ON THE pitch Accrington Stanley are flying. Four games unbeaten, in the League Two play-off places and into the FA Cup second round.

Off the pitch it’s a different story, admits new majority shareholder Andy Holt.

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While Holt — who has ploughed £1.2million into the club — is full of admiration for Stanley employees who continue to give their all for the club they are all passionate about, he is keen to see the balance sheet punch above its weight, just as the playing staff are doing.

Getting more fans into the Wham Stadium is top priority. On the opening day of the season 2,359 people watched the Reds draw 1-1 with Luton, but over 1,000 were visiting supporters from Bedfordshire.

Since then the average attendance across seven League Two games is 1,379.

“John has his area to manage on the pitch and the guys off the pitch have their areas to manage,” explains Holt.

“I have to say off the pitch we’re not performing anywhere near as well as John is right now.

“But we’re going to. We’re taking action. We’re reviewing ticket prices, we’re talking to the council about getting planning permission to improve the facilities.

“It will take time but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes.”

Holt’s investment will see debts wiped out at Stanley, and that is something that he believes was absolutely crucial to allow the club to move forward.

And now he will bring some “tough love” off the pitch as he tries to drag the Reds forward.

“My attitude was that we needed to clear the debt, because you’ve got no hope when you’re mired in debt,” he said. “Any business that is mired in debt nearly always fails.

“I think everything about the club is great, but their lacking leadership from the business side.

“I can help off the field, it’s going to hurt, it’s going to take a lot of changes, it’s going to be tough for the staff and for everybody there while we try to tackle really deep-seated problems that the club has had.

“I can bring a bit of tough love as well. I can’t emphasise enough that if I didn’t like the people at the club and the fans I wouldn’t have got involved any more than being a sponsor.

“I met them and I thought this can’t fail.”

Few Football League clubs are currently operating debt free, which should put Stanley at an advantage in the future.

But Holt admits increasing revenue is the only way to ensure the club remains stable, and he admits losses from the previous 12 months are coming — and they must be tackled.

“It’s a three-stage process,” he said from the offices of What More UK in Altham.

“The first is to clear the debt, the second is to measure what the losses are, because there are losses, and they will be substantial, and then we need to get to grips with that so that it can stand on its own two feet.

“We do that by improving the facilities and making it a better experience. We need more fans through the gate, we need businesses to support us.

“We need to make Accrington Stanley something to be proud of, not just on the field.”

Ticket prices have already been cut from January 1 and plans to improve aspects of the Wham Stadium, to make it a better spectator experience, are being considered.

Having invested seven figures into the club Holt, raised on the Stoops estate in Burnley and a proud, working-class Lancastrian, is adamant he won’t keep bankrolling Stanley, and that they must become self-sufficient.

“I won’t throw money at it every year,” he said. “We need to get it so it breaks even without football fortune, which is an anomaly in life.

“That’s if you have a big cup run or get drawn against Manchester United, you might pay your debts off, but you can’t live in the hope of that and a lot of lower league clubs if they don’t get that run or they don’t sell players they go bust.

“I want to set the level so that those things will be a bonus and we can spend them on facilities.”

While facilities are due an upgrade Holt will not be rushing into anything.

Stanley is a club where senior management are expected to get stuck in. Last week the new majority shareholder was using a leaf blower to clear the stands, while returning chief executive Rob Heys was putting advertising boards up this week.

“I don’t want to go out there and do bits, I want a plan so things will take a bit longer. I’m not going to just go around with a hammer and start knocking things down,” said Holt.

“We’ve got meetings with the local council and planners on how we want to tidy things up and just make it a better experience.

“I think the experience needs to be good value for money and we need to provide good entertainment. If we do that people will start to come back.”

And Holt is in no doubt the potential fanbase is there.

The Wham Stadium may only have a capacity of 5,000 now, but they have had big crowds in the past and Holt is convinced they will have big crowds in the future as well.

“In John Coleman they’ve got a great manager. On the field we’re in the best league position since the 50s,” he said.

“Between 1954 and 1958 the club were second and third and gates were averaging 9,000 to 10,000.

“Even ten years ago when the club won the Conference we were getting 2,000 to 3,000, and sometimes higher.

“The fanbase was there, and the fanbase is there, we just need to reconnect with the locals.

“John’s philosophy about bringing a team together and bringing youngsters through is great, he’s the best man for the job and we’re seeing results on the field. Off the field we need to catch up.”