#Amazing Accrington - Winter 2017

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS ACCRINGTON STANLEY

An interview with Andy Holt Chairman of Accrington Stanley

Two years ago Andy Holt became the majority shareholder of Accrington Stanley. When he decided to invest in the club he made it very clear that this was not a money-making enterprise but rather an attempt to keep the club alive.

For many, the transfer window constitutes a chance to take a vicarious peek into football’s multi-billion pound industry at the very elite level of the game - a place where money seems to have no end and business is being conducted between oil oligarchs and even the representatives of nation-states in the case of Paris Saint-Germain. For Andy, the transfer window is about bringing some extra revenue into the club and finding the diamonds in the dirt that nobody else is looking for. Stanley lost fan-favourites ShayMcCartan andMay Pearson in the previous windowbut Andy still believes that the current crop is even beer than the team that came so close to a playoffplace last year. “This is a beer squad than last year in my mind, no doubt about it, but, Accrington needs an income. It can’t make money as it stands nowwith the current fan base, with the current income it doesn’t make money. One of the income streams is from player sales and you need it. We are geing money from player sales, we are geing money from sponsorship, we are geing money from pies, parking, player sponsorship, stand sponsorship, so all the income streams

are up and running now. Under the rules, 55%of the profit can go to the first team so as that grows it will bring the first team up.” Recently Sir Alex Ferguson chaired a meeting of UEFA’s elite coaches and one of the items on the agenda was the possibility of closing the transfer window before the season kicks off, a policy which has been subsequently ratified by the Premier League. Andy believes this may be all well and good for those at the top but it doesn’t do much for clubs in Stanley’s financial position. “We’ve got Callum (Johnson), Farrend (Rawson) andMax (Stryjek) who all came in on loan on deadline day. We’d prefer to have less loans andmore signings but it’s not easy for us because we don’t buy players. That’s the reason I want it to stay open until the end of August, it doesn’t affect Manchester United. When they’ve p****d about in the transfer market before end of June, all the rich ones p**s about, all trying to hold out to get as much as they can and at the other end is Accrington Stanley scratching about for what’s le, and what they’re saying is they want to close that bit. Why would I ever hope for that? Before they invent rules, they should look at the impact on themajority of football that isn’t the Premier League”

Andy sees himself as very much the custodian. A person who is just one in a long line of people who have had the privilege of being in the driving seat of the famous old club since it was originally founded in 1891. As he puts it: “When I’m not here the club will go on. It’s just my job to leave it in a beer state than I found it.” Aer some tough years, there is a real buzz around theWham Stadium at the moment - an air of positivity emanating from the stands and embraced by the players, coaching staff and, of course, the owner. For the latest edition of #AmazingAccrington I sat down with Andy in his stunning office at hisWhat More UK premises to discuss Stanley, the wider footballing world and overfeeding your dog.

“Accrington is a great club, people don’t know it, the council doesn’t know it, the town doesn’t know it, and the football world doesn’t know it. If you look at my Twier title it says ‘Best Club in the 92’ and I’m telling you it is. You get the best experience there. Much beer than Burnley or Blackburn. Miles beer. You’ve got atmosphere, you’re next to the pitch, home and away fans can go in the bar and mix, there’s no police. I went in the toilets yesterday at the ground, they’ve been up now a year and three months and they’re spotless. I’m saying nobody has burned cigarees on the door or ripped handles off. They know it’s theirs, it belongs to the fans and they keep it right. You don’t get that at other clubs.” THE INS AND OUTS Andy has recently completed his business in what has become one of football’s necessary evils, the dreaded transfer window.

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