2022-23 - On Stanley On!

2022-2023 Skybet League One

Fixtures

Date			Opponents		Score	Att	Scorers
Jul	30	H	Charlton Athletic	D	2-2	2767	McConville, Adedoyin
Aug	6	A	Shrewsbury Town	W	1-0	6117	Leigh
	9	H	Tranmere Rovers (Carabao Cup 1st Round)	D	2-2	1035	Adedoyin, Astley (TRFC win 12-11 on penalties)
	13	H	Burton Albion	D	4-4	1997	Pritchard, McConville, Woods, Longelo
	22	A	MK Dons	D	1-1	6001	McConville
	27	H	Exeter City	D	0-0	2170
	30	H	Rochdale (EFL Group game)	D	3-3	1130	McConville, Lowe, Sinclair OG ( ASFC win 4-3 on penalties)
Sept	3	H	Ipswich Town	L	0-2	3069
	6	A	Forest Green Rovers	L	1-2	2007	Leigh
	13	A	Wycombe Wanderers	L	0-1	3704
	17	H	Cheltenham Town	W	1-0	1996	McConville
	20	A	Salford City (EFL Group game)	D	0-0	722	(SCFC Win 4-2 on penalties)
	24	A	Bristol Rovers	W	1-0	8906	Pritchard
Oct	1	H	Morecambe	W	3-1	2916	Coyle, Hamilton, Leigh
	8	A	Plymouth Argyle	L	0-3	15065
	15	H	Derby County	L	0-3	4879
	22	H	Bolton Wanderers	L	2-3	4829	Whalley, Johnston OG
	25	A	Peterborough United	L	1-3	7181	Rodgers
	29	A	Fleetwood Town	L	0-3	3115
Nov	1	A	Lincoln City	D	1-1	3130	Rodgers
	5	A	Crawley Town (FA Cup 1st Round)	W	4-1	2770	Whalley (3), Hamilton
	12	H	Sheffield Wednesday	L	0-1	4938
	19	A	Cambridge United	W	1-0	6022	Rodgers
	22	A	Grimsby Town (EFL Group game)	W	1-0	703	Leigh
	26	H	Barnet (FA Cup 2nd Round)	W	1-o	1771	Hamilton
Dec	3	H	Oxford United	D	1-1	2447	Hamilton
	13	A	Burton Albion (EFL trophy 3rd round)	W	4-2	1234	Rodgers(2), Pritchard, Leigh
	26	H	Barnsley	D	1-1	4791	Leigh
	29	A	Morecambe	L	0-2	4191
Jan	2	A	Derby County	L	0-4	28816
	7	A	Borehamwood (FA Cup 3rd Round)	D	1-1	2001	Astley
	10	A	Lincoln City (EFL Trophy)	D	2-2	2304	Pressley (2) (ASFC win 3-1 on penalties)
	14	H	Bristol Rovers	W	2-0	2510	Leigh, Astley
	21	A	Barnsley	L	1-3	9893	Leigh
	24	H	Borehamwood ( FA Cup 3rd round replay)	W	1-0	1940	Leigh
	28	H	Leeds United (FA Cup 4th Round)	L	1-3	5268	Adekoya
Feb	4	H	Lincoln City	L	0-3	2382
	7	A	Port Vale	D	1-1	4729	Pressley
	11	A	Cheltenham Town	D	0-0	4325
	14	H	Wycombe Wanderers	L	0-2	1900
	18	H	Shrewsbury Town	W	1-0	2858	Pressley
	22	H	Bolton Wanderers (EFL Trophy Semi Final)	L	0-2	4874
	25	A	Burton Albion	D	0-0	2578
Mar	4	H	Forest Green Rovers	W	2-1	2224	Pressley, Longelo
	7	A	Ipswich Town	L	0-3	22413
	11	A	Charlton Athletic	D	1-1	11972	Whalley
	14	H	Portsmouth	L	1-3	2473	Adedoyin
	18	H	MK Dons	L	0-1	2465
	21	H	Plymouth Argyle	L	0-2	2489
	25	A	Exeter City	L	0-5	6556
Apr	7	H	Port Vale	W	3-0	3444	Stevens OG, Rodgers, Pressley
	10	A	Sheffield Wednesday	L	0-3	25025
	15	H	Fleetwood Town	L	2-5	2624	Nottingham, Leigh
	18	H	Peterborough United	L	1-2	2064	McConville
	22	A	Portsmouth	L	0-1	17594
	25	A	Bolton Wanderers	W	1-0	17406	Hamilton
	29	H	Cambridge United	L	1-2	4484	Pressley
May	7	A	Oxford United	W	2-1	10499	Adedoyin, Pressley

