[maccawozzagod]

Insurance will be sorted out nearer to the time when we have an idea of what we have. Mr D has offered his services as our Insurance chappie and we'll be having a chat soon. I would imagine that options run from £0-£10000, then to £100,000 then to £1m etc. Plus the library will be probably have some sort of insurance built in to our hire costs under their normal public liability and or theft insurance.

Just to re-iterate what Stanleymad has said, we really need anyting that is of interest, particularly pre-62.

Everything since 68 is pretty run of the mill but we will have plenty of stuff due to the fact that it is commonly available. BUt if you do have anything particularly unusual from this period then please get in touch. Pre 62 there may not be much around as merchandising operations weren't what they are now so replica strips etc probably didn't exist and our only hope for things like this is from ex-players.

Programmes do seem to be in plentiful supply of sorts but again we couldn't really fill a room with them, but if it was a certain game that was a certain something then fair enough - there has to be a story to tell about it.

What we want to do is generate a timeline of certain events, milestones etc and then try to link those back in with corresponding photographs, oral memories through a speaker and so on.

Beyond that we need to 'pretty' it up with as much memorabilia as possible. We have had pledges of unused season tickets from the fifties, autograph books, England caps from ex-players, possibly a shirt or two, cigarette card collections. From programmes we have the last League programme (the Crewe one) followed by the next league programme (Chester away), also the last non-league programme at Woking and our first home match to Darlington. One or two of those are obviously recent and easy to get hold of but as first or lasts they are of use because they depsict the differences of the time etc. I'd really like a copy of our first ever programme after 68 if anybody knows of its existence?

We'll probably borrow back the shirt collection from the Crown to add some colour and depth so again if anyone can add to that collection then we can produce a modern timeline of shirts, We particularly need Scott Alty shirts and earlier.

I have personally been trying to add to my own badge collection particularly OSC badges and have now got six badges, two of which I believe to be reasonably old and one of which I believe to be quite old. If anybody has any of these then I'd really like to know if only for personal research if they don't make the exhibition.

We are trawling the cellar of the Observer and Telegraph for any pictures that may be of use. This will probably be done as when we start getting the memories down and we have something to research against. If you tell us a story about when we held Liverpool to a draw at home in the FA Cup and then lost 2-0 away then we can correlate that to a picture of the fans waiting at the train station. Were you one of those fans?

When I did one of the radio interviews I was talking to the receptionist about why I was there and she told me that her dad used to take her to Peel Park. "it was always rained and it was always foggy as we walked up Avenue Parade" What?? every week?? but that is her memory and how she will think of Accrington Stanely anytime she hears the name. Do you remember the feeling of excitement as your dad dragged you up Burnley Road or Avenue Parade? how did you feel as you waited in the queue at the ground? were you awestruck by the sight as you stepped onto the terraces?

We have a copy of a letter sent to a player in the aftermath of the resignation basically outlining that his services were no longer required (thanks Gregor) goose pimply, hair raising letter that reminded me of why I detest Bob Lord (not getting into again though). Where were you when you first heard the news that Accrington no longer had a League Football team? perhaps you cried, perhaps you were sick, perhaps you ran out of school and started scrumping apples in a furotic rage? That memory could provoke quite some emotions in a few people and will provide excellent material for us.


As part of the exhibition we will be producing a CD containing some of the stories we gather. This will be given out for free to all who attend (or at least the first however many) and should also be available online for a fee if we have any left. I would hope that maybe something on there can eventually be used in media broadcasts such as Match of the Day instead of the bloody milk advert - although we'll probably still have to put up with the Last of the Summer Wine type view over Peel Park!

Please offer anything at all that you may have and let us be th judge of whether we can use it or not. Secondly, don't forget to come to the official launch on the 19th and maybe offer your stories.