Once upon a time, there were several musicians from Northampton who thought it might be fun to play a night of Beatles' music in a local pub.
They called themselves " The Fleas Scratch Band" for one night only. It was such good fun in September 1979 that they decided to form a proper band and play some more.
So, twenty six years ago on New Year's Eve 1980, Accrington Stanley played their first gig. Just six months into their first year, the original drummer left to tour in Mediterranean countries and ended up living in a kibutz in Israel. A very young lighting engineer with the band had been learning the drums and stepped in. Still with the band today, Nigel looks too young, but the band know better!
After touring the country and supporting many professional bands from the Sixties, Accrington Stanley played in America for five weeks and following one personnel change, made several TV appearances, frequent radio appearances and played "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album ( all of it ) live before anyone else. Then followed the Abbey Road album live and several special shows, tributes to the Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Accrington Stanley also play in the Algarve Portugal each year for approximately one week during August. They still enjoy the playing of Beatles music because of the fantastic songs they are able to play.

A DVD of the 25th Anniversary Concert is now available for sale. Please email for details. mailto:accringtonstanley@zoom.co.uk