Accrington Stanley took their share campaign to London this week – and have already enticed 30 extra people to buy a stake in the club.
The Reds had sold 330 shares – £33,000 to the club – prior to the weekend but chairman Ilyas Khan, director Peter Marsden and chief executive Rob Heys along with models Tori Smith and Rhianne Starbuck, wearing Stanley strips, promoted the sale of shares in Stanley for £100 a go in the capital.
"We have had a really good response around East Lancashire and Accrington but we thought why not go straight to the heart of where shares are bought and sold?" said Rob Heys.
"We had an amazing response down there with everyone having a story to tell once we mentioned we were part of Accrington Stanley.
"One man said his relative used to play for us, another said he had been to watch Chelsea and Tottenham in Accrington and everyone seemed to have something to say about the club.
"Everyone is busy going about their own lives in London but once we mentioned our football club we had a really good response.
"We had sold an extra 30 shares one day after the promotion so hopefully there will be more to come."
The shares became available in October with the club releasing 9,999 over the next two years, which will give those buying them voting rights at the club’s AGM. So far, they have been sold as far afield as Japan with Accrington-born Sky cricketing supremo David Lloyd also buying a number of them.
Meanwhile the Reds chief executive was on Sky Sports this week talking about a return of plastic pitches – something he has been supporting.
Plastic pitches were banned in the 1980s as they were suspected of causing injuries but the idea of having an improved artificial pitch has resurfaced in the last month with Stanley one of the club’s backing its return.
"It’s just something we are investigating," said Heys, with the Reds having problems with the pitch last season although it has been perfect in this campaign. "The artificial pitches are a lot more developed than they were in the 1980s.
"Having one could be a massive source of income to us as it seems crazy that the biggest part of the stadium, the pitch, we only use 20-30 times a season and the rest of the time we have to keep people off it.
"It would cost around half a million pounds to lay one but you should be able to hire it out and use it everyday and get that money back and make more from it – it could be a big asset to a club like ours."
