ONE look at social media this week will tell you all you need to know about the success story at the Wham Stadium.

Accrington Stanley attracted a record crowd of 4,801 for the visit of Barnsley last weekend with the Tykes fans taking up an allocation behind the goal and in the new Eric Whalley Stand.

It made for a vibrant atmosphere while the travelling supporters were full of praise for their matchday experience in East Lancashire.

That is something Reds chairman Andy Holt is keen to foster, keen to ensure that away fans have an enjoyable day out.

And it seems to be resonating with a number of Barnsley fans taking time to Tweet to Holt and the club to praise the positive experience.

“We want to make it a better day out for away fans because we make money from them, it helps us keep the club afloat,” explained Holt.

“We want them to enjoy it and to think that it is a day that they want to do again because it is great for them and great for the club.

“Stewards are shaking the hands of away fans, it is not like other grounds.

“If the fans have a good day then you won’t get any aggro, if stewards start pushing fans around before they even get in then you are working from behind.

“All fans can go into our bar. I go into the away stand and talk to them and they tell me about things they want and we are doing a lot of that (with the new stand).

“Why, and I see this with our fans, if you have a completely empty stand, would you put them in the tightest corner you can get them. Why would you do that when someone is paying you money to come?

“You wouldn’t do that at a concert, if there was a load of empty seats you would not say to people ‘go and sit all the way over there at the back’ but in football people do it.

“There is a carry on that we don’t want them to have a good time so they don’t cheer their team on but I want that. I want both sets of fans cheering, I want an atmosphere.

“They get treated properly and we will do our best with what we have got.”

Holt said the new stand, opened earlier this season, was another indicator as to how much value he places on fans of both teams.

He added: “If it wasn’t for away fans I wouldn’t have built that stand. On paper I don’t need the seats for the home fans as we have enough. I would have built a bar or hospitality.

“In terms of priority, the away fans behind the goal have Portaloos and it is not good enough, that is us saying away fans count.”

It is not just away fans that Holt is listening to, there have been plenty of home improvements to, from the new stand to the fanzone behind the Clayton End.

“People get a sense that we are going in the right direction,” Holt added.

“I spend a lot of time with the fans and I am a fan as well. I want to go out to the football and have a few beers, that is part of the attraction.

“I get stopped 20 or 30 times every match by fans and they tell me things. They tell me where there is a problem. They tell me where the issues are before little things grow.

“One of the things about football I don’t like are that a lot of owners aren’t prepared to have a debate with fans.

“I think that is an issue because little things grow into big things so by wandering round and talking to fans before a match, they tell me what they want doing and a lot of the things they are telling me, it doesn’t matter whether I do it my way or their way so I might as well do it their way. It gets the same result.

“Some of it you can’t do anything about it because of the rules and because of safety issues.

“There have to be some rules but where we can be a bit less strict with rules - providing it is safe - then we will be.”