When players sign, Coleman offers them a race to the halfway line, with £50 at stake. “The new lads will look at the gaffer and think: ‘He must be 50-odd, I fancy myself here,’” McConville says, laughing. “He will put his money down and say: ‘The only stipulation is you have got to drink a cup of water halfway through.’ The new lads will think: ‘Well, yeah, I can drink a cup of water and still beat him.’ Then the assistant comes out with the water that has just been boiled from the kettle. It’s on the marks, get set, go and the new lads get to the water and they just can’t physically do it. He’s then just running past them as they are trying to drink boiling hot water. It’s just a little thing but he makes it a fun environment to come into.”

George Street-Bridge wrote:I've got a lot of time for them, but the "Club That Wouldn't Die" slogan is nonsense.

George Street-Bridge wrote:How on earth do you make the gigantic leap from what I wrote to what you wrote?

They'd be even more admirable if they didn't make a rod for their own back with a slogan which is bollocks.

George Street-Bridge wrote:"Accrington Stanley, the club that died" works better on all levels. "This happened and look where we are now."

"I don't think it's fair on the rest of the 23 teams who have to go to Carlisle when some teams won't have to go there.

"I just don't think it's anywhere near any shape or form fair.

"I've got nothing against Carlisle, I wish them all the best in their ventures and what they do, but it's shifting the rules.

"I've got every sympathy for the people that have lost belongings and homes, I'm not decrying any of that - I'm just saying strictly from a football point of view it's an unfair advantage to play at another ground."

In that interview, my sympathy for the people who have suffered massively from the floods was made abundantly clear