The southern part of Accrington, the township of New Accrington, was formerly in the Forest of Blackburnshire and the presence of oak trees may be inferred from local place names like Broad Oak and Oak Hill.

There have been settlements there since the medieval period, likely in the Grange Lane and Black Abbey area, and the King's Highway which passes above the town was at one time used by the kings and queens of England when they used the area for hunting when the Forest of Accrington was one of the four forests of the hundred of Blackburnshire.

What is known is that there was a chapel in Accrington prior to 1553 where the vicar of Whalley was responsible for the maintenance of divine worship.

In 1717 Accrington was served by the curate of Church, who preached there only once a month.

Strictly speaking, the ' Accrington Pals ' battalion is properly known as the ' 11th East Lancashire Regiment ': the nickname is a little misleading, since of the four 250-strong companies that made up the original battalion only one was actually composed of men from Accrington.

Later in the year, the East Lancashire Regiment was rebuilt with new volunteers — in all, 865 Accrington men were killed during World War I.

As well as motor dealerships from Ford ( Greyhound ), Vauxhall & Chevrolet ( Accrington Garages ), the town was home to a Arnold Clark car dealer which closