CAPTAIN Seamus Conneely is hoping to reach out to the next generation of Accrington Stanley fans after the club completed another shirt giveaway this morning.

A fleet of free buses from Pilkington Bus, Moving People and Cranberry Coachways ferried over 1,200 Year Three excited pupils from primary schools in Hyndburn to the Wham Stadium this morning.

And the Reds’ first team players greeted them on arrival to hand over the shirts, before each school was invited to have their photograph taken with the League Two trophy.

The initiative was first launched last season by Stanley chairman Andy Holt, who has since vowed to honour the offer for five years.

And Conneely feels the club is already seeing the fruits of last season’s giveaway, with an increase in the number of youngsters attending Stanley’s home games, and the Reds welcoming a record home crowd for Saturday’s visit of Barnsley.

“I think it was a really successful day last year and the club were happy to do it again,” said the Reds skipper.

“It’s great seeing the kids so happy. Hopefully they go home and tell their mums and dads, and big brothers and sisters that they’d like to come and watch a game. I think everyone benefits from it.

“I think you see more kids at the games on a Saturday and even sometimes on a Tuesday night now.

“It’s just reaching out to them and letting them know that we’re here, because a lot of them come and tell you they support Burnley or Blackburn, or even Liverpool or Manchester United, so they might not understand that there’s a team a little bit closer to them that’s going well at the moment.

“If we can let them know that hopefully they’ll come down and enjoy it and come again.”

Andy Mangan is in his third spell with the club, having first arrived in 2005, and the forward says he has noticed a big difference in that time thanks to Stanley’s work in the community.

“These things take time. Obviously in the 10 years since I was last here there are a lot more fans, and there are new fans. And again with doing things like this for the kids hopefully that will bring another generation to the club,” he said.

“It’s difficult when you’ve got big clubs in and around you but the family feel at this club and the personal touch that we give should hopefully create more fans and people who will want to come and have that family feel.

“It’s always difficult but that’s why you’ve got to work twice as hard.”

All of the first team players were there to dish out the shirts, and Mangan, who won the Conference with Stanley in his first spell, added: “It’s been brilliant, coming here and all the kids, hopefully it will inspire them to come back.

“Obviously it’s down to the parents as well to come and bring the kids but us as players and staff, we just need to make them feel really welcome so hopefully they come back.

“A winning team will do that obviously, and the brand of football that we play as well. We play an unbelievable brand of football and if they want to come out and enjoy a Saturday and watch us win, which is what we do normally, then definitely get down to the ground.”

Chairman Holt, who has been encouraged by the number of younger supporters attending home games, said: "In February this year Accrington Stanley Football Club gave away free shirts to every Year Three pupil in Hyndburn.

“As chairman of the club, I made the decision to do this to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the current reformed club (1968-2018), though our history dates right back to 1888!

“The original day was a huge success and I committed to the shirt giveaway for the next five years. With the help of Scott Dawson Advertising through their #AmazingAccrington initiative, and the support of the Accrington Stanley Community Trust, we have again invited schools to bring along all their Year Three pupils to the Wham Stadium for a free shirt.”