Accrington Web - memories for the Exhibition

a few people have expressed that they have stories to tell but don't really want to be taped.

We do have options for these people which are either getting somebody of a similar age to read them out on your behalf, or getting some kids (around 8 schools are currently backing this project with active involvement) to read your story out (as though 'they' are your memory)

So for anybody who is a bit shy, or anybody who thinks they are too far afield to be recorded, I ask that you please write down your memories in story mode and email or PM them on to us.

you can contact me or Stanleymad via PM (or Oggy, Gayle or Harwood Red)
or [email protected]

a few ideas to jog your memory would be;

first game you attended?
biggest game you remember?
players or staff or fans of the day, who were the biggest characters?
what do you remember of the ground?
did you ever have to jump through hoops to get to a game?
best result?
worst result?
furthest you ever travelled to watch a game and how many did we take away in those days?
where were you when you heard the news that the club had folded?
were you an active supporter (Supporters Club etc) and what things did you do to promote/help the club?
how did it feel in the mid-sixties to not have The Stanley to follow?
why did you support Stanley?
can you remember any tales that your father/uncle/brothers passed on?
what were your thoughts on the club reforming in '68?
how did you feel when Stanley acheived the Impossible Dream in 2006?

and alongside this, do you have any keepsakes whatsoever from your time supporting Stanley? We can get hold of quite a lot of stuff from the last 10/15 years and the last few years before our demise, but earlier than the fifties is pretty barren as clubs weren't commercialised much in those days. Have you got anything at all? I would also really like to see things from the first couple of years after we started playing again in 1970, or the couple of years whilst we tried to continue at Peel Park. Programmes, ticket stubs and photographs seem to be the most commonplace of any memorabilia, so anything other than these will be rare as rocking horse stuff so please get in touch!

Whilst we can and will deck the exhibition out in more modern stuff we'd really rather use as much old stuff as possible. We will ensure that adequate Insurance is taken out, and we will also be prepared to pay for any shipping fees if we have to bring the right items in from any sort of distance.

We are getting offers of stories and memorabilia from around the net but it is still coming quite slowly. So please offer your assistance as early as possible, even if only to tell us that you have stuff but haven't time yet to sort through what you have. In terms of memories, WE WANT THEM ALL! in terms of memorabilia, WE WANT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! We have a rough timeline denoting the history of the various clubs under the name of Accrington Stanley, we then want to link certain memories, to photographs and other memorabilia of that particular moment in time.

For example, the Liverpool FA Cup match in the fifties is reasonably well documented, we have an offer made to lend us a programme of the game at Anfield along with a ticket stub for the match, we then have a photograph of the fans at Accy train station waiting to travel - we need memories of that game. Were you on that photo? were you at the game?

So as many memories and goodies as possible please to give us as much time as possible to collate the info. We don't want to get to the week before and be snowed under with work whilst still receiving offers.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, we do have a good few local schools and colleges starting to get involved in the project. Every one of these students is a potentail future Stanley fan, every single person who visits the Exhibtion is a potential future Stanley fan. With as many people as possible getting involved in the project we can ensure that we create the maximum possible impact on the future fan base of our club. So even if you have already offered your services, could to speak about it to people where possible and try to secure their help. There are, amazingly enough, a few people at the club who claim not to know anything about what we are doing. So if you work at the club and are reading this then please make sure that the Youth Team know about it. Make sure that the First Team know what it is about and the depth of history that has gone into the Red shirt they wear every week, make sure the groundsman, stewards, tea boys, ball boys, TV gantry and Office staff know about it. If you are a fan have you told your dad or whoever introduced you to the club? do all your mates know about it? Do your workmates, customers know about it and can they help?

We are all proud to say that we are Stanley fans, particularly when far from home, this is your major opportunity to give something back to the club, players and fans of yesteryear who all ensured that we still have a club today to support.