Train (Manc-Accrington) = £10-10 train
Ale = £5-80
Programme = £3
Entry = £20
Tea = £2-50
Pasty = £3-99
'Accrington Stanley? Who are they?' Accrington is something of a footballing Mecca, representing an older and happier footballing world. Today I headed off to East Lancashire for a late season League 2 game against Stevenage. This time I'm pleased to say that a friend and former colleague joined me for what proved to be a classic ground-hop as Spring made a brief sunny appearance.
Like Nelson, Colne et al, Accrington is bizarrely not accessible by direct train from Manchester. There is a direct bus but on this route it would have taken far longer than train. So we ended up changing at Preston, and ended up in Accrington at about 1pm. This gave ample time for a visit to a bookies for my friend to place an 8-fold bet on various matches taking place today. We then sidled up to the ground, and found an excellent pub - The Castle - where we stopped for a Spring Water ale. The barman gave a friendly Lancs welcome, though he did look slightly bemused when he realised we weren't Stevenage fans.
After another pint in the sunny beer garden of The Crown (Blonde Witch), we headed in to the Sophia Khan end, parting with £20. I had been slightly worried about being mistaken for away fans, but we had no such trouble. This end of the ground has about 5 rows of seats at the front with terracing and crush barriers behind. This gave it quite a nice balance, with kids and families at the front and the more vociferous fans at the back. The away end behind the far goal consisted of a completely exposed terraced block - fortunately today it was fair weather, though I did wonder what it must be like on cold January evenings. Just beyond there was a hill in the distance - a Pennine perhaps? - and another football match in full flow.
Stevenage came here today looking to cement a play off place, while Accrington were safe from relegation so had nothing to play for. Within 2 minutes of kick off there was a long delay due to an injury, resulting in a throw in near the halfway line. We later discovered on the Football League Show that Accrington had a man sent off but both completely missed it at the time! It didn't dampen their competitiveness, and they were ahead when 8's excellent run set up 19 to make it 1-0. With 20 minutes gone, Stevenage's number 8 made it 1-1 to the delight of the fans on the away terrace. Accrington looked more than a match for their higher placed opponents, and made it 2-1 when 19 scored another superb right footed goal.
The second half was as good as the first, with end to end aggression and determination. Stevenage's 18 forced an early save from the home keeper, while Accringtons 15 fired wide from a promising position. Stevenage's 32 then flicked a header towards the top corner only to be tipped around the post. Then the away side reached parity when 3 put in a superb cross, enabling 20 to poach a goal inside the 6 yard box. This was perhaps just reward for a well contested match. I have to say that throughout we enjoyed the atmosphere created by the Accrington fans, with several songs using existing tunes and new lyrics - I think that Anarchy in the UK was used at one point! Despite the awkwardness of catching 3 trains and a bus back home, this trip to the other side of the Pennines was well worth it.
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