Accrington Web - Cartoon.

I currently make leaded lights (see Stained glass design and repair) and write on a freelance basis for a living. I have a PhD in Politics from Leeds University and I graduated from Lancaster University in the same subject in 1981. In the early 1990s, I wrote hundreds of comic scripts for IPC/Fleetway Comics, mostly in Whizzer and Chips. I wrote all the Bumpkin Billionaires scripts featuring Miss `Creepy’ Crawley; the iconic Tarman of the Jungle (The Ape-man who resurfaces roads in his spare time) and many others. The most famous of all the stories I was responsible for is probably Watford Gapp – King of the Rap which the legendary Tom Paterson created and drew but for which I wrote nearly all of the 150+ scripts – in verse. My reason for joining this forum is to take this idea one step forward and write specifically about Accrington and football: I want to find someone – preferably who supports Accrington Stanley FC - to draw the cartoons for the strip I have come up with.

I support Morecambe football club. Like most other soccer fans, though, I’ve always taken an interest in what has happened to Accrington Stanley. For me, Morecambe and Stanley are out of the same box: we are authentic non-League teams trying to play good football in League Two against the odds: small crowds; limited resources etc etc. Accrington’s former financial woes and their current troubles are well documented and I would like to make a contribution to help keep them afloat. As mentioned above, I have come up with an idea for a comic strip which I want to put in the Club’s programme: I think it will soon attract a wider audience in other clubs’ publications and thus generate a new revenue stream for the club. I’ve got the idea; I have the marketing ideas – all I need is for someone to produce the artwork. If you are interested – or know anyone who might be – please get them to contact me via the forum.