‘Fans can help us to next level’
ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman has made it clear that the club needs more and more fans attending games if they are to reach the next level.
The Reds had an improved crowd of 3,346 in attendance for the match at home to Bradford City on Saturday, with the lack of Premier League and Championship games helping to attract supporters.
Coleman hopes that Stanley can continue to get more fans through the gates, and has stressed just how vital a bigger crowd can be in terms of helping the team.
“We want to build our own fan base. We want to get a steady growth and the amount of youngsters at the game last Tuesday night was very encouraging,” he told the club’s official website.
“If we’re going to get the Wham Stadium full, then it’s going to have to be by people taking the initiative to choose Accrington as their club.
“This is a club that’s growing, and you can have a really, really good time coming here. The matchday experience is good and you can bring your family down and it’s not going to cost you the earth. You’re treated to some wonderful football and I have to say some wonderful entertainment in the bar as well!”
“Financially it’s obviously good for us to be able to attract other fans to come and witness what we do. With the best will in the world, people my age were without a club in Accrington.
“When they were going through their formative years there was no club. I was born in the year that Accrington went out of the league, so there was no club and then a very low non-league club when you get to the time of it’s rebirth in 1968.
“We’ve probably skipped two generations of fans and we’re now fighting to build it ourselves, get people from the town and the sur- rounding areas to realise that this is a club going forward.
“I think targeting the youngsters in local schools is a fantastic idea, and the chairman is doing that again this year, so it’s all positive.”