Accrington Stanley
The original Accrington were founder members of the Football League in 1888, though they went out of existence in 1894.
There was another side based in the town at the time, Stanley Villa and when Accrington folded they took on the name of Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley played in the Football League from 1921 until 1962, playing their home games at Peel Park. They failed to gain re-election at the end of the 1961/62 season and folded in 1966.
Two years later the current club was founded and played their games at the Crown Ground, now known as the Wham Stadium (capacity 5,450).
They competed in the Lancashire Combination, the Cheshire County League, the North West Counties League and the Northern Premier League before winning promotion to what was then known as The Conference.
Promoted to the Football League in 2006, Stanley have been a League One club since 2018 after winning the League Two title in 2017/18
Rovers have met Accrington Stanley on 15 occasions and have won only three of those encounters, while there have been three draws and nine Accrington wins.
The first meetings came in the 2006/07 season when Rovers were 4-0 winners at the Memorial Stadium in December 2006 and then played out a 1-1 draw at Accrington in March 2007.
The last meetings came in season 2020/21 when Rovers were trounced 6-1 at Accrington in February 20201 though gained their revenge for that defeat a few weeks later with a 4-1 win at the Mem.
There were two FA Cup ties played between Rovers and the old Accrington Stanley side. In December 1929 Rovers were 4-1 winners at Eastville while Accrington ran out 1-0 winners at Peel Park in December 1933.
Players to have turned out for both clubs include Nick Anderton, Aaron Chapman, Tom Davies, Adam Dawson, Joe Jacobson, Sam Finley, Joe Lumley, Kaid Mohamed, Lee Nicholls, and Harry Pell.
Rovers first team coach Andy Mangan scored nine goals in 70 league appearances for Accrington.
As far as I can tell, only three players, Sam Oji (2006/07), Lee Nicholls and Rory Fallon (both 2015/16), have made their Rovers league debuts against Accrington.
Next season’s fixtures see Accrington visit the Memorial Stadium on 24th September, with the return fixture taking place at the Wham Stadium on 14th January 2023.
A round trip to the venue, from The Mem, takes in 386 miles, via the M5 and M6.
Accrington Stanley FC
The Wham Stadium
Livingstone Road
Accrington
Lancashire
BB5 5BX
Keith Brookman
(all photos courtesy of JMP)