Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all fans, staff and players of the magnificent Accrington Stanley!

2023 wasn’t the smoothest of years for Stanley, but then again, anyone who has followed the club for more than five or six years will have felt the familiar stirrings of ‘here we go again…’

Nobody ever claimed it was an easy ride on the Stanley waggon!

It was hard to decide what to ask Santa for in our Stanley stocking this year…a new owner (not that we want to see the current one go!), promotion, managerial stability, survival, bigger gates… All of them, of course, but this is Stanley, and sometimes it’s best not to be greedy; let’s just be content that, for now, nobody can stop us loving our club! On Stanley On!

Members’ Draw

If being a member of OASST for only a fiver a year isn’t enough for you, every month, there is a prize draw and the fortunate prize winners receive £40 worth of vouchers to spend in the club retail shop.

The most recent winners are below:

October – 923 Dylan Cockshott
November – 159 Daniel O’Rourke

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Please enjoy reading the latest edition of the OASST Newsletter, I hope you will find some items of interest.
If you would like to comment on anything included here, or, even better, would like to contribute to future editions, please contact editor@onstanleyon.com

Mike Procter, editor.

Andy Holt update

On Friday, 19th January, Andy gave an update on X (Twitter); it is of importance to all Stanley fans, so here it is* for you to read:

_{*edited slightly for clarity}

**Update*** @ASFCofficial

1. I put the club up for sale a while ago. Whilst there has been a lot of interest, we are not actively in discussions with anyone in this regard.

There are a lot of clubs available to purchase, and there is a lot of choice.

My guess is you’ll still be stuck with me in next years. This doesn’t concern or worry me. Whilst I own the club I will keep doing my best and trying to improve it for the town and community.

2. Our club is losing money and has debt. The debt is only to my business and my intention is to clear it via a share issue as previously mentioned. This still leaves the issue of the underlying losses. There is no golden bullet on this. The club has seen almost every cost increase in exactly the same way fans have. It’s been a nightmare few years in this regards.

We need to return the club to stability and to do this there are tough choices. The reason for stability is this: the club is wholly dependent on my business. When my friend Alan Hardy had @Official_NCFC he invested in the same way I have, in his local club, his business suffered which in turn damaged the club.

This is the clear and present danger for #asfc and many @EFL clubs.

There is a combination 3 things that need to happen:

1. Increase in prices at the club.
   
   Some prices have to go up, in the coming weeks the club will make announcements on season tickets, match day tickets etc. other increases will take place on other match day consumables.
   
2. Reduce footballing costs
   
   This can only come from first team budget. It will be kept as high as possible.
   
3. Government get on and deliver the independent regulator
   
   For 8 years I have pushed for an independent regulator for football. There is no way we can carry on with the @premierleague acting as sole regulator as is the case today. They make the rules for our pyramid using financial clout as a big stick to keep football running in their interests. I had a long chat with @RishiSunak in private when he visited our club, there is no doubt he supports this legislation. I have had similar discussions with @Keir_Starmer who also supports the appointment of Ireg. This is not a political issue. Football affects all of us and is a crucial asset for many towns and communities. Trust me Accrington without Stanley will be a far worse place.

On Monday I attend an APPG with the @EFL to keep pushing for this club saving bill to be speedily concluded.

The @EFL will never get a deal with @premierleague without a regulator. God knows they’ve tried and I’ve been party to the detail for 3 years now.

@PennyMordaunt tweeted her support and suggested we get on with the legislation. This is crucial and I thank her for the support on fan led bill. The @WeAreTheFSA and @FairGameUK are 100% in support.

WE NEED THIS BILL NOW.

The world supports it, a number of Premier League clubs don’t.

Ironically if they’d been fair over the last 30 years we probably wouldn’t need a regulator.

The @FA failed the game and is not capable of the task There you go, you have it as I have it.

I’d like to thank Accrington MP Sara Britcliffe for being patient with me and continuing to take my calls on the regulator. Most would have started ignoring me on this subject by now.

