John Coleman Returns to Accrington Stanley

Following the departure of James Beattie, by mutual consent, on 12th September, Accrington Stanley have announced the return of John Coleman, 51, and assistant Jimmy Bell.

The pair were in charge between 1999 and 2012 leading the club back to the Football League.

John Coleman said on penning his contract:-

We hope this is going to be an exciting time for the players, staff and supporters. It’s certainly an exciting time for me and Jimmy. We’ve never really stopped supporting the club since we left, we’ve seen a lot of games and we can’t wait to work with this group of players.

It’s no secret that I’ve wanted to manage in the Football League again and when a job comes up at a club as close to your heart as Accrington then that ticks two boxes.

Chairman of Accrington Stanley, Peter Marsden, spoke of the new appointments

I would like to welcome back the on the pitch architects of the modern day Accrington Stanley, John Coleman and Jimmy Bell, who helped turn Eric’s dream in to a reality. John and Jimmy’s passion and enthusiasm and knowledge of the game are legendary.

I feel ‘passion’ is something we have missed on and off the pitch for quite a while. Arguably in our quest to become more ‘professional’ (perhaps out of a misplaced sense of inferiority because of our non-league roots) we have lost that indefinable essence to what Stanley is all about.

We have to get the feel good factor back and we need to get our gates back up to a respectable 2,000. It will take time but Coley and Jimmy can do it.

Exeter City visit the Crown Ground on Friday 28th November.