Members’ Newsletter – July 2024

Funny old game

This summer is packed with football, but, somehow, none of it seems to matter when you think about the coming season. I was much less concerned that Jack Grealish was left out of the England squad than I was to read that Jack Nolan has gone to Gillingham. Gillingham! Our top goalscorer, with 17 league goals last season, gone to Gillingham.

Obviously I wish him nothing but success in his future career. Except for two games next season. I still remember fondly the time we played host to them in 2010 when we beat them 7-4. They were doing so badly they subbed their goalie at half time. There were three penalties (two for us scored by Phil Edwards and one for them, scored by Crown ‘favourite’ Adebayo Akinfenwa), and a couple of red cards, including one for Jimmy Bell! Happy days.

In ‘real world’ football, it’s been the usual kind of summer with a combination of depressing news items about favourite players leaving Stanley, optimistic reports of our own youngsters signing their first professional contracts and transfers from lesser clubs (all other clubs are lesser clubs) of promising players. I’ve never pretended to be a pundit, so I’m not offering any opinions on leavers, arrivals, or our chances, for which I’m sure you’re grateful. Instead, I’m going to sit back and enjoy what our manager can produce for us on the pitch. On Stanley On!

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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.

Notice of AGM and Elections Thursday 22^nd August 2024

The Trust will be holding its Annual General Meeting on Thursday 22^nd August 2024 commencing at 7:00pm in Coley’s Bar at the Wham Stadium

The Agenda:

• Chairman’s report
• Presentation of annual accounts by the treasurer
• Elections of Board Members in line with FSA best practices and Trust Rules
• Proposal from the Trust Board to disallow the requirement for a full audit in line with section 477 of the Companies act 2006 relating to small companies

Agenda items put forward by Trust Members (TBC)

Any member who wishes to propose an agenda item or motion for debate/consideration at the AGM can do so by emailing the Secretary at secretary@onstanleyon.com no later than Thursday 8^thAugust 2024, the committee will consider any such proposal on its merit. The annual accounts will be published on the trust website on Monday 29^th July 2024

In line with FSA Best practice the following board changes will take place

The following members have been co-opted on to the Trust board during the last Financial year and as such are seeking full election:

• Eugene Carroll
• Gary Jones-Boast
• Andy Buckel will resign at the meeting and is seeking re-election

Joanna Butterworth and Joshua Adcroft resigned during the financial year giving us a full board compliment of 12.

In order to assist in various areas of board functions the following 4 people will serve as co-opted members of the board

• Alexander Crook
• Adrian Rudley
• Alwyn Savage
• Yvonne Wilson

Following the meeting we will hold a question-and-answer session with four members of the playing staff

Sean’s Testimonial

“Excited for the last stages of my testimonial year at @asfcofficial with my sportsman’s dinner a week Friday the 19th July followed by my testimonial game against @barnsleyfc with a 3pm kick off on the 20th July. Tickets for my meal are still available at £75pp individually or tables of 6 8 or 10 for friends family or businesses. I’d love to get the place rocking as I say my final goodbyes so please spread the word and let’s get it full. For people attending the game tickets are on sale through the club’s website priced at £10pp or £5 for kids or will be on sale also on the day of the game, again would love to see as many faces there as possible. All set for an emotional couple of days. Up the f🔴⚪️⚽️ing reds…”

Testimonial Masters

6th June was a nice day for the joint testimonial golf day with the early starters already well underway by 9. Thanks to all our hole sponsors and to Clayton Park Bakery for the pies for the halfway house.

Action shots & yes the putt did go in…

A few familiar faces around, supporting the testimonial…

Testimonial Golf Day Results

• 1st Prize – Craig Fisher / Craig Hitchen. -49 pts
• 2nd Prize – Phil Croft / Simon Baynes – 45 pts
• 3rd Prize – Mark Patterson / David Lee – 44 pts
• 4th Prize – Tom Biggins / Sam Shuttleworth – 42 pts

Nearest the Pin
Prizes sponsored by Apeiron Clothing & Accrington Stanley Supporters Trust

• 1st Hole ( 179 yd) – Lee Hodgkinson – 14ft 9in
• 4th Hole ( 139 yd) – Mark Patterson – 32 in
• 12th Hole (140 yd) -Dale Beagham -32 in
• 14th Hole (155 yd) – Jack Nolan – 6ft 1 in

2’s Competition

• Mick Biddle
• Anthony Buckle
• Mark Young x 2
• Mark Patterson
• Mark Hughes
• Paul Wright
• Jack Nolan

Many thanks to all competitors and sponsors

Annual Jack Barrett Memorial Walk

Advance Notice

This year’s walk will take place on October 5th, before the Morecambe game. Details of starting point(s), participants, etc. haven’t been finalised, so keep an eye on the website and our social media accounts for details of how you can be involved in this annual fund raising event.

Important Membership Reminder

OASST Membership runs from 1st July to 30th June each year, so your current membership has now come to an end. Don’t let your membership lapse, continue to show your support for the greatest football club in the world.

You can find the membership renewal form here it will only cost you a fiver, and you will receive your very own OASST badge. Don’t delay, do it today.

Junior Redz

The Club That Wouldn’t Die

As was mentioned in the last edition of the Newsletter, work has been underway to revive the much-loved and missed website originally created by long-time Stanley supporter, Derek Dixon. ‘The Club That wouldn’t Die’ catalogued the history of Accrington Stanley (1968), from the first game to be held at the Crown Ground in 1970, up until the present day. Recording the players, results and opponents, the site was an invaluable resource for Stanley fans infected with nostalgia.