@AndyhHolt on X

The New Arndale Centre Shop

by Peter Leatham

The news that the Market Hall in Accrington was going to be redeveloped supported by the government’s levelling up funding has been up front and centre for quite a while. However it had major ramifications for our Supporters Trust as it housed our volunteer manned shop and on behalf of the club and Andy Holt’s Wham business. It had been our “home” in the town since opening in 2017 as was a popular stopping off point for many supporters when they were down in the town centre.

The early discussions were along the lines of relocating us into temporary cabins in the vicinity of the market square. This was a concern as most of our volunteers would not take kindly to being located in a cold and drafty cabin in the winter months and the security was also a potential issue. All of these were quickly removed when the relocation team ( Hyndburn BC / Market Manager and specialist consultants) advised that they were taking the cabin offer off the table and wanting us to move into a vacant shop in the town.

We are still unsure why this transpired but we thought we had better become masters of our own destiny.
We were “offered” premises on Church Street which, upon inspection, were not suitable for our purposes and we rejected them. In the interim we had been approached by the manager of the Arndale Centre who was keen to chat and see what could be done.

Having had a “false start” with one vacant unit we were finally shown one which seemed suitable for us with a good retail area and a large storeroom downstairs. Further discussions followed with the market relocation team and the Arndale before we were finally able to sign an 18 month lease on the property.

Now the real fun started.

The shop was full of furniture which the old tenants were tasked with removing within a 4 week notice period, with a similar amount filling the storeroom also. After a frustrating 3 weeks and no signs of any movements we suggested that we would be prepared to move the stock out to enable us to start getting the sales area prepared to start trading in November. This was agreed to and a suitable vacant unit and storeroom was identified to move the shop furniture stock into. We thought this would take a gargantuan effort to complete but the old adage that many hands make light work came to the fore and, thanks to a tremendous effort from our volunteers, we had it done in a couple of hours.

Now faced with an empty shop floor we could finally begin to put our plans into action and start to re-organise the shop to best suit our needs. We purchased some wall hanging boards to best display the Stanley items we sell, these were then collected from Preston and installed in the shop by our resident joinery expert. Our friends at SDA kindly produced some excellent signage for both the exterior and interior as well as knocking up, literally, a brand new counter for us. All the shelving was reconfigured and set to meet our requirements.

Behind the scenes we were busy organising a new energy contract, a broadband supplier as well as replacing and installing a new lock on the exterior roller shutter. We moved some of the fixtures across from the old market shop as well as all the stock and other bits and pieces, till, safe and the like!

We finally opened the doors on Thursday 23rd November, just in time to welcome Jimmy Bell
and some of the players that evening who were part of the towns Xmas lights switch on. It was rewarding to see the shop so busy and that has been maintained over the December period with footfall and sales well up on the same period in the Market Hall.

All the old lighting has now been converted to low energy LCD’s and we secured the services of a redundant male mannequins, from Warrington, to model the Stanley kit in the window. There is still work underway but the move has generally gone very well with plenty of hours kindly donated by our board and volunteers and we look forward to a settled trading period in the coming months. If you are down in Accrington then make sure you call in and say hello, but don’t forget your purse or wallet!

Xmas Draw Winners

The Annual Xmas Draw is a huge contributor to the OASST funds, enabling us to carry out much of our work throughout the year. As ever, we are eternally grateful to all the fans and friends who bought tickets to support the draw.

The winning tickets were drawn on Friday 22nd December; all winners were notified and received their prizes before Christmas. Congratulations to them!

£500 -Ticket 0497 – Suzanne Brennan

£300 – Ticket 0195 – Tony Haworth

£200 – Ticket 0174 – Nick Baldwin

Away Travel

by Adam Scarborough

Hi everyone and a Happy New Year to you all. On behalf of the OASST, I would like to thank everyone who travelled with us all around the country throughout 2023. 

The year started off with a difficult trip to Derby County on New Years Day quickly followed by an adventure to Boreham Wood in the FA Cup. However, despite the difficulties faced on the pitch, you continued to support the lads away from Bolton down to Portsmouth and Exeter. The season concluded with an already relegated Stanley playing down at Oxford but still many of you turned out to show support for the team. 

