Source: TheGuardian
FA Cup photo essay – road to Wembley, third round: Accrington Stanley v Luton
Guardian photographer Christopher Thomond is documenting one game from each round of the 2016-17 FA Cup, and in the third round he travelled to the Wham Stadium where Accrington Stanley were hosting fellow League Two side Luton TownClick here to check out Chris’ look at the second round clash between Woking and Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley’s place in the third round came courtesy of a comprehensive 3-0 win at Woking with Billy Kee notching twice in the first half and John O’Sullivan rounding things off just after the hour mark. Next up for Stanley were Luton Town and 1,717 fans turned up at the Wham Stadium to see the two League Two sides battle it out for a place in the fourth roundI’m from the supporters’ club, selling badges at each match. It’s one of the best things the club’s ever done. There’s a new one for every home game, £3 if you want one. We’re doing a fundraising for “Up in Lights” to get a scoreboard up at this end. We’re up to £10,000 but they cost £40,000 so we’ve still got a bit to go.” Accrington supporters’ club member Malcolm IsherwoodWe live in Scarborough but my husband’s from Luton so we follow it. My eldest son’s been following it since he was seven. We go to as many away matches in the north as we can. Sometimes we get down to Luton but it’s a bit of a trog down there. “The hat? We’re the Hatters and we all used to wear the straw hats. I actually bought this one in 2009 when we went to Wembley and won ... the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. I just wear it now for good luck but it doesn’t always work.” Yorkshire-based Luton supporter Ann Gunton wearing a Hatters’ straw hatWe’ve got to use this as a springboard now. Our first target is to get into the top half of the table, and we’ve got the players to do that ... I was delighted for Omar to get his first goal for us, and then we managed to see it out without too much harem-scarem. To be honest, if anyone was going to score in the last 10 minutes, it was going to be us. On the balance of play, I think we deserved to win the game.” Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman Continue reading......read full article
