Accrington Stanley was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

football club based in Accrington,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. Established in 1891, the club played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

between 1921 and 1962, when the club became the second to resign from the League mid-season. The club went into liquidation in 1966. They played at Peel Park.

History

The club was formed in 1891 and played in the Football League between 1921 and 1962. In 1960, amid persistent financial difficulties, mainly relating to the speculative purchase of the new Burnley Road stand, Stanley was relegated to the recently formed

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

. However, the team only managed to complete one full season in that division because bankruptcy followed shortly afterwards. On 12 February 1962, Edwin Slinger, the chairman, resigned and revealed that Stanley owed up to £4,000 in unpaid transfer fees and a similar sum to the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

. Pilkington, as life vice-president, brought in Bob Lord, who persuaded the rest of the board to resign by promising to buy shares, despite his chairmanship of the nearby Burnley Football Club. Stanley lost its last League match 4–0 away at Crewe on 2 March 1962 and, at a creditors' meeting shortly afterwards, further unsecured creditors were revealed. The club sent a letter of resignation to the Football League, and the resignation was accepted by

Alan Hardaker Alan Hardaker OBE (29 July 1912Biographical details
such as date of birth, wife's ...

, the League Secretary, on 11 March, midway through the 1961–62 season. Stanley was accepted into the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 it ...

Division Two for the next season, and with some local investors stepping forward to reduce debts to a more manageable level, it seemed as if it might be a new beginning for the club. It performed respectably well in its first season in the Combination, and the team earned its first (and only) promotion the following year. Unfortunately this proved to be a false dawn, as Stanley was immediately relegated after finishing bottom of Division One. After four seasons in the Lancashire Combination the club disbanded. Two years later the club was reformed.

Honours

Accrington Stanley 1891 League Performance

*Lancashire Combination **Champions 1902–03, 1905–06 **Division Two champions 1963–64

Notable players

''Players who played 100 matches for Accrington Stanley, or who gained international caps whilst with the club''. * Harry Anders (1957–60) * Jimmy Anders (1956–60) * Jimmy Armstrong (1927–33) * Armour Ashe (1953–58) *

Cyril Briggs Cyril Valentine Briggs (May 28, 1888 – October 18, 1966) was an African-Caribbean American writer and communist political activist. Briggs is best remembered as founder and editor of ''The Crusader,'' a seminal New York magazine of the New Ne ...

(1946–50) *

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Retrieved 20 December 2013 ...

(1947–53) * Les Cocker (1953–58) * Doug Daniels (1949–53) * Wattie Dick (1955–58)

References

{{Authority control Accrington Stanley F.C. Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Lancashire Sport in Hyndburn Association football clubs established in 1891 Association football clubs disestablished in 1966 1966 disestablishments in England Accrington 1891 establishments in England Lancashire League (football) Lancashire Combination Defunct English Football League clubs History of Hyndburn