Accrington Stanley to host first-ever iftar event at Wham Stadium
Accrington Stanley will host its first-ever iftar event at the Wham Stadium this coming Ramadan.
The club received a community cohesion and resilience funding grant from Hyndburn Borough Council to host the event.
This will allow Stanley to continue delivering initiatives which can positively impact the community.
Members of the public of any religion are invited to break their Ramadan fast together at the Wham Stadium, sharing food and enjoying the experience.
The call to prayer will be delivered pitch-side, and prayers will take place indoors in a special prayer room.
The iftar event will follow another initiative by Accrington Stanley, which has also received funding from Hyndburn Borough Council.
The club will connect with Year 8 students in every secondary school in Hyndburn, many of whom received football shirts through Stanley's big shirt giveaway when they were at primary school.
The aim is to share the 'power and experience' of football to prevent and counter harmful narratives.
The project will come in the form of workshops delivered by the club over a six-week period, where sensitive topics will be discussed with the aim of raising awareness of extremist narratives, as well as promoting healthy narratives.
Once the workshops have been completed, the students will be invited to Stanley's home match against MK Dons on Tuesday, March 4, with those attending also invited to break their fast at the Wham Stadium ahead of the game.
Warren Eastham, chief executive at Accrington Stanley, said: "These are fantastic initiatives that we are proud to be running as a football club.
"Our aim is to bring people from different ethnic, faith and social backgrounds together through a shared pride in their team and local area."
Accrington Stanley Football Club represents communities from a variety of diverse backgrounds and has achieved a bronze level in the EFL's Equality Code of Practice, due to their ongoing work and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
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5 days ago
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New York Islanders vs. Edmonton Oilers, 1982-83 and 1983-84 ▪ 1982-83: The Islanders defined 'Now.' Three consecutive Stanley Cups earned by Boss and Trots, sniper Mike Bossy and the game's best two-way center, Brian Trottier; defenseman Denis Potvin's precise breakout passes and bone-snapping hits; John Tonelli, Clark Gillies, Duane and Brent Sutter grunt work; combative Billy Smith stopping everything he needed. The Isles cruised into the playoffs before surging through Washington, the Rangers and Boston. Edmonton embodied 'The Future.' A brash team was led by a bunch of 22 and 23-year-olds: record-shattering Wayne Gretzky; Gretzky's Robin, Jari Kurri; fast, powerful Mark Messier; mercurial right wing Glenn Anderson; swift defenseman Paul Coffey; dazzlingly quick goalie Grant Fuhr and co-No. 1 Andy Moog. Notice the speed theme. They averaged 5.3 goals per game in the regular season, 6.2 in winning 11 of their first 12 playoff games. The NHL's No. 1 defensive team squatted on the NHL's No. 1 offensive team, packing the area in front of their net with three or four players to interrupt the Oilers deft passing, especially from No. 99 (no goals, four assists). Smith set the tone 11 minutes into Game 1, slashing Anderson as the winger circled the net, then later in the series doing the same to Gretzky. The Islanders won in a sweep, 2-0, 6-3, 5-1 and 4-2. Still, Sports Illustrated's EM Swift wrote after the first three games you could see a change was going to come because 'In the first three games they played virtually flawless hockey and still weren't easy winners. The Oilers aren't yet ready to take their place, but Edmonton's talent is only too apparent.' To get to the bus after Game 4, Gretzky and teammate Kevin Lowe had to walk past the Islanders' locker room. Expecting celebration, they saw a banged-up Islanders team tending to wounds while they nursed only the psychological pain of losing. Lowe said, 'That's how you win championships.' ▪ 1983-84: The Islanders refused to age, actually improving to 50 wins and 104 points. After needing Ken Morrow's overtime goal in the series-deciding game to get by the arch-rival Rangers, the Isles got rid of perennial victim Washington and Montreal to stretch their playoff series winning streak to 19. Another year allowed young Edmonton's strengths to