Accrington Web - View Single Post

winstanley asfc · 04-03-2012, 18:51

With it being the 50th anniversary of Stanley's resignation from the Football League, it's not the first time that i've wondered what would've happened to our club if we had survived the tragic events of 1962.
A couple of days later a man walked into Peel Park and put a bag on a table and said: "you can borrow that interest free, and pay it back whenever you can manage it. I don't want to see this club go under." In the bag was £10,000 in cash. So says a book charting the history of Accrington Stanley FC.
Mike Ferguson was sold to Blackburn for £2,000 then sold later to Aston Villa for £60,000. Goalkeeper Alex Smith, whose value was estimated at £10,000 before the start of the season was sold for just £750. What if these players had been sold earlier by the club and not the creditors, surely they would have received decent amounts for them and staved off the creditors?
If Stanley had survived 1962 would they have gone onto better things, maybe promotion to the second division, maybe we'd have been able to compete with Blackburn and Burnley, if not on the field then for the football fans of Accrington and surrounding smaller towns? Perhaps we'd have done a Northampton Town and gone from the bottom division to the first division, or perhaps we'd have been voted out the Football League and more or less ended up as we did?
What do you think would have happened if Stanley had survived 1962?

04-03-2012, 18:51	#1
winstanley asfc Full Member+ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Great Harwood Posts: 848 Liked: 118 times Rep Power: 5957	What if 1962 hadn't happened? With it being the 50th anniversary of Stanley's resignation from the Football League, it's not the first time that i've wondered what would've happened to our club if we had survived the tragic events of 1962. A couple of days later a man walked into Peel Park and put a bag on a table and said: "you can borrow that interest free, and pay it back whenever you can manage it. I don't want to see this club go under." In the bag was £10,000 in cash. So says a book charting the history of Accrington Stanley FC. Mike Ferguson was sold to Blackburn for £2,000 then sold later to Aston Villa for £60,000. Goalkeeper Alex Smith, whose value was estimated at £10,000 before the start of the season was sold for just £750. What if these players had been sold earlier by the club and not the creditors, surely they would have received decent amounts for them and staved off the creditors? If Stanley had survived 1962 would they have gone onto better things, maybe promotion to the second division, maybe we'd have been able to compete with Blackburn and Burnley, if not on the field then for the football fans of Accrington and surrounding smaller towns? Perhaps we'd have done a Northampton Town and gone from the bottom division to the first division, or perhaps we'd have been voted out the Football League and more or less ended up as we did? What do you think would have happened if Stanley had survived 1962?