Wander into the bar after Accrington Stanley’s match against Sunderland and you might see manager John Coleman performing a spot of karaoke.

The Reds boss belted out 1970s hit Teenage Kicks, by The Undertones, after last weekend’s FA Cup victory over Cheltenham Town, while staff and players regularly mix with supporters in the matchday marquee at the Wham Stadium.

It is all part of the community feel at Stanley and something that commercial manager Daniel Bowerbank believes is having a positive impact.

The Reds host high-flying Sunderland this afternoon with a record gate of more than 5,000 expected to take in the League One clash, less than a month since 4,800 watched Accrington take on Barnsley.

And Bowerbank believes the travelling Black Cats will enjoy their visit to East Lancashire, just as the visiting Tykes supporters did in November.

“We will have the marquee with a band on before and after the game and there is all sorts of different matchday experiences going on both for home and away fans,” said Bowerbank

“Barnsley fans were complimentary of everyone from the bar staff to the stewards and the admin staff.

“They wanted to go back to their owners and tell them what they were doing at Accrington.

“The comments on social media were brilliant for everyone to see.

“Hopefully Sunderland fans will feel the same.

“They will have two stands, so 2,500 fans.

“We will out number them as well now we have sold all our tickets and it will be the first time a crowd of that size has come to this football ground.

“We will have a 5,000 plus gate which will be a record for the club.”

And Bowerbank hopes catering for increased matchday attendances becomes the norm at the Wham Stadium as the Reds attempt to build for the future.

Last month they gave away home shirts to local schoolchildren for the second successive year and winners’ hour, where drinks are a £1 if Stanley win, has proved a real hit with supporters.

“We want to be a community club where the ticket prices are cheap and we are trying to gear around having a matchday experience,” Bowerbank added.

“We do a happy hour here at £2 a pint before and after the game and we want people to be able to come and have a matchday experience.

“There is a massive difference in the last 18 months with children coming to watch and a lot of them are in an Accrington shirt and not a Blackburn or a Burnley shirt which you used to see a lot.

“Our home average attendance is around 2,000 which is good for us but when you can cater for 5,000 then you can see that is the vision for the football club.

“The comments bring a lot of smiles to faces because there is a lot of hard work going on from the owner to the people in the office so to get two record attendances is fantastic.”

The Reds are also in the process of selling half season tickets with Bowerbank reporting an increase in take-up ahead of the first qualifying fixture against Peterborough United on December 29.

“Our half season tickets are quadruple what we sold last year,” he added.

“We have done that a bit earlier this year but people are now coming to us and we are getting a few more through the doors. It is great to see.”