On This Day – 6th March
It was on this day in 1962 that Accrington Stanley resigned from the Football League. In doing so, they became the first club to resign mid-way through a season.
A Creditor’s Meeting on 5th March revealed that the club was in debt by £62,000 (just £1 million in today’s money) and the club’s directors concluded that the club had gone bust.
An official letter of resignation was written and Football League secretary Alan Hardaker accepted the resignation on the 6th.
A few days later, a gentleman arrived at the club’s offices with his life savings of £10,000 in a bag. He offered to lend the cash to Stanley interest-free, stating that he didn’t want the club to die.
Sadly for all concerned, it was too little, too late and the wheels were already in motion following their resignation.
Stanley’s last match was three days prior to the resignation as Crewe Alexandra beat them 4-0 on Saturday 3rd March.
I also voted the club’s directors at the time as the ‘Villains’ in my ‘Heroes & Villains’ article published on Tuesday. You can read that article by clicking here.
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