's not as though it hasn't all been said before. As a club and a community we are very lucky to have someone like Andy Holt, as without him [and some others who came before him] we'd be in one hell of a mess.

While I don't disagree that it's very disappointing that crowds aren't swelling faster, but we should remember just how far we've come in such a relatively short period of time. It's within the last 10 years that that season ticket sales were around the 700 mark, so this season's sales are around 50% up on that figure. I know we're in a higher league, but as we've said in the past, you aren't going to convert Accringtonian supporters of other clubs to the Stanley cause overnight. It's going to take time and a step by step approach.

Due to a range of reasons, I haven't been on a home game for 3 seasons, but on Saturday I saw [among many I did recognise] a large number of faces I had never seen before . This included families and many young people that will form the basis of the future. Before the game I passed through the town and noticed quite a number of young people wearing Stanley shirts and colours. That would hardly ever have happened in the past.

The club is working hard within the community to build a larger fan base and initiatives such as the shirt giveaway to primary school children is the basis of a successful construction. Only a few years ago many children would be ashamed to say that they supported Stanley, as their mates would laugh at them. Now there's no shame and the kids I saw wearing Stanley shirts were obviously proud to do so.

I would love for Stanley to have 10000 fans on every week, but it's not going to happen overnight. I believe Andy Holt is investing his efforts in the right places and trying to reverse a tide that been flowing in the wrong direction for a long time. Whole generations of Accrington people have grown up as supporters of other clubs, be that on TV or at other more local grounds. Getting them to change en masse probably will never happen, but for the younger generations it's already beginning to happen.

Instead of focussing on what's wrong, let's try to focus more on what's going right. I'll be setting off to tonight's game in a minute and look forward to seeing young Stanly fans getting excited and absorbing the Stanly love into their adolescent bloodstreams. Once it's in there, it's unlikely to ever leave!
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