“Three Points Again Olé Olé.”

21 February 2026: Accrington Stanley 0, Shrewsbury Town 2.

Accrington: Wright; Sass; Rawson; Smith [Y] (Abimbola 78’); Heath [Y]; Henderson (Popoola 85’); Conneely [Y]; O’Brien; Whalley; Brown; Madden.

Unused substitutes: Hall; Kelly; Martin.

Shrewsbury: Cox; Benning; Boyle; Hoole; Berkoe; Ruffels; McDermott (Freeman 85’); Sang; Perry; Morgan (Ogunsuyi 68’); Lloyd.

Unused substitutes: Anderson; Brook; Clucas; Ojinnaka; Stubbs.

Scorers: Morgan (1’); Hoole (48’).

Match officials: Referee – Mr R Joyce; Assistants – Mr W Grunnill & Mr M Archibald; Fourth – Mr M Ryder.

Attendance: 2,342.

This is now getting beyond a joke – even for a happy clapping optimist like me. A mere fourteen days ago I was pumping out opinions like: “Being honest I cannot think of a current player whose contract expires at the end of the season that we should look to retain.” Now I am thinking that the club needs to be moving to get the best of these players under contract now, before they are poached. As a football fan I reserve the right to be fickle, but there is fickleness and there is vacillating so much that your thoughts are not worth the keys your fingers are tapping. Major Cowan is in the process of demonstrating that it is indeed possible to make a silk purse out of a pig’s ear and for his latest miracle that the road to Accrington has potholes filled with gold.

Accrington Stanley style themselves as the ‘Club that would not die’: for the rest of League Two they are the club that stubbornly refuses to go away. Every season it is predicted that the Lancashire club will be sucked into the quick sands of the National League. Every season Stanley cock a snook at the orthodoxy that decrees that a minuscule average attendance and a lack of income streams simply cannot sustain EFL status. They are a living and breathing mockery of notions that football success only comes from possessing a mega budget – which is embarrassing not only for managers with millions to play with (at a club in, say, Kent), but for also for those head coaches who shrug their shoulders and exclaim, well what do you expect with a budget as small as mine.

The Crown Ground (which masquerades as the Wham Stadium for commercial reasons) is small – capacity 5,057 – but perfectly proportioned. In terms of numbers Stanley might not be the best supported club, but their supporters provides a presence in the stadium that completely belies this. The home terrace behind the goal was packed with flag waving fans – one banner being a homage to one Shaun Whalley very reminiscent of something that glorified the heroism of the late Marshall Jospeh Stalin. Prior to kick-off two large swaths of red fabric appeared either side of the goal spelling out the letters A S F C in white. Closer inspection reveal that the red background had a brickwork pattern, indicating that Stanley’s defence was like a red wall made of the hard-density NORI bricks that were manufactured locally.

On my previous visits the away supporters have always been accommodated on the Coppice Terrace behind the opposite goal, but on this occasion Salop supporters had only been allotted seats in the Eric Whalley Stand – a new prefabricated construction. One look at the weather forecast banished any regrets about these arrangements, feelings reinforced when the clouds opened the precise moment I passed through the turnstile block. The reenergised Salop fan base had travelled in numbers, including ‘A Large Grouse’ subscribers only too anxious to introduce themselves. (All right, one subscriber – Keith Burge, who was taking time out from training for his 1,000km challenge in support of James’ Place Charity.)

Town supporters were under instruction to sit in the seat allocated to their ticket, and this was being rigorously enforced by a senior steward who possessed an assertiveness and level of authority normally associated with a PE teacher in the mould of Grange Hill’s Geoff ‘Bullet’ Baxter. Woe betide any pupil – sorry, visiting fan – that decided to stand in the stairways or squeeze into a row that was already full. They were immediately called out by the steward’s thunderous voice and told in no uncertain terms to move along the stand and find a vacant seat. This approach was highly effective; there was no dissent from any individual fan, possibly because they feared that disobedience would be punished with having to run ten circuits of the stadium.

Come kick off time the rain was lashing down from black clouds low enough to be touching the top of the floodlight masts. If the secret of Stanley’s formidable home record is capitalising on unhospitable surroundings, then this was a day on which they might be expecting to maximum returns. Yet in little more time than it took to pull up the hood on a waterproof jacket, Salop had taken the lead. In a move right in front of the away supporters Mal Benning – in for the injured Ismeal Kabia – fed the ball to Iwan Morgan who snaked past three Accrington players to the edge of the box and fired a low shot that bisected the gap between the goal post and a diving Ollie Wright. Such was the intensity of the celebrations around me the metal floor of the Eric Whalley stand quivered beneath my feet.

The home players were stunned by the earliest possible setback, and it took them a little time to compose themselves. However, ten minutes into the match and their composure appeared to have been restored. They were not dominated possession, but each time they entered the visitors’ final third they did so with an air of menace. Shaun Whalley sent in a long free kick that Matt Cox did well to deflect for a corner. Cox was immediately in action again, this time fending off a header from Alex Henderson. Another corner and Accrington squandered another chance to hit the target when Freddie Sass’ free header went over the bar.

For Salop it was very much the Morgan show: from an interchange with Benning the striker fired in another low shot that Wright this time saved. Later having lost possession, Morgan tracked back half the length of the pitch and executed a perfect tackle to stymie the home side’s attack. For the remainder of the first half Accrington created most scoring opportunities, but Salop, buoyed by their one goal lead, were defending well and working sufficiently hard to suggest that an equaliser was by no means inevitable.

Half time arrived and gave Salop fans a chance to identify what switch Gavin Cowan had flicked to so transform this group of players: making players feel that they were wanted; playing them in the right position; communicating what was expected of them; having a game plan where players knew precisely what was required of them. The answer is clear in front of us – all four! Behind the Eric Whalley Stand a group of Town fans chanted “the mighty Shrewsbury always win away.” To be honest I do not think even the dissembler in chief, Donald J Trump, would get away with that assertion.

Salop made a positive start to the second period with both Taylor Perry and Josh Ruffels having attempts at goal in the opening minute. Benning was then fouled yards into the Accrington half; the took the resulting free kick himself and delivered a long ball that eluded all the home defenders before bouncing nicely for Lucca Hoole who nodded it into the net.

Only forty-eight minutes of the match had been played but Salop’s supporters were confident enough to start celebrating victory. As the clock clicked down chants of “three points again olé olé,” and “four on the bounce” rang out with increasing frequency. Players who at the start of the month had only experienced mass disparagement, were now being lauded by the same fans with songs extolling their brilliance. It was hard even for the most pessimistic Town supporter not to float along with the sheer exuberance of it all. It must be conceded that for once the ball has bounced nicely for Town in this run of victories, meeting opponents at moments of their vulnerability – Accrington were so ravaged by suspension and injury that they were only able to name five substitutes. Nevertheless, how often over the last few seasons has Town been able to seize the advantage in these circumstances. Something has changed: currently under Gavin Cowan’s leadership Salop is a born-again football club.