As soon as the 2023/2024 League 2 fixtures came out we were already looking forward to lots of away days at familiar places such as Morecambe and Bradford, some that we haven’t visited in a while (Barrow, Harrogate and Wrexham) and a completely new one in Sutton United. Relegation soon felt like a long time ago. 

Early on in the season we managed to take two full coaches to Salford and Tranmere and have had full coaches for a number of recent trips including Bradford, Harrogate and Barrow. 

Unlike previous seasons, we haven’t yet had an away trip called off at the last minute (or on entry to the car park as happened at Forest Green once) – we have, however, collided with a pheasant on the outskirts of Grimsby and taken a de-tour to Red Rose Travel’s yard after I booked a 49 seater coach but 53 people turned up (and to think I teach a bit of mathematics in a high school…) 

Once again, thank you for all your support and please contact me if you wish to book on any of January or February’s trips. 

Best wishes 

Adam

Please remember, people must be OASST members to travel so they need to renew if they have not already done so.

To see upcoming trips, visit the Away Travel page on our website

The King’s Award Ceremony

It was with enormous pride that a small group representing the OASST board visited Preston on Monday to receive the Kings Award for Voluntary Service, which had been announced on the occasion of the King’s birthday in November 2023. More information on this prestigious award can be read here.

The Citation

Peter’s speech

On behalf of our Supporters Society and our many members and volunteers I am delighted to accept this King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

As our title suggests we are a group of football supporters but for us it’s not just about attending a few football matches a year and waving our flags and scarves, it’s about being an integral part of our local community and assisting whoever in as many ways as we can.

Not for Accrington Stanley the riches of the Premier League, but a constant battle to remain afloat and debt free, which has been a common theme throughout the history of football in Accrington, and is probably epitomised by the very nature of the town itself.

However Accrington remains as one of a small band of towns in the country to boast a league football team, something of which we are all extremely proud.

Receiving this award will hopefully inspire more of our fanbase to get involved with the works the trust undertakes and help us achieve so much more for the townsfolk of Accrington.

We try to realise the mantra of ‘sport for all’ and are strong advocates of ‘Her game too’ which fights sexism in sport as well as Rainbow laces which strive to eradicate sexual prejudice in our game. There is much work to do in both areas to achieve the outcomes desired by so many in sport.

What probably sets us apart is our sense of community, whether it be a simple chat in our town centre volunteer-manned shop, the Chaplaincy services we offer through our dedicated club chaplain, aided by our supporter funded Memorial garden, which was actually featured on Sky Sports in their Remembrance Day coverage, our foodbank collections, annual fundraising memorial walk from another local League football club or the monthly afternoon get together at which all are welcome.

We work closely with our club, our wonderful community trust and our many volunteers to help serve our community and its many challenges, with Accrington being the archetypical Lancashire mill town and consequently not the most affluent.

We just simply try to help the best way we can and Long may it continue.

May we also take this opportunity to congratulate all the other Lancashire award winners in recognition of their tremendous work throughout the Red Rose county.

Thank you

We are delighted to announce that news of our King’s Award will feature in the March issue of Lancashire & North West Magazine! 🙌

If you subscribe before the end of January, your first issue will include our feature 👀

Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/48AkGpl 

Let’s Move Hyndburn

Let’s Move Hyndburn’s “Walk to the Match” campaign, is a collaboration between Accrington Stanley Football Club, Community Trust, Supporters’ Trust, and Women’s Football Club who have all come together to inspire people to be more active, by walking to the Stanley match. 

It all began at the Accrington Stanley v Derby County match, when fans came together for the launch of the Let’s Walk To The Match campaign, to raise social media awareness by creating images and quotes from the Stanley faithful to bring the brand and the campaign alive. 

From the success of this campaign in its first run, David Burgess, Managing Director at Accrington Stanley football club said “Let’s keep walking to the game in numbers.” So, because of this, we are looking for local champions to get involved and to lead walks from various meeting points across Hyndburn. We will be beginning with the upcoming home game on Saturday February 24^th against Crawley Town. 