mature. The Oilers averaged a still-record 5.6 goals per game as they zoomed to the NHL's best record, 57-18-5. Gretzky put up the second of his four 200-point seasons and his best season in points per game. Like the Isles, only their arch-rival, Calgary, took Edmonton to a series-deciding game in the playoffs. Edmonton won Game 1 of the Final, Islanders-style, 1-0. New York won Game 2 Edmonton-style, 6-1 and had a 2-1 lead in the second period of Game 3 when Messier wheeled away with the puck near the red line. Messier charged toward Gord Dineen and Denis Potvin, lost Dineen with a shake-and-bake move, then fired a low wrister between Smith's stick side and the left post. Both sides pointed to Messier's goal as the turning point in the series. The Future was Now. Edmonton scored the last five goals of that game, then won 7-2 and 5-2 to take the first of five Cups in seven seasons. Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 2007-08 and 2008-09 ▪ 2007-08: Detroit post-2004-05 NHL lockout looked a whole lot like Detroit, pre-lockout: ridiculously skilled and crisp at both ends of the ice, third in offense, first in defense. Epitomizing this were their top two scorers, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, also finishing first and third in the Selke Award (Best Defensive Forward) voting. Their third and fourth scorers were defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (another Norris Trophy) and Brian Rafalski. Goalie Chris Osgood's 2.09 goals against average led the league, as did the Wings' record, and Osgood split games with Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek, on the short list of best goalies ever. Pittsburgh also came out of the lockout as it went in: rebuilding through the draft. They took goalie Marc Andre-Fleury (No. 1 overall, 2003); center Evgeni Malkin (No. 2 overall, 2004); center Sidney Crosby (No. 1 overall, 2005); center Jordan Staal (No. 2 overall, 2006). They mixed in veteran imports Petr Sykora, defenseman Sergei Gonchar, once-and-again Penguin Mark Recchi and high-class rental Marian Hossa. These Penguins got the franchise's first series wins since 2001, zipping past Ottawa, Rangers and Flyers with the loss of only two games. In the Stanley Cup Final, however, the Pens found Detroit too experienced and too complete. The Red Wings won the first two games at home, 4-0 and 3-0, then traded one-goal results in Pittsburgh. Down 3-1 in the series, Sykora struck in triple overtime of Game 5 to keep the Pens alive, but the Wings took a not-that-close 3-2 Game 6 for their fourth Cup in 11 seasons. ▪ 2008-09: Detroit put up another season over 110 points. Datsyuk won the Selke and Lady Byng (gentlemanly play) trophies again while leading the Wings in scoring. Overall, Detroit remained the same, just one year older. Osgood split time with Ty Conklin instead of Hasek and his save percentage dipped under .900. Anaheim, Cup winners two years before, took the Wings to seven games in the second round, but otherwise the Wings looked like champs again. In Pittsburgh, a healthy Crosby for a full season and Malkin winning the NHL scoring title didn't prevent slight dips in regular-season record, power play and several other team metrics. Coach Michel Therrien got fired with 25 games left and, under Dan Bylsma, the Pens won 18 of their last 25 games. The Pens seven-game, second-round drama turned out to be an exhilarating Battle of the NHL Stars epic triumph over Washington and Alexander Ovechkin. The Cup Final opened as it did the previous year, the Wings winning similar games, both 3-1. But, the Pens matched them with a pair of 4-2 wins in Pittsburgh. In a last fart of immaturity, the Pens took undisciplined penalties and gave up three second-period power play goals in a 5-0 Game 5 loss. But, in the last Stanley Cup Final games at Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena (The Igloo) and Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, the Penguins pulled the Cup from Detroit with a pair of gritty 2-1 wins. After defenseman Rob Scuderi saved the Game 6 win by stopping Johan Franzen with Fleury out of position, Fleury saved Game 7 in the last seconds by diving across the goal mouth to stone Lidstrom on a rebound. That let Maxime Talbot's two goals stand up for the win. Detroit hasn't gotten past the second round since. Pittsburgh won Stanley Cups in 2015-16 and 2016-17 with different rosters still anchored by Crosby, Malkin, Fleury and defenseman Kris Letang.
