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Stanley are back after impressive season
By Nathan Jackson July 17 2006
Accrington Stanley returned to the league in style last season but are they equiped for life at this level of football? Conference champions often struggle in their first year of promotion but Accrington are arguably better equiped for the challenge than the previous champions.

Manager : John Coleman

Key Player : David Brown

Tipped by many for : High Midtable

Last Season : What can you say about last season? Not only did Stanley win the conference but like most champions before them, they won by a country mile. To many they came out of no-where although after a good start, they were challenging for the playoffs but their form in October saw them fall away a bit but one of the longest unbeaten runs in non-league history was achieved. After they lost to Stevenage on October, they didn’t lose again until a 2-0 defeat at Southport, winning 15 of the 20 games in-between. Despite that set back, they still won the conference by 11 points, losing just 7 of their 42 games.

This season : It’s always difficult to predict how a newly promoted team will fair in the division above, especially a side that had just had their first decent season in 3 but there’s no reason why Accrington shouldn’t have a goodish season mainly due to their form last season but they’ll be hoping to not follow in the footsteps of Chester and Barnet, the previous 2 conference champions, who both struggled against relegation in their first season back. I doubt they’ll tease the prospect of the playoffs but they should be well clear of the relegation zone.

They’ll do better if: They bring in a few quality additions to the squad that won the conference.

Prediction : 15th. I’m sure a lot of Accrington fans will settle for this position as it will symbolise a stability in this division, allowing them to push on further in a few years time.

 

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