Appearances and Goals

	LEAGUE		FA CUP		LEACUE CUP		OTHER
	APPS	GOALS	APPS	GOALS	APPS	GOALS	APPS	GOALS
Korede Adedoyin (F)	4 (15)	3	1 (0)	0	1 (0)	1	1 (1)	0
Leslie Adekoya (F)	0 (7)	0	0 (2)	1	0 (0)	0	0 (1)	0
Alhagi Sisay (F)	0 (3)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	1 (0)	0
Ryan Astley (D)	22 (1)	1	3 (0)	1	1 (0)	1	5 (0)	1
Baba Fernandes (D)	15 (3)	0	2 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	5 (0)	0
Nathan Butler-Oyedeji (F)	5 (6)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Mitchell Clark (D)	38 (2)	0	2 (0)	0	1 (0)	0	2 (4)	0
Seamus Conneely (M)	21 (5)	0	3 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	5 (0)	0
Liam Coyle (M)	31 (2)	1	5 (0)	0	0 (1)	0	5 (1)	0
Nathan Delfouneso (F)	0 (4)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	1 (1)	0
Ethan Hamilton (M)	31 (2)	4	5 (0)	2	0 (0)	0	5 (0)	0
Calvin Harper (F)	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Liam Isherwood (G)	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Lukas Jensen (G)	29 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	1 (0)	0	5 (0)	0
Tommy Leigh (M)	31 (8)	7	5 (0)	1	1 (0)	0	4 (1)	4
Rosaire Longelo (M)	19 (15)	2	2 (3)	0	1 (0)	0	3 (0)	0
Matt Lowe (F)	8 (12)	0	0 (0)	0	1 (0)	0	1 (0)	1
Anthony Mancini (M)	2 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (1)	0
Dan Martin (M)	13 (8)	0	1 (1)	0	1 (0)	0	3 (2)	0
Sean McConville (M)	39 (2)	5	4 (0)	0	1 (0)	0	4 (1)	1
Dylan Moonan (M)	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (1)	0
Jack Nolan (M)	1 (12)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (3)	0
Michael Nottingham (D)	8 (4)	1	1 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Connor O'Brien (D)	1 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Oliver Patrick (M)	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Harry Pell (M)	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0
Harry Perritt (D)	0 (7)	0	1 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	1 (0)	0
Aaron Pickles (D)	4 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Emerich Poilly (M)	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Aaron Pressley (F)	20 (2)	6	2 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	2 (0)	2
Joe Pritchard (M)	16 (2)	2	1 (0)	0	1 (0)	0	1 (2)	1
Archie Procter (D)	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Sebastian Quirk (M)	9 (4)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Jay Rich-Baghuelou (D)	2 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Harvey Rodgers (D)	41 (0)	4	5 (0)	0	1 (0)	0	5 (1)	2
Mohammed Sangare (M)	18 (4)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (1)	0	3 (0)	0
Toby Savin (G)	17 (1)	0	5 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	2 (0)	0
Bailey Sloane (D)	0 (2)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	2 (0)	0
Doug Tharme (D)	26 (5)	0	2 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	4 (0)	0
Lewis Trickett (F)	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (1)	0
Shaun Whalley (M)	35 (7)	2	5 (0)	3	0 (1)	0	6 (1)	0
Josh Woods (F)	0 (10)	1	0 (2)	0	0 (1)	0	1 (1)	0

Team Group Photo

Top Row: Ged Brannan, Alhagi Touray Sisay, Matt Lowe, Harvey Rodgers, Mo Sangare, Jay Rich-Baghuelou, Louis Hood, Lukas Jensen, Toby Savin, Liam Isherwood, Harry Pell, Harry Perritt, Ethan Hamilton, Enock Lusiama, Ryan Astley, and George Quigley.
Middle Row: Ian Liversedge, Andy Gray, Oliver Patrick, Connor O’Brien, Shaun Whalley, Jack Nolan, Archie Procter, Korede Adedoyin, Leslie Adekoya, Tommy Leigh, Dylan Moonan, Matty Carson, Rosaire Longelo, Josh Woods, Dan Martin, Matthew Donnelly, and Lewis Stewart.
Bottom Row: Tom Scully, Rhys Fenlon, Michael Nottingham, Mitch Clark, Sean McConville, John Doolan, John Coleman, Jimmy Bell, Seamus Conneely, Joe Pritchard, David Morgan, Liam Coyle, and Joe Hardy.

