Angry of Accrington hits back

A few kindred spirits have answered the call and pushed the numbers up, but Eric Whalley isn't kidding himself.

Accrington Stanley now boast a grand total of 167 adult season ticket holders, as opposed to the opening-day figure of 118, but the outlook remains just as dispiriting for the man responsible for restoring their League status after 45 years in the wilderness.

They are still surviving on scraps — lowest payers in the land, lowest gate income — and as he surveys the empty spaces round the Fraser Eagle Stadium, he can't help feeling each one has driven a hole in his dream of taking Stanley on to greater heights.

A born fighter, there are signs of battle fatigue as he reflects on the furore over his recent warning that public apathy could wipe out one of football's most evocative names for a second time.

Saturday saw just 1,350 turn up to see Stanley record their first home League win of the season, an impressive 4-1 over Grimsby.

"You're lucky to be speaking to me, really," he said. "BBC, Sky and Granada have all been on, since those comments, but I refused them all. I have made so many pleas for help in the past that I decided there was no point making any more.

"I've still got the winding up order from 1962 somewhere, but we won't be getting another. We are debt-free and can keep ticking over at this level. But that's not good enough for me. I want to push on, but how can you when you look at season ticket sales before the first game and see they are half what they were 12 months ago?"

The weary look didn't last long. Whalley may have his work cut out dragging the town's 50,000 population along, but he loves nothing better than a fight.

From the neighbours who share Stanley's Livingstone Road address to the local council and even the Highways Agency, he has crossed swords with them all.

"We get complaints every week, and most of them are from that lot in Livingstone Road," he said. "Two or three used to come and watch us but not now. You name it — traffic, parking or even the bloke who bangs a drum to try and get the crowd going — they've lodged a complaint about it.

"Anyway, I'd had enough after a few weeks. We were in danger of going down with five games left, so I ordered the chap with the drum back on to the side of the pitch and told him to get cracking.

"It created an unbelievable atmosphere, and we stayed up, so I thought: 'Right, that's it. I don't care what they say, he's stopping."

"We've put a roof on since then, so it's twice as loud, but b******s to 'em!"

Whalley worked his way through eight managers in a season — former Burnley and Wales winger Leighton James among them — before appointing current boss John Coleman nine years ago.

"Nearly all of them were sacked," he said with a grin. "That was some season. I was the Deadly Doug Ellis of my day but, honestly, you wouldn't believe the results. They were that poor and none of them could complain, even if they were only in charge for a few weeks.

"I don't believe in giving contracts, and John hasn't had one in all the nine years he's been here. He's fine about that, but it's still difficult attracting good enough players on what we pay.

"We desperately need investment and more through the gate if we are going to progress."