CURRENT Accrington Stanley chairman and major shareholder Eric Whalley has seen the most turbulent spell in the club's history unfold first hand, initially as a player in the late 1950s, later twice as manager, before finally taking sole charge of the club.

"When Accrington went out of business in 1962 most folk thought that was that," he explained.

"But one or two older people still connected with the club restarted it as 'Accrington Stanley 1968' and from small acorns, bigger trees grow.

"Being the only professional club I played for I'd always had a soft spot for them and they hold a special place in my heart.

"Now we are a limited company operating just two rungs outside the football league, drawing crowds of up to 1,000 supporters in a ground that we will soon have 1,200 seats and a capacity of over 4,500.

"We have come a long, long way since those dark days."

It has always been a battle for survival at Stanley since they became founder members of the Football League in 1888.

Surrounded by Burnley on one side and Blackburn Rovers on the other, the club faced a constant fight in its early years.

The industrial turmoil of the 1920s and the pre-war depression of Lancashire's cotton export markets later added to the problems and, as unemployment spiralled, so the club's finances predictably dried up.

By the mid-1950s a succession of public donations and a share issue helped to ease the continuing financial plight and the appointment of manager Walter Galbraith saw a welcome revival in on-field fortunes.

Crowds of 10,000 flooded back to Peel Park and, with gate receipts up by some 50 per cent, plans for a new £30,000 stand were unveiled as long-standing debt problems appeared to be a thing of the past.

But this halcyon time carried a sting in the tale and, following another lull in support in the late 1950s, a call by the Stanley board for Galbraith to tighten the purse strings resulted in the club's most successful manager resigning.

The aftermath saw many of the club's top players sold off to reduce the wage bill and the fortunes of the team suffered drastically as a consequence.

Relegation to the old fourth division followed and the new stand, now almost empty as fans once again deserted the club to follow the fortunes of more illustrious neighbours Burnley and Blackburn, began to prove a real burden.

And then came March 6, 1962 when League football in Accrington died.

They did carry on as an amateur side without the 'Stanley' tag - dropped in order to avoid liability for their debts - until die-hard supporters resurrected the club six years later.

Peel Park, the original gound, had been left to rot and Lancashire County Council finally bought the land.

So Accrington Stanley 1968 started at their present Crown Ground location and two years after fund-raising began, they kicked off a new era in the Lancashire Combination.

Almost since that day the club has been slowly recovering, moving up the leagues and now stand in the UniBond Premier Division - just one division away from the Conference and dreams of the League Football.

Highlights have included FA Cup runs in 1992 and 1993 that ultimately saw Stanley fall to league opponents Crewe Alexandra at Ewood Park and Scunthorpe United at Turf Moor.

More recently, last year's £1.75 million transfer of former Stanley striker Brett Ormerod from Blackpool to Premier side Southampton netted the non-league side over £200,000 as part of a sell-on clause.

But as Whalley points out, the most important move was protecting the famous name of the club itself.

He said: "Accrington Stanley still carries weight across the world, so one of the first things I did after becoming chairman was to patent the club name.

"It has been the subject of a few television adverts down the years and in the end there were so many people using the name that we took legal advice.

"We've had to fire out a few solicitor's letters warning that the club's name cannot be used without permission, although in many ways any publicity is good. The time to worry is when people stop talking about us!"

One of the most famous adverts was for milk who joked about Stanley but more recently Horlicks have used the name on a billboard. They say that by drinking Horlicks an Accrington side could beat a Manchester side 9-0.

While it may be tongue in cheek for them, it is no laughing matter for Whalley who is desperate to oversee the full resurgence of Stanley.

The Chairman has plans to turn the club full-time should they achieve the next step of Conference football, and in the meantime he is planning a commemorative fixture against Blackburn Rovers to mark the 40th anniversary of their last Football League game.

The ultimate goal, however, would be to secure a place back in the league.

"Even at my age you can still dream," added Whalley. "You always want the dream of league football again and I can visualise it happening.

"We already have a ground for the league and the next step is to put in place a team that can achieve that.

"The infrastructure is firmly in place because we now have an annual turnover of around £250,000.

"We certainly won't go back to the bad old days again and to anyone who thought this club was dead and buried, watch this space!"