Final League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Plymouth Argyle	46	31	8	7	82	47	101
2	Ipswich Town	46	28	14	4	101	35	98
3	Sheffield Wednesday	46	28	12	6	81	37	96
4	Barnsley	46	26	8	12	80	47	86
5	Bolton Wanderers	46	23	12	11	62	36	81
6	Peterborough United	46	24	5	17	75	54	77
7	Derby County	46	21	13	12	67	46	76
8	Portsmouth	46	17	19	10	61	50	70
9	Wycombe Wanderers	46	20	9	17	59	51	69
10	Charlton Athletic	46	16	14	16	70	66	62
11	Lincoln City	46	14	20	12	47	47	62
12	Shrewsbury Town	46	17	8	21	52	61	59
13	Fleetwood Town	46	14	16	16	53	51	58
14	Exeter City	46	15	11	20	64	68	56
15	Burton Albion	46	15	11	20	57	79	56
16	Cheltenham Town	46	14	12	20	45	61	54
17	Bristol Rovers	46	14	11	21	58	73	53
18	Port Vale	46	13	10	23	48	71	49
19	Oxford United	46	11	14	21	49	56	47
20	Cambridge United	46	13	7	26	41	68	46
21	Milton Keynes Dons	46	11	12	23	44	66	45
22	Morecambe	46	10	14	22	47	78	44
23	Accrington Stanley	46	11	11	24	40	77	44
24	Forest Green Rovers	46	6	9	31	31	89	27

2022–23 Season Review

The 2022–23 season proved to be one of heartbreak and decline for Accrington Stanley, as the club’s five-year stay in League One came to a disappointing end. A campaign that began with cautious optimism unravelled under the weight of injuries, inconsistency, and a lack of cutting edge—ultimately resulting in relegation back to League Two.

League One Struggles

Accrington found themselves in a relegation scrap for much of the season, failing to generate any real momentum. Despite the best efforts of manager John Coleman and his staff, a string of poor results after Christmas saw Stanley slide further down the table. A leaky defence and a misfiring forward line left the club vulnerable in tight matches and unable to kill off games when ahead.

The final few weeks were agonising. With survival still possible going into the last round of fixtures, Stanley’s fate was sealed after a 2–1 defeat away at Oxford United on the final day. The club finished 23rd, four points from safety.

Cup Competitions

There were few consolations in the cup competitions. A spirited run to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup brought some much-needed respite, including a memorable victory over Boreham Wood and a spirited showing against Leeds United, who eventually knocked Stanley out at the Wham Stadium.

The EFL Cup campaign was short-lived, with a First Round exit, while the EFL Trophy again failed to inspire a deep run.

Squad and Key Players

Injuries plagued the squad throughout the campaign. Joe Pritchard and Sean McConville missed large portions of the season, and a lack of depth exposed the limitations of a relatively youthful and inexperienced squad. Veteran striker Tommy Leigh emerged as a bright spot, finishing as top scorer, while goalkeeper Lukas Jensen—on loan from Burnley—was one of the standout performers.

Off the Pitch

Off the field, Accrington continued to punch above their weight under the stewardship of owner Andy Holt. The Wham Stadium remained a symbol of the club’s community spirit and hard-earned Football League status. However, there was no denying the financial challenges posed by relegation, and early warning signs were already visible by season’s end.

⚽ Season at a Glance

Category	Detail
League Finish	23rd (relegated from League One)
FA Cup	Fourth Round (lost to Leeds United)
EFL Cup	First Round exit
EFL Trophy	Group Stage exit
Top Scorer	Tommy Leigh (11)
Manager	John Coleman
Key Issue	Injuries and loss of form
Off-Field Focus	Financial stability in face of relegation

Reflection

The 2022–23 season was a sobering reminder of how fine the margins can be at the highest levels of the Football League. Though relegation was a bitter pill to swallow, Accrington Stanley retained its identity: a club grounded in resilience, honesty, and community. The challenge ahead was clear—rebuild, regroup, and return.