Throughout May of 2024, we scoured internet archives and painstakingly reconstructed over 400 tables, as well as recreating pages of information thought to be lost forever. The result is a new website within the On Stanley On website, which can be viewed at The Club That Wouldn’t Die.

The home page has been designed to replicate the home page of the original site:

Every season from 1970-71 to 2023-24 has been detailed and can easily be accessed on the new ‘Seasons’ page:

Head to heads with over 250 opponents, from Anson Villa to West Ham have been listed on the ‘Opponents’ pages:

A pictorial history of the Crown Ground has been rescued and updated, as well as other pages, listing honours achieved, managers of the club, photographic archives and some older history of the pre-1968 revival.

We hope you find this new resource both entertaining and useful. As always, it has been a labour of love and, inevitably, there are errors and omissions; none too egregious, we hope, but if you do find something that’s wrong or identify a gap, please don’t hesitate to contact us. If you have any material that would fit well within the site and would be willing to let us use it, please contact us at editor@onstanleyon.com

Away Travel

Now that the 2024-25 fixture list has been released, the Away Travel team are working on booking transport and arranging travel to (hopefully) all of Stanley’s away matches.

Adam will post on the OASST Facebook page regular updates and you can keep track of them on the website at https://onstanleyon.com/away-travel/

Club 1968

This Summer, four years after Club 1968 was started, we’ve seen an exciting relaunch of our monthly fundraising lottery. Loads of new members have been signed up so there are more prizes on the horizon. Once again hosted by original lockdown drawmaster Jason Graham, the draw is currently on an extended pubcrawl a journey of Accrington as Jason investigates the hostelries of our town and meets the great people who drink there.

Follow his adventures on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559279909413 or on the OASST Facebook page

All winners can be seen by visiting the Club 1968 page

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

May draw

June draw

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 football fever is at a high – I’m talking about our national team reaching the final of Euro 2024. Personally I’m not an avid fan of international football, much preferring the passion  of following our own team at the Wham…

Last Saturday I attended Lytham Festival, my annual “time out from daily stresses” event. Just imagine my disappointment of having to interrupt the music festival to show England’s quarter final match against Switzerland? I was hoping (and praying) that it wouldn’t go to extra time – I couldn’t have been more wrong.

However I was surprisingly swayed before kick-off by watching, listening and singing along to The Lightning Seeds. I came to the conclusion that this was probably going to be a once-in-a-lifetime moment of singing with gusto “3 Lions” with the Lightning Seeds 5 minutes before kick-off in a major tournament – a truly fantastic moment.

I realise a lot of you will put your lives on hold on Sunday to will on Harry Kane & Co to defeat Spain. I have the added luxury of not being in work for a couple of days following so I might have a couple of Madris!! Good luck boys and make sure “it’s coming home”!

One of the greatest things about being connected to a lower league football team is seeing “a jewel in our crown” progressing up the leagues to fulfill their ambition to reach the highest heights in football. We can all think of those players we have signed at our Club who have ended up playing for a premier league club. We are always sad to see them leave but are always pleased when they do well.

So which “jewel in the crown” will we expect to see for season 24/25? A lot has changed during the last 6 months or so but we have welcomed back Ged Brannan to the Wham to become Assistant Manager to John Doolan. Personally I think exciting times are ahead of us and we need to get behind John, Ged and Andy Dibble and to trust in their judgment and their decisions. Yes, things are different as we’ve seen players, some who have given years of service to the club, go on to pastures new but I’m sure that the “newbies” coming into our club will be given a big, warm, friendly welcome by all staff and fans.

One of the outgoing players, Sean McConville, has joined Clitheroe F.C. and to end his Testimonial year at Accrington there will be a dinner on Friday 19^th July followed by the testimonial match vs Barnsley on the 20^th June. Tickets are £75 for the dinner. Sean would love to get the place rocking as he says his final goodbyes and wants to get the place full. For people attending the Barnsley match tickets are on sale at the club or website priced at £10 pp or £5 for children or will be on sale on the day of the match. Again Sean would love to see as many faces there as possible and is set for an emotional couple of days.

A good crowd attended Seamus’ final event of his testimonial season with a pre-season friendly against Blackburn Rovers. Badges and souvenir programmes/brochures were available to buy and there may even be some left so please see Peter in Coleys on the OASST stand or in the Arndale shop. Some fans took advantage and bought special Macron testimonial shirts and it was very fitting that Seamus was awarded the Player of the Match. It is always lovely to see Seamus’ family at the Wham Stadium and they always find time to chat to fans. I hope you’ve enjoyed your Testimonial season Seamus – well deserved.

Another familiar face will be missing next season – club photographer Tony “Kipax”. Over the years Tony has travelled up and down the country (sometimes very cold, long trips during winter) taking some very memorable pics. Thank you Tony for some good and some not very flattering pics of me! We will miss you with your long lens pointing at us fans before and after matches. Enjoy your retirement and we hope to see you on the terraces on the Clayton End in the not too distant future!

So let’s hope my next article, on and off the pitch, will be full of promise, praise and optimism and that we’ve started the new season climbing near to the top of the League Two table. You never know what will happen when the lads start to gel together. We can dream, we can believe and most of all we can keep the faith.

Please come and say hi on matchdays. I will be around the Memorial Garden between 2.00-2.15pm and also in and around the ground prior to kick-off and then in my usual place in the Clayton End during the match.

And as always before I sign off – let’s look out for one another and look after each other.

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)