ACCRINGTON Stanley's clash with Hereford tonight (Fri) marks another landmark in the Reds' turbulent history - as it is exactly 37-years ago today that the club was re-formed.

Accrington Stanley, as it was, had famously been forced to resign from the Football League in March 1962 due to its debts and a meeting was called on October 7, 1968 in the public library to talk about re-forming the club.

Other meetings had come and gone and this was last chance saloon for a football club for the town.

"There were only 25 people there out of the whole of Accrington," said Accrington fan Jack Barrett, now 80, who had been a Stanley fan since he was 12-years-old.

"The mayor, James Madden, was there and he said he was opening the meeting about the possibility of re-forming a club in the town but we would need to find a name, a ground, finances and more," continued Jack, who still has the minutes from that important meeting.

"Not a word was spoken. The mayor carried on and again no one said anything. There was silence.

"This went on for a while and he was just about to close the meeting when I knew I had to stand up.

"I remember it clearly. I got to my feet, gave a speech, said it was time for action and we never looked back.

"I remember saying that all clubs started out with nothing, that we would have to raise funds with different events, that we needed to elect a committee and that we needed to meet with the council to find a ground. As far as I was concerned, there was nothing to stop us.

"Then things suddenly started coming to life - everyone had their say. Everything was approved, the committee was formed and the rest is history."

The committee finally found the Crown Ground and got to work on that with their bare hands, they received financial help through sponsorship and local businesses and Accrington Stanley 1968 was born. They kicked their first ball in the Lancashire Combination League in 1970.

"That meeting is still fresh in my mind," said Jack who was the club's secretary until 1979 and it still a regular on both home and away trips.

"It doesn't seem like 37 years ago but, as we play tonight, hopefully the fans will come and support us and we can get a win to commemorate the event."