IT is not just soccer fans, but everyone with pride in East Lancashire who will welcome the triumph of Accrington Stanley as champions of the Unibond League.

For this means much more than promotion to the Conference -- the waiting room for teams dreaming of the big time.

For this is the resurrection of the famous club from the sad ignominy of 41 years ago, when Accrington Stanley became the first club to quit the Football League in the middle of the season.

Now, the club is looking to make a glorious comeback to the League that it was forced to forsake in 1962 through crippling debt and a failed rescue plan -- still a bitter topic in Accrington.

Make no mistake, the club truly believes the dream -- just one more promotion away -- can become reality. Already, they are planning to increase their ground's capacity to meet League requirements.

And, as their dazzling displays this season have showed, their confidence is far from misplaced.

Everyone at Stanley -- players, management and supporters -- deserves credit for this achievement.

And what a wonderful achievement it is -- beginning with the long haul from the rebirth of the club in 1968 and climb from the basement of the old Lancashire Combination to the very brink of League football once more.

Look out -- Accrington Stanley are back!