Accrington were behind everyone else in games played after 19 of their staff and players were tested positive for Covid 19, which is unfortunate for them as despite being widely tipped for relegation, they had been doing fine before being locked down. You would think that all this was going to catch up on them as they have been playing Tuesday/Saturday for a while now just to catch up, but far from it as they continue to defy the tipsters and stay firmly in the top half throwing in solid results game after game.
The last time we played Stanley (Pictured Above) was back in August 2019 which we lost 2-1 despite taking the lead through Kieran Agard, it was Accrington’s first win of the season.
THE SEASON SO FAR – Accrington currently sit in 9th in the League 1 table, and their record to date is PLAYED 12, WON 7, DRAWN 2, LOST 3, GF 16 & GA 12 with 23 POINTS.
LEAGUE RECORD 2020/21
Shrewsbury 2 Accrington 2
Accrington 1 Crewe 0
Accrington 0 Lincoln 0
Swindon 0 Accrington 3
Northampton 0 Accrington 1
Accrington 1 Fleetwood 0
Ipswich 2 Accrington 0
Accrington 2 Rochdale 1
AFCW 1 Accrington 2
Accrington 1 Oxford 4
Burton Albion 2 Accrington 1
Accrington 2 Peterborough 0
LEAGUE FORM AT A GLANCE – WWWDWD
YEAR FORMED – 1891 and reformed in 1968 after its collapse in 1966
NICKNAME – Accy Stanley, Accy, Stanley or The Reds.
GROUND – The Wham Stadium (5,450)
THE MANAGER – John Coleman born in Liverpool aged 58.
It’s not easy to find out much about Coleman as he has spent much of his time as a forward plying his trade around the lower leagues and therefore records of his career are not so comprehensive.
He did however play for Kirkby Town, Burscough, Marine, Southport where he scored 49 goals in 89 appearances, Runcorn, Macclesfield Town, Rhyl, Witton Albion, Morecambe, Lancaster City and Ashton United.
This is his second stint at the helm at Stanley, previously being in charge from 1999-2012, he has also managed Ashton United, Rochdale, Southport, Sligo Rovers and now back at Stanley a job he has occupied since September 2014 and has been the gaffer at Stanley now for over 900 games in total.
His managerial stats are above average coming in at GAMES 1090, WON 453, DRAWN 273, LOST 364 giving him a WIN RATIO of 41%.
MATCHDAY MASCOT – Confusing this one, it used to be Stan the Monkey, but I think he was ditched when the guy inside the costume got put away for 6 months after admitting child sex offences, then there was something about moving to Thailand as a schoolteacher, extradition, sex offenders registers, and then unpaid tax bills, all looks a bit messy to me. I’ve also seen references for Fraser the Eagle, but that might be something to do with a local business, so I’ve settled on Winstanley the Dog.
SHOOTERS BOOTS – So far, its Dion Charles with 8 goals.
PLAYED FOR BOTH – David Martin, Alan Navarro, Kevin Long, John Miles, Paul Rachubka, Ryan Watson, and Lee Nicholls are the only ones I could find.
FORMER MANAGERS – James Beattie and Leighton James are probably the best known.
FAMOUS FAN – Jess McClure star of the US TV show Storage Hunters.
BEST INTERNET MATCH ODDS – Accrington 17/10 Draw 5/2 MK Dons 15/8
LAST TIME ROUND
Saturday 31 August 2019 – Accrington 2 MK Dons 1
Team – Nicholls, Williams, Walsh, Cargill, Brittain, Boateng, Harley (McGrandles), Lewington, Gilbey (Bowery), Healey, Agard (Nombe).
Unused Subs – Poole, Martin, Moore, Houghton.
Goal – Agard 18’, Bishop 52’, Hughes 59’
Referee – Ross Joyce (8 Yellows)
Attendance – 2,218
HEAD 2 HEAD
2019/20 – MK Dons v Accrington (Covid)
2019/20 – Accrington 2 MK Dons 1 – (Agard)
2007/08 – Accrington 0 MK Dons 1 – (Wright)
2007/08 – MK Dons 5 Accrington 0 – (Andrews, Navarro, Cameron, Dyer 2)
2006/07 – MK Dons 3 Accrington 1 – (Andrews, O’Hanlon, Stirling)
2006/07 – Accrington 3 MK Dons 4 – (McLeod, Wilbraham 2, O’Hanlon)
