Heroes & Villains – Morecambe
Hero – Sammy McIlroy
Sammy McIllroy will always be held in the highest regard by Morecambe fans as it was he who guided to the club to the Football League for the first time in the club’s history.
The former Manchester United star took over as caretaker manager in November 2005 and guided the club to the play offs in his first season. Unfortunately, they lost 4-3 on aggregate to Hereford United, who won were eventually promoted.
McIllroy guided the club to promotion via the play offs the following season, beating Exeter City in the Final in one of the first matches played at the new Wembley Stadium. Incidentally, I was at the game that day with my Dad, Granddad and sister in the Morecambe end of the ground!
The Shrimpers were widely expected to go straight back down to the Conference but ended the season in 11th place, a remarkable achievement for the newly-promoted side. There were also two magnificent away wins in the League Cup, with victories over Preston North End and Wolves, two established Football League clubs.
Morecambe again finished 11th the following season, proving that their first season in the Football League was no fluke. They finished in fourth place in their third season in the Football League, missing out on an automatic promotion by nine points. A 6-0 defeat in the first leg at Dagenham & Redbridge meant the club would miss out on another trip to Wembley.
Morecambe moved to their new Globe Arena stadium at the start of the 2009/10 season after leaving Christie Park. McIllroy left at the end of the following season after a disappointing season ended in 20th place in the league.
Villains – Accrington Stanley
Having had to do a bit of digging around to find out a ‘villain’ for Morecambe, it would appear that there is quite a rivalry between the club and Accrington Stanley.
Both clubs are from Lancashire and were promoted from non-league to the Football League at around the same time (Stanley won the Conference in 2005/06 and Morecambe were promoted via the play offs the following season).
Morecambe fans will hold more of a grudge over Accrington however, as they have only won three times in 23 matches between the two Lancashire rivals.
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