Tims 92

Accrington Stanley

The Crown Ground

Ground No. 152

Visited - Monday 24th March 2008
Result - Accrington Stanley 0-1 Milton Keynes Dons
Competition - Coca Cola League 2
Attendance - 1559

With just two grounds left to complete the 92, I had to choose which one I wanted to finish the accomplishment at, with the two on offer being Accrington’s Crown Ground, a venue described by many as the worst in the league, or Bury’s Gigg Lane, a stadium that most in the lower leagues would be proud to call their own. It wasn’t a difficult decision, helped by the prospect of a local derby at Gigg Lane against Bury’s local rivals Rochdale.

Unlike most lower league clubs of a similar stature, it’s fair to say that Stanley hold a place in the psyche of English football. Often credited with being a founder member of the league (they weren’t, the Accrington club of 1888 were a different team), their most notable feat was dropping out of the league in 1962, although fans of a certain age will always ignominiously associate them with that advert in the 1980’s for the Milk Council (random fact, it was originally supposed to be Spurs who were to feature as the team, but they objected with Stanley drawing the short straw).

Looking at the fixture lists, Stanley were scheduled to be at home on Easter Monday, so I opted for that game as the most easiest to do, travelling up with Duncan from the Football Ground Guide, with the drive passing by quite pleasantly in the holiday sun.

Despite the nice weather whilst travelling northwards, almost immediately on arrival it started snowing, so we made our way to the ground, meeting up with another traveller who had come from a little further afield, (namely PG from Sweden, see his review here), before heading to the adjacent pub which gives the ground its name, sinking a quick pint whilst the weather brightened up, before heading back to the ground and going in to take pictures.

Coming in next to the away end, the ground opens out in front of you. The away end itself is a modern, uncovered terrace, featuring 16 rows and a decent view from the back. The far side, The Whinney Hill Terrace was the oldest and most basic structure, a relic of their non-league era, with just a couple of rows of terracing covered by a small shelter, truncated in the middle with half of the stand for home fans and the other half providing some shelter for visitors. The Clayton Terrace fills the far end, and up until the summer, mirrored the away end, but has since had a roof added, making it look a far more impressive structure now. The final side is the Main Stand, which is two, small all-seated stands, covered by a roof that is famous for having what is surely the lowest goalpost support in football. One thing that I hadn’t known beforehand is that the far end is also cranked, with the seats nearest the home end facing the pitch at an angle, vaguely reminiscent of the old Waterloo Road Stand at Molineux.

After going around the ground, we headed off on a mini-pub crawl, first of all heading to the Peel Park Hotel, which is adjacent to their old ground (of which various remnants still remain, notably the changing rooms with an entrance still marked ‘officials’!), before going on to the Grey Horse Hotel which served a fantastic pint of Thwaites Mild (best drink ever!), before time caught up and we made our way back to the ground.

I’d been wanting to go in the home end, not out of any unspoken love for Stanley, but more a vehement loathing of their opponents, Milton Keynes, aka Franchise, but a group decision ended up with us standing amongst the scabs of Buckinghamshire, so we took our places on the Coppice Terrace as the game began.

Franchise were top of the league and expected to win quite easily, but it was the home side who did most of the pressing early on, forcing a number of good saves in the first 15 minutes, before the game turned into one of the most dullest spectacles witnessed all season. Milton Keynes, managed by Paul Ince, offered little in the way of attacking intent, and generally seemed distracted by their appearance at Wembley the following week in the Johnstones Paint Trophy. Accrington on the other hand looked happy to settle for a point, with few chances of note in the second half. Having moved around to the more sparsely populated Whinney Hill Terrace (partly to avoid the weather, partly to avoid the glances from away fans around me whilst encouraging Accrington on!), the killer blow came late on in the 83rd minute when Mark Wright scored what proved to be the winner, latching on to a miss hit cross which went through the box to the far post where Wright pounced without mistake. After that, unfortunately there was only going to be one winner, and it was confirmed when referee Eddie Ilderton blew his whistle to confirm the worst possible outcome of the visitors taking all three points.

After leaving, we made our way home, getting back with few problems on the motorway which wasn’t too bad going given it was late on the bank holiday.

Overall, whilst the ground is never going to be the best in the league, the judgement of being the worst that some bestow upon it is a little harsh. According to a club employee, the Whinney Hill terrace will be replaced shortly, and that will certainly help if something of larger proportions is built there, but with a passionate bunch of home fans, and a few good pubs in the locality, then a visit is well recommended.