There will also be a ticket give away for this match which will be shared across social media. 

To get involved as a champion check in with the supporters’ chairman, Peter Leatham, who says, “We’re delighted to promote the campaign and encourage our fans to join in bywalking to the stadium from the various points of the borough. 

“It’s in everyone’s interest to take as much exercise as possible and help their fitness and social wellbeing. What better way than to do it with fellow Stanley fans, who have a maintained the Jack Barrett legacy through a sponsored annual walk to the match? ”

Accrington Stanley Community Trust Head of Health & Sport, Lee Wash added, “As part of our sustainability and health initiatives we are encouraging people to be more active, and walking is a great way to do this.

“We hope the campaign can make Accrington Stanley fans think about their match day routine and how walking to the match and elsewhere can really benefit their health”.

The campaign aims to create a lasting impact by transitioning from a one-time event to a continuous effort that will involve the community by not only walking to Accrington Stanley matches but also all grassroots football. By bringing people together, this initiative will foster a strong sense of community involvement and will further encourage community participation by offering opportunities for supporters to lead matchday walks and create micro communities as part of a bigger movement.

Accrington Stanley Women’s team, Chair Sami Smithson, said, “There is monumental growth in women’s football and these matchdays will be opportunities for supporters to get together and walk to the match.”

Let’s Walk to the Match is born in Hyndburn for the people of Hyndburn and we are delighted for you to own this initiative!

If you usually walk to the match and would like to become a local champion for home games, please let the Let’s Move Hyndburn team know by stating which area you walk from. 

You can do so emailing LetsMove@hyndburnleisure.co.uk or chair@onstanleyon.com

The Boys (and Girls) from Brazil…

Stanley Supporters’ Trust are looking forward to welcoming visitors from Brazil next month (February). A couple of weeks before Christmas, your editor received the following email:

OASST Chairman, Peter Leatham, contacted Fabrício and arranged everything from transport to Accy to hospitality at the Wimbledon match (courtesy of the club, via David Burgess).

We’ll update you after Fabrício and his family have visited, in the meantime, you can read more about it on Lancs Live, by clicking on this link.

The French Connection

We were delighted to welcome, once more, our friends from France, ‘Accrington France’, to our game against Gillingham.

To read more about, or to contact, the French supporters, please visit the “Affiliates” page

OASST Present Sponsored Walk Cheque to Hyndburn Food Pantry

“When the members of the Trust Board were asked which local charity could benefit from proceeds from this year’s Jack Barrett Sponsored Walk, I didn’t hesitate in nominating Hyndburn Food Pantry,” says Debra Phillips, Trust Board member and Supporters’ Chaplain.

“The work they do from their shop situated on Broadway in Accrington Town Centre is amazing and not only gives out food for a small charge but also gives a place for people to talk to one another and form friendships over a brew.

“Stacy, who is one of the founders, identified that there is a small gap where people can choose affordable food at a low price without the stigma of using a foodbank. I’m sure that the £750 donation will go such a long way and make a difference for so many people across Hyndburn.

“My own personal thanks to all those walkers and runners who gave their time and energy in completing the journey from Gigg Lane, Bury all the way back to the Wham Stadium – you are all stars!”

Stacy Walsh, of the Food Pantry, said, “All of us at the Hyndburn Food Pantry would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Accrington Stanley Supporters’ Trust for their kind donation of £750.

“This is a fantastic amount of money for us to help people in our community. Thanks to all who walked in the Jack Barrett Sponsored Walk.

“This money will help families in Hyndburn over the coming months; we are always there for anyone who needs a little help.”

Gary Jones-Boast, Trust Board member, and the organiser of this year’s walk said, “The Jack Barrett walk is a continued important annual event in which we thrive, and hope to continue to do for many years to come. The duration and distance of the walk are changed every year and we will soon be looking at options for next year.

