nicked off the Telegraph comments page but I think it deserves its own special mention because it sums up very well the position we are in
Norman the Wangler, Baxenden says...
7:38pm Wed 28 Oct 09
As a born and bred Accringtonian, and the son of a born and bred Accringtonian who grew up in view of the Crown ground i have always had drilled into me the romantic pride associated with our fantastic little mill town.
It punched above its weight in the Great War, took far more than its fair share of losses, it was associated at one time with the single best amateur cricket league in the world (the Lancashire League), and it also had Accrington Stanley.
Accrington Stanley - one of the proudest, most romantic names in football. As a young boy i was indoctrinated by my father on these subjects. My main football alliegance was always Rovers (peer group pressure - sorry dad!) but my second team was always Stanley.
My love and pride of the town of Accrington always made me wonder what i would do should Rovers and Stanley ever meet. Who would i favour?
The current and previous directors, managers and players have answered this question for me for the following reasons:
1. I do not for one minute believe that the 3 players caught for the match fixing was even the tip of the iceberg. I also know a past insider to the club who has confirmed this as such. The 'summer bonus' they called it. it went on for years. They only got caught when they were cocky and greedy.
2. The arrogance shown when they finally won promotion back to the league was flabbergasting but all too sadly indicative of the board and chairman. They didnt promote that return to the league one jot. they expected Accringtonians with other football alliegiances to come flooding back home in their thousands. They didnt and they only have themselves to blame. Impetus was lost to save a few quid on advrtising. where were the banners at the traffic lights? where werer the leaflet drops through doors? why no season ticket offers to gain interest? pathetic if you ask me. They clearly expected the 10,00 gates they got in cup games at Ewood or the Turf to roll up at Stanley. They didnt. Their fault.
3. The current mob. Refusing good cash while gambling with the future of the club. O'Neill turned up today with fingers crossed that the Inland Revenue will give them a bit longer after he previously said 'dont worry we have the money'. An absolute joke. A blatant attempt to see if anyone (other than Ilyas Khan of course) will give them some more free money so they dont have to pay their own unpaid taxes and players wages. But why would they put their hands in their pockets when the fans, the TRUE Accringtonians, will walk to Rochdale, stand in the rain with collection buckets, donate their spending money, organise sponsored events, etc, etc etc - the list goes on. I can only speculate as to why they turned down Khans money - and my guess is they are scared to let an honest man look into the clubs books - but i can only speculate... but the truth will out.
This is exactly why i have regrettably stayed away. This board, the guilty players, Eric Whalley (who will no doubt return to replace his puppet O'Neill if this all blows over) do not deserve it.
But the fans and the town do. I have donated anonymously - and i am now torn between thinking i have done the right thing and the wrong thing.
How can this be? because there is nothing romantic in what, in my opinion, has been a systematic abuse of the very concept of sport.
Thats why i stay away. And thats why i am so very, very ashamed of one of the 3 things i was brought up to hold dear.
Once the clubs fate is decided this regime must be ousted for the good of the club and the town itself.
Then, and only then, i will return to the ground where i have attended over 300 matches over the years.
ON STANLEY ON!