Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Accrington fully deserving of their lofty climb up the tables

The mill town of Rochdale is the first stop. Soon we are heading towards The Pennines and the outer reaches of north-east Lancashire, taking in the market town of Todmorden.

There is no better place to be travelling to film the first Soccer Saturday feature of the new season today.

An hour after departure from Manchester we have arrived at Accrington. Wedged between the traditional football towns of Blackburn and Burnley, ‘Accy’ – as it is known locally – has something to celebrate today. This season will be the club’s first ever season in the third tier of English football.

It is a fine achievement for a club that has been on the brink for much of its existence.

The original Accrington was wound up in 1966, leaving the town without a team. It re-formed in 1968 but had to wait almost four decades for a return to the Football League. In 2006, after taking the club up through the non-league pyramid, manager John Coleman oversaw a joyous return to league status.

That represented a huge success, but it has arguably been surpassed by last season’s League Two title win.

This first ever promotion to League One was achieved on an entire squad playing budget of just £15,000 a week. That is less than it currently costs to employ Neymar for five hours’ work.

“Looking at Neymar at the World Cup, I don’t think I’d have wanted him anyway,” says Coleman with a smile.

“The budget has increased but it’s not going to be great. There will be Conference sides spending more than us.”

This is the time of year when the manager prefers to bury his head in the sand when it comes to transfers.

As the August deadline approaches Coleman is aware that his best players are being coveted. One he is resigned to losing is striker Kayden Jackson, who scored two goals in a friendly against Huddersfield last month.

Any money that comes in is invested elsewhere.

The club has not yet got its own training ground but a site has been identified, so that is where the transfer cash will be heading if Jackson leaves. Coleman has a knack of picking up players for nothing – many of them on loan – and working small wonders with them.

The chairman Andy Holt is wearing a hi-vis jacket and hard hat when we arrive. He is surveying the building work going on, with a new stand being built on the far side of the pitch. It needs to be ready for the visit of Sunderland in autumn.

There’s a David and Goliath league encounter for you.

At least the pitch will be ready for today’s visit of Gillingham.

After years of problems with drainage, a new surface has at last given the players something to play on. Gone are the days of pumping water off the pitch to try and avoid postponements.

“The water over there in that corner used to go over my wellies in the winter,” Holt points out.

“It didn’t just get waterlogged, you needed a boat. The fans were singing ‘Andy row your boat ashore,’ when I went over there with a pump. We’d pump the water out over the back of the stand and it would come seeping back through again.”

The club is making giant strides in readiness for League One, but Accrington are not here just to make up the numbers.

“We are a bunch of winners,” says Billy Kee.

“We know how to see games out. We’ve got a few special ones in the team too.” His 26 goals last season went a long way to securing promotion. There is a huge togetherness at Stanley that seems to permeate every nook and cranny of the place.

Midfielder Sean McConville says it is hard not to get hooked in by the place.

“It’s a family club, it’s a club where everyone knows each other; from the groundsman, the kitman, the girls in the office. Everyone has a close knit bond. The chairman introduced winners’ hour last year where the players integrated with the fans.

"Everyone is in it together here and that’s another something we use in our favour. We’ve got a real good spirit around the club, not just in the dressing room.”

Winners’ Hour is worth a mention. Midway through last season Holt decided that the club bar in the tiny main stand would run a ‘pound a pint’ offer for an hour after full-time if Accrington won.

“He did it for the last 11 games. We won 10 and drew one so it was a fantastic promotion,” Coleman adds.

“The only problem was that Billy Kee and Sean McConville used to edge over there and with ten minutes to go I’m sure they were in the queue for a pint.”

Players and fans congregated in the bar after games during the winning run and it is yet another example of the camaraderie that exists here. The drinks offer will be up and running again this season.

Holt is keen that supporters get value once they have bought a match ticket. Since arriving three years ago he has plugged the financial leaks too.

“On the cash side it’s not as dependant on me as it used to be, we are pretty much self-sufficient now.”

That does not mean there will be much more for Coleman to spend this season, but it is a sign of how far the club has come. The begging bowls and bucket collections are a thing of the past.

Accrington deserve their place in League One and they are going to give it their best shot.

Albion’s nostalgic strip should be a best seller

I can’t let this weekend pass without a word on West Brom’s new third strip.

It is magnificent. Some kits just have an iconic look about them, but it is usually the home colours rather than the away kits that identify a team.

The thick yellow and green stripes instantly say Albion, even though it is their change strip.

It was a nice touch to involve Brendon Batson in the launch too. It is, of course, his playing era in the late 1970s and early 80s where this kit first found such popularity.

Back then it was Umbro who produced the iconic design, but current manufacturers Puma have done a great job with this one. Replacing the club badge on the shirt with the WBA lettering adds to the nostalgia.

It is not lost on supporters that the kit returns in the same year as Batson’s team-mate Cyrille Regis passed away.

The impressive design puts the second choice strip firmly in the shadows. Surely there was no need for two away strips? I can see the yellow and green number being a top seller.

Albion will be an interesting watch this season. So much has changed at the club during the summer. It will be a tough challenge for head coach Darren Moore. He is up against some experienced and successful managers. To that end, it was an inspired decision to bring in Graeme Jones as Moore’s No.2.

Jones has worked for years with Roberto Martinez in club and international football. He is hugely respected within the game, with his attention to detail and preparation of the highest standard.

Never mind any remaining deals done this window, the capture of Jones is the best bit of business of all.