“Thinking about the charity we donated to this year – the Food Pantry – drove us every step of the 14 miles we completed; and the support they give to the Accrington people certainly helped us succeed in what we set out to achieve on the day.

“Meeting them to make the donation gave me a special sense of achievement and yet again reminded me why I’m proud to be part of OASST.

“Thanks to all those who walked or ran on the day and to everyone’s efforts to make it a success.”

Club 1968

Started in late 2020, building on the runaway success of the lockdown on-line 50/50 draw, Club 1968 has been a remarkable accomplishment of fund-raising for the club, and prizes for people you know. To date, there has been over £40,000 given back in prizes, with a similar amount raised for the club.

To make it even easier for fans to join in, Club 1968 has set up a new method of signing up, to read more about Club 1968, and to be in with a chance every month of winning £1000, please visit the Club 1968 page by following this link.

Recent Winners

November 2023

December 2023

January 2024

All winners can be seen by visiting the Club 1968 page

Seamus Conneely Testimonial Sports Dinner

November 30th 2023 and The Venue at Accrington Stanley was the place to be as friends, family and fans of Seamus Conneely gathered to celebrate his career. Hosted by Paul Booth, with special guest (Blackburn and England player) Chris Sutton and top comedian Lea Roberts, the partygoers enjoyed an evening of fine dining and entertainment. Below are photographs (and a brief video) of the evening.

High Quality Souvenirs

The Seamus Conneely Testimonial team have produced two luxury souvenir items which would be the perfect thing to spend any leftover Christmas present money on!

Seamus Conneely Testimonial Souvenir Brochure

We are delighted to bring you this A4 52-page glossy full colour brochure, detailing Seamus’s career journey to East Lancashire.

It’s packed with features including his early days at Newcastle in Galway, his time at Mervue United before joining Galway United and Sligo Rovers.

There are many tributes from friends and family as well as many former team mates and the fans at Accrington Stanley.

How to get your copy

In person: Copies are now available in the OASST Market Hall shop in Accrington, from the Accrington Stanley Club shop at the Wham Stadium and also from the OASST tables on match days in Coleys and on the Fanzone.

By post: Click here to be directed to the order form

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Limited Edition Seamus Conneely Shirt

This is your unique opportunity to own one of these Limited Edition (Edition of 100 – numbered inside the collar) Seamus Conneely testimonial shirts.

All shirts are this season’s Macron home shirt and are all one size, XL, for display purposes.

You may also request (at no extra cost) your shirt to have a hand signed, personal message from Seamus, on the front or the rear of the shirt.

The shirts are priced at £100 each plus postage, which is calculated geographically.

To purchase your shirt, please click here to be directed to the order form

The Overlap Stanley Style – LIVE

The Seamus Conneely Testimonial year continues with an event that no Stanley fan will want to miss:

Seamus Conneely Testimonial

Presents

The Overlap Stanley Style…Live

Reliving the League 2
Championship Season with

Billy Kee | Mark Hughes | Scott Brown
Seamus Conneely

Friday 8th March – 7.45 pm Kick off
Doors Open at 6.30 pm

Coley’s @ The Venue at Stanley

Entry by ticket only – £10

To book, please use the form (click on link below), or tickets can be bought in person, from 19th January in the club and Arndale shop and from the Trust tables on the Fanzone and in Coley’s on matchdays.

To book your tickets, please click on this link to be redirected to the order form

Accrington Stanley Foodbank Collection

The Annual Accrington Stanley was judged to be a huge success, receiving food donations and over £800 from the local community.

To read more about it, please click on this link, which will take you to the Lancashire Telegraph website

Her Game Too

by Jodie Boast

To read more about HerGameToo, please visit #HERGAMETOO

Concerns, Ideas, Comments & Questions

The Supporters’ Trust is you, the fans’, voice and body to get things done with our football club.

We welcome your thoughts and ideas as well as any concerns (off the pitch) you may have regarding the running and day to day operations within Accrington Stanley.

We welcome suggestions as to how we make things better, either as a fan experience, or in growing our overall fanbase.

We will then take these on board and respond accordingly.

