Reds legend can’t believe it!

ACCRINGTON Stanley legend Ian Wilcox admits he never believed he would see the team reach League One.

Wilcox captained Stanley from 1970 to 1979, as the team moved from the Lancashire Combination to the Cheshire League.

Nearly 50 years later, the team now finds themselves in the third tier of English football, and Wilcox has praised owner Andy Holt for helping to pull off the unthinkable.

“It’s an unbelievably different world now but owner Andy Holt deserves all the credit,” he told the club’s official website.

“I am Accrington born and bred and have never lived anywhere else. I played for Accrington schoolboys and captained that side before I moved onto Blackburn Rovers, Great Harwood and Horwich before moving to Accrington.

“I came in 1970 and we were a group of local lads who had some great times, and some tough times, won trophies and came through it all. I was incredibly proud to captain the team.

“I worked at Platts at the time, a textile machinery company, and they were great with me.

.“I am proud to be part of the club’s history.

“Mick Finn and I travelled around the world a few years ago and we took Accrington Stanley badges with us. We gave them out in New Zealand and Australia, all over, and it was a talking point. When you say Accrington, the only other word people say is ‘Stanley’ and it was brilliant. Everyone knows Accrington Stanley.”