The weather has intervened to stop any on the field action this week but this being Stanley there is plenty of off the field activities to discuss.

I attended court on Monday hoping to act as a witness in mitigation in the case of a Stanley fan who pleaded guilty to obstructing a police officer and police assault.

As it transpired I was not required, I was unable to tell the magistrates about how the fan was part of a charity walk which raised enough money to build a school in Nepal and help rebuild a church in Accrington.

I was also not given an opportunity to point out the friendly links between football clubs that have been forged through the fans’ football team or the tireless work carried out around the ground to not only get matches on but to beat deadlines and seat requests by the Football League.

If I had been given five minutes of the judiciary’s time I would have also tried to explain what it feels like to be part of the Stanley family, now this would be the hard bit.

Because if your only experience of football is the ivory towers of the Premier League or perhaps down the pub with all your mates watching England fail heroically, then you would have no idea what I was going on about when I talk about the bond between all fans at the Crown Ground.

Because of our limited numbers I can probably name 80 per cent of the home fans and certainly have had a pint with more than half in my 20-plus years following the Reds.

We are ultra supporters who spread the good word of Stanley far and wide to all who will listen.

It was a side of Accrington Stanley and the fans that the court and our legal system failed to hear about.