We meet at least once a quarter with our club and discuss a wide range of topics but are always happy to add to our agenda.

It’s your trust and club!

Have your say

Supporters’ Chaplain

by Deb Phillips

At the time of writing we begin 2024 and it has given me time to reflect on what has recently happened on and off the pitch.

At the end of 2023 a cheque for £750 was presented by myself and Gary to the Hyndburn Food Pantry – proceeds from The Jack Barrett Sponsored walk which took place on 8^th October which saw some of our fans walk (and three ran!) from Bury Football Club to the Wham Stadium. A big thank you to fans near and far who dug deep into their pockets for this worthy cause. We are all feeling the pinch but some more than others and we can always rely on our fans to support any cause for local charities.

This money will make such a difference to the work at the Hyndburn Food Pantry which is located on Broadway in the town centre and to help those less fortunate than ourselves who rely on this community service.

Ken, Jo and other Santa helpers had a busy time once again with the Christmas Children’s Party in December. All the children seemed to enjoy the party with entertainment from Mr. Bubbles. I think some Mums might have thought it was advertised as Mr. Buble – I think the latter is a bit beyond our budget!!!! There were some really good feedback and even Father Christmas enjoyed himself.

If you regularly visit the Memorial Garden you may have noticed that there are two wall-mounted vases for fans to place flowers in. Personally I think its a nice addition. They were positioned at each end of the wall but weren’t really very accessible to everyone. They are now either side of the large plaque which is dedicated to the boys associated with football in Accrington who bravely gave their lives in the two great wars.

Also in the next couple of months it is hoped to have a Remembrance Book on display in the Club Shop/Office which will contain all the names of those who have plaques in our Memorial Garden. I am in process of adding the names (very neatly) in this lovely book to help us remember those who are no longer with us to enjoy watching and supporting Stanley.

On the pitch side, over the Christmas period, 7 points out of a possible 12 points were achieved. 2 good home wins against Walsall and Salford, a loss at Harrogate and a 1-1 draw at Barrow. Those of us who attended the Harrogate and the Barrow match were disappointed firstly by the opposition’s late winner at Harrogate and then Jack Nolan hitting the bar in added time at Barrow. My main worry was that if Jack’s effort had gone in then would our “makeshift stand” have withstood the bounce and boing from our fans? – you had to be there to know what I mean by that! My husband came with us to Barrow and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere (we were stood directly in front of the Ultras). As a Man Utd season ticket holder he said the atmosphere was better with our 350-ish fans than it was at Old Trafford with 76,000 fans. I’ve always told him that anyway but sometimes seeing in believing!

On New Year’s Day the names of those fans who had died in 2023 were displayed on the large screen before the kick-off with both sets of fans and players applauding in honour of them. Thanks to Luke for putting this recognition together for the large screen. So many friends taken from us far too soon.

In the next couple of weeks myself along with four other Trust Board members will travel to Preston to receive the King’s Award which is awarded to groups for their work in Voluntary Service. I’m sure there will be photos on social media to follow. This award is for us all – one can’t do it without the other.

Even though we are now in 2024 we are still recognising the testimonials of both our Captain Seamus and Sean. To keep up to date keep an eye on social media, newsletters etc. for details of up-and-coming events. I’m sure you will agree that Sean especially is in need of the support of his Stanley family at this time with the sad loss of Jenna – please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

And finally as always – let’s look out for one another and keep the faith.

Deb chaplain@onstanleyon.com

Help

Useful numbers of some organizations:

Lancashiremind Local Mental Health Support 0800 953 0110

Samaritans Call 116 123 24hrs

Papyrus (Suicide prevention for under 35s) Hopeline UK 0800 068 4141 Mon-Fri 10am-10pm Sat-Sun 12 noon-12 midnight

Childline 0800 1111

Carers’ helpline (run by people with experience in care for people with MH issues) 0333 103 9747

Maundy Relief Counselling Service 01254 233 457 counselling@maundyrelief.org.uk

Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline-Refuge 0808 2000 247 (24hrs)