John Prescott RIP

[Tin Monkey]

On the official site today, and of course we had a minute's silence for John yesterday. I wasn't aware that he had passed on until yesterday.

I've known John for a long time and have the utmost respect for the work he did for the club over the years.

My condolences to Carl, Kate and the rest of John's family.

[garinda]

My condolences to John's family.

He'll be sadly missed, both in Oswaldtwistle, and for what he did up at Accrington Stanley.

[Haggis316]

His contribution to the re-establishment of Accrington Stanley will never be forgotten thanks to Phil Whalley's excellent book.

[big al]

Condolences to Kate & family. I dealt with John in business & had many a good laugh discussing the fortunes of the Stanley. A good, friendly gentleman who will be sadly missed, not least by his family.

[Phil Whalley]

It was listening to 2BR’s commentary on the Stanley v. Burnley game that I heard of John’s death, the tannoy announcement came through in the background. This came as a terrible shock, for though I hadn’t spoken to John for a while, we had met and talked about his time on the club’s management committee in the summer of 2006. Not only had John seemed to be in good health, but he was terrific company too, with a keen memory of specific events in the past and with the ability to relate his stories with a keen, wry sense of humour. It was mainly through John’s memory that I was able to grasp a flavour of what the club was like in the early days, especially that tension between those who were happy to let things tick along gently and those who argued that the club had to speculate to accumulate. John recalled many of the key figures with a smile – he remembered how, for example, Dick Briggs built a little shelter for himself at the side of the pavilion, his own little executive box, which the committee insisted that he dismantle, much to Dick’s chagrin.
<O</O
But John held the old boys who had got the club up and running again in great esteem, although he was firmly of the view that the club had to move on from the Lancashire Combination. As chairman, he was able to take a majority of the committee with him in this ambition, and so it was John Prescott who led Stanley onto the bottom rung of the football pyramid. John was the first chairman also to significantly invest in the Crown Ground, and these improvements secured the club’s promotion (at the second attempt) to the top tier of the Cheshire League, and also played a part in the club being allocated a position in the top division of the North West Counties League a couple of seasons later.
<O</O
It’s also worth remembering that John led the committee in standing firm against the proposals pushed by the town council and the Accrington Observer to merge Stanley with Great Harwood as a way of creating a single football club for the borough. It was also John’s combative defence of Stanley in the promotion row of 1980 that provoked the FA to institute a formal grading system for all non-league grounds, giving clubs specific guidance as to what needed to be improved.
<O</O
It was always a pleasure to be in John’s company. He was a brilliant interviewee, and I remember that when we had finished he insisted on giving me a lift back to my Clayton digs. The standard Observer photograph of John during his tenure as club chairman was of a somewhat hirsute figure, bearded and with shoulder-length hair, and the thing that I couldn’t help but notice (and envy) about John was that he still retained a fine head of hair, though the beard had been thankfully pared back to a splendid grey walrus moustache which his easy demeanour suited entirely. He reminded me of a Lancastrian Sam Elliot, the laid-back but sharp cowboy narrator in The Big Lebowski, an impression only reinforced when, in the van back to Clayton, he took the opportunity to light up a cheroot.
<O</O
It was clear that John didn’t want everything he knew to be published, but he trusted me to edit the text myself, which was much appreciated as it saved me time in having the transcript approved. There was a problem, however, and that was that he was a bit sensitive about a crucial bit of information – which was about how the club raised the cash to pay for the improvements to the Crown Ground after the promotion that wasn’t in 1980. I tried to describe this in a way that was both accurate yet not obvious – though it didn’t apparently work, as John’s daughter caught up with me at a game and told me that his instructions to her were that he’d rather the missus didn’t read a certain bit of the book!
<O</O
I hope it didn’t cause John a problem, and it seems almost trivial now in the light of his passing. John struck me as an intelligent and extremely warm man who took a great deal of pleasure and pride in his role in Accrington Stanley’s return to the Football League, though he was typically modest about it. I had the impression that he would always feel at home at the Crown, whatever standard of football Stanley were able to offer. He was a genuine and generous supporter, and will be greatly missed.

[MichiganRed]

Phil, many thanks for that introduction to yet another important part of what makes Stanley so special. While I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Prescott, I would like to add my condolences to those offered here.

[Wynonie Harris]

Very sad news indeed. John was major figure in the development of the club at a crucial time in its history and a really nice bloke too. Despite his position as an elder statesman of the club, he still stood at the top of the Clayton End. Condolences to Kate and Carl and family.

[maccawozzagod]

well written Phil, many of the people who read these forums will not have realised exactly who John was or what he did for Accrington Stanley, hopefully they now will. Rest easy John your work is now done.

[mrjdallen]

My condolences to John's family.

[Kisser]

Rest in peace John, sadly missed. My thoughts are with you Kate, and your family xxx

[Urban Spaceman]

Originally Posted by maccawozzagod

well written Phil, many of the people who read these forums will not have realised exactly who John was or what he did for Accrington Stanley, hopefully they now will. Rest easy John your work is now done.

I agree totally Rob - and Phil has written a very nice tribute to a man who did so much for Accrington Stanley (one whom I never knew or met).It is wonderful that Stanley made it back to the League in John's lifetime and he saw them survive that first crucial season back in League Two.

For all you did at Stanley John, we thank you.

[stanleybabe]

Thank you all for your kind words about my Dad. He was a very modest man who I honestly think would have been amazed that he was held in high esteem by so many people. Although he didn't seem to think that he was in any way special, I know that he was one in a million and I miss him loads.

Kate xxx

[harwood red]

So so so sorry for your loss, have been thinking about you at what must be a really difficult time. RIP Daddy Prescott and god bless to you and your family Kate xxxxxxxx