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maccawozzagod · 09-01-2007, 22:28

As a Stanley lifer I have seen us at the absolute arse end of football. I currently watch Stanley play in lovely grounds with nice seats and big impressive floodlights and crowds of 6/7000. I personally do not care per se if we end up having to play in the lower leagues again because I have watched the dream unfold before my eyes over the last 10 years.

When Eric Whalley took over we were £75000 in debt, playing in front of 250 people with a ground capacity of 2600. We were signing players from Whinney Hill and Altham for Gawds sake. Now we are free of debt, with considerable assets and a million pound turnover, playing in front of 2500/3000 people regularly and the ground, although lacking in comforts, holds over 5000. And we have witnessed one of the greatest sporting comebacks ever. For a tiny club like Stanley to come through the pyramid, in spite of the bigger clubs at the end of the street, in spite of poor crowds, in spite of poor facilities, in spite of local public apathy, is nothing short of a miracle. This has been made possible by shrewd helmanship by the Chairman and by the galvanising man management of the manager. Eric Whalleys' contribution to the footballing folk of Accrington must never be forgotten. John Coleman must be allowed to make mistakes as he has taken us further than one could ever imagine and has earned the right to get it wrong.

Things may not be rosy in the Fraser Eagle garden at the moment but we have plenty of time to get it right. McGivern getting injured was an absolute gutwrench as he looked like the foil for Mully we have lacked since Lutel ran his course. Roberts and Craney going was an inevitable nightmare that rocked the club, Boco doing his back whilst on International duty (when did Stanleyites ever envisage that problem?) was harsh, an almost entire team on the treatment table was the straw that broke the camels back. If we stay up we know that we have been able to compete in plenty of games this season and assuming that we dont have equally bad luck next season we will be entirely better equipped to have a tilt at something meaningful. We will also have a second successive year of 'big league' money via television money that will start to make a difference to the aesthetics of the ground, we will also have hopefully learned the commercial lessons of this season and be better able to exploit the cash cow.

If we do go down, it wont be the end of the world, it will be no more than another chapter in the romantic fairytale that is Accrington Stanley

09-01-2007, 22:28	#75
maccawozzagod God Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Red and White Fortnight Posts: 9,110 Liked: 1555 times Rep Power: 12677	Re: January Transfer Target As a Stanley lifer I have seen us at the absolute arse end of football. I currently watch Stanley play in lovely grounds with nice seats and big impressive floodlights and crowds of 6/7000. I personally do not care per se if we end up having to play in the lower leagues again because I have watched the dream unfold before my eyes over the last 10 years. When Eric Whalley took over we were £75000 in debt, playing in front of 250 people with a ground capacity of 2600. We were signing players from Whinney Hill and Altham for Gawds sake. Now we are free of debt, with considerable assets and a million pound turnover, playing in front of 2500/3000 people regularly and the ground, although lacking in comforts, holds over 5000. And we have witnessed one of the greatest sporting comebacks ever. For a tiny club like Stanley to come through the pyramid, in spite of the bigger clubs at the end of the street, in spite of poor crowds, in spite of poor facilities, in spite of local public apathy, is nothing short of a miracle. This has been made possible by shrewd helmanship by the Chairman and by the galvanising man management of the manager. Eric Whalleys' contribution to the footballing folk of Accrington must never be forgotten. John Coleman must be allowed to make mistakes as he has taken us further than one could ever imagine and has earned the right to get it wrong. Things may not be rosy in the Fraser Eagle garden at the moment but we have plenty of time to get it right. McGivern getting injured was an absolute gutwrench as he looked like the foil for Mully we have lacked since Lutel ran his course. Roberts and Craney going was an inevitable nightmare that rocked the club, Boco doing his back whilst on International duty (when did Stanleyites ever envisage that problem?) was harsh, an almost entire team on the treatment table was the straw that broke the camels back. If we stay up we know that we have been able to compete in plenty of games this season and assuming that we dont have equally bad luck next season we will be entirely better equipped to have a tilt at something meaningful. We will also have a second successive year of 'big league' money via television money that will start to make a difference to the aesthetics of the ground, we will also have hopefully learned the commercial lessons of this season and be better able to exploit the cash cow. If we do go down, it wont be the end of the world, it will be no more than another chapter in the romantic fairytale that is Accrington Stanley __________________ email [email protected] for all window cleaning quotes Last edited by maccawozzagod; 09-01-2007 at 22:31.