ACCRINGTON Stanley are to invest £150,000 into support in the local community by providing thousands of free shirts to school pupils.

Owner Andy Holt is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the club's revival by giving away 1200 Adidas first team replica football shirts to year three primary children in a ceremony at the Wham Stadium.

A shirt will be given to every year three primary school pupil in the Hyndburn area and Mr Holt will be repeating this every year for the next five years.

He said this is to encourage young people to take pride in their hometown club.

Mr Holt said: "I want to create a connection with our professional League Two football team.

“It is very fitting to mark the 50th anniversary by giving a shirt to every year three primary school pupil in the Hyndburn area.

“I will be repeating this every year for the next five years in the hope it brings us closer to the community.

“I want it to inspire youths to take pride in their home town club by feeling part of the borough and supporting their local team.”

The club’s roots go right back to 1888 when Accrington were one of the founder members of the Football League and the reformed club was founded in its current guise in 1968.

Club bosses said the project aims to increase focus on community interaction between the club and fans.

Mr Holt said: “Being outside and active was day to day life for me as a young boy growing up.

“In more recent years there’s been less of an emphasis on community sports for children.

“The Accrington Stanley Community Trust have supported by sponsoring this initiative and they are an essential part of our engagement with the community.

“This is something I hold with huge importance.”

Stanley, managed by John Coleman, currently sit in the automatic promotion places in League Two in third place.

Letters have been sent to heads of schools in the local Hyndburn area to get them involved with the scheme.

The shirts will be given to school children at the Accrington Stanley football ground, the Wham Stadium, at 10.30am on Thursday, February 8.

The club will also be releasing a batch of free tickets for each home game at the Wham Stadium until the end of the season for the new fans.