For years, Accrington Stanley was a byword for football failure.

The club was ejected from the Football League in 1962. No other team suffered the same fate until Workington in 1978. The club that replaced Workington was Wigan Athletic, which reached the heady heights of the Premiership this season. And flourished.

Don’t cry for Accrington Stanley. They’re poised to return from the dead and re-enter the Football League. It’s taken a long time – John Profumo was still a Government minister and Winston Churchill an MP when they lost their league status. But if Wigan are anything to go by, they could be challenging for a place in Europe in 2033…