“Stanley … of noble fame and worth” (Shakespeare)
It’s quite a rare event that sees us playing against a club even longer-established than ourselves, but this is such an event. Accrington were founder members of the Football League, finishing in 7th place in its first season, when we were still a mixture of Walsall Town and Walsall Swifts playing at The Chuckery. They made a graceful exit from the League four years later, resigning at the same time we joined as Division 2 was created - they needn’t have worried as we finished our first League season in bottom place!
As far as the present day is concerned you might think that Accrington are in a precarious position, only 2 places above the relegation zone, but it’s a bit misleading. Their away form has rather let them down, winning only one game out of six played, but at home they’ve only lost one out of six so shouldn’t be taken lightly. Most recent League 2 form looks like this:
21 September Port Vale (H) Drew 2-2
1 October Cheltenham Town (A) Lost 2-1
5 October Morecambe (H) Won 2-1
12 October Gillingham (A) Won 2-1
19 October Barrow (H) Won 1-0
22 October M K Dons (A) Lost 2-1
Leading goalscorer (with 4 to his credit) is Irishman Dara Costelloe, who is either a Midfielder or a Left-winger depending on which website you consult. As far as team discipline is concerned they have a young man with Nigerian heritage who has managed to gather 5 yellows and a red in the 12 games Accrington have played (Zach Awe).
Like ourselves, Accrington have moved away from the 17,500 capacity ground known as Peel Park into a modern dinky equivalent known (for sponsorship reasons) as the WHAM stadium in 1968 - its capacity is 5,450 but there are good reports about the attitude of staff and stewards there, and glowing tributes to their meat pies which are probably not Balti though.
This will be the last League 2 game before the F. A. Cup takes over in the first weekend of November. Accrington will be travelling to the West Midlands at take on Rushall Olympic while we entertain Bolton Wanderers.
I haven’t seen any reports as to the seriousness or otherwise of Ryan Stirk’s injury, but assuming he is fit then our starting formation will probably be unchanged from the Grimsby and Carlisle games. Forecasting this one - possibly a bit tricky, as I say, Accrington’s League 2 position is not as bad as it looks, and I think a 1-1 draw would be quite acceptable - and it would keep us in the automatic promotion section no matter what the competition does!
Have they changed where away fans go?
