ACCRINGTON Stanley's historic promotion to the Football League has been hailed by a group of enthusiastic supporters hundreds of miles away in Cornwall.

Mike Riley, 45, said his pub, the Victoria Inn, in Pensilva, near Liskeard, had adopted Stanley since he took over last summer, and every week the Stanley score is the first result they look for.

Victoria regulars even arranged a trip to Accrington's top-of-the-table clash at Exeter City in January, a match Stanley won 3-1.

Mr Riley, who grew up in Blackburn, began following Stanley when he worked at the Greyhound motor garage, near the club's Interlink Express Stadium, in the 1990s.

He moved to Cornwall with his wife Jane, 45, in June last year for a change of career.

He said the club's triumph had been cheered by his whole pub.

He said: "I used to go to around a dozen Accrington Stanley matches every season, and when we moved down to Cornwall my enthusiasm for the team rubbed off on the customers.

"The excitement here as the championship got closer was at fever pitch and we were all delighted with the promotion."

In the run-in to the end of the season, Mr Riley decked out the pub in posters and banners including the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's "We're Backing Stanley" campaign posters.

He added: "The village isn't really much of a football area.

"Plymouth is the nearest team and they are a long way off.

"Stanley are everybody's favourite team here."

And Mr Riley said he was now rooting for Torquay to stay up so there was a local side for them to watch Stanley play next season in League Two.