DAVID Hamilton has nothing but admiration for Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman - because he knows just how far he has brought the club, both on and off the pitch.

The former Blackburn Rovers, Burnley and Accrington Stanley player is glad to see the Conference leaders are benefiting from a plush new training set-up at Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick.

With several well-kept pitches, a gym, sauna and dining facilities, it's a far cry from the makeshift training ground that Hamilton the only player to represent all three East Lancs teams remembers.

"They've come a long way from training on Aldi car park when I was there," smiled Hamilton, who Eric Whalley signed from Barrow in 1994 before becoming chairman and handing Hamilton a caretaker manager role for 12 games when they were in the UniBond League.

"We used to go there because it was floodlit.

"We'd jog down from the club, do some training and try not to get injured on the tarmac, then jog back.

"It wasn't ideal but there was enough room to work with 16 or so players.

"I just told them to make sure they didn't hurt themselves.

"We tried to use the local rugby pitch once too because Eric didn't want us messing up our own. But we got chased off!"

Now Hamilton, chief scout at Wigan Athletic, is backing the Reds to follow the same path his current employers did in 1978 and climb out of the non-league pyramid.

"Accrington are not dissimilar to Wigan really," he said. "There has been a rapid rise since Wigan got into the Football League, particularly since Paul Jewell took over.

"And there is a good understanding between the two clubs.

"Our manager has played with Paul Cook and knows John Coleman, and I've been to the ground a few times this season to watch Phil Edwards.

"Everyone at Wigan is so pleased to see him doing well because he is a lovely lad and gets on with his job."

Hamilton, whose Stanley connections are still strong as son Jordan is in his first year of the youth team, added: "No-one would be more pleased for Eric and the supporters, and Accrington as a town, than me if they got back into the Football League.

"That was Eric's dream when he took over as chairman. It's great for Accrington Stanley to be in this situation and it would be a marvellous achievement for them to regain their league status.

"John Coleman has done a terrific job in the time that he has been manager there and it would be nice to see him take them into the League.

"There were a few doubters last year saying he had taken the club as far as he could, but that was rubbish.

"You can't knock what John does because he gets the cream of Liverpool with the young players who haven't made it at Liverpool and Everton he gets them to Accrington and works hard with them.

"And why not? People take players from where they know in non-league. He knows the area and the players on the scene.

"But not only that, he has attracted ex-professionals who have also come in and done a job for Accrington, and knows when it's time for them to move on.

"He's streetwise. He knows what he needs and knows the game.

"I don't think it would be any different when he hopefully takes them into the League."

Former Wigan midfielder Hamilton, who remembers Coleman from a trial with the Latics in the 1980s, added that he hoped the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's We're Backing Stanley' campaign has the desired effect on improving attendances at the Interlink Express Stadium.

"Eric has put his money into the club and I just wish that the public would come out and support them a little bit more," he said.

"If they want to progress as a League club, if they do get promotion, they've got to have a regular fanbase of at lease 2,000.

"I think they will get the crowds towards the end of the season, but they need to sustain them and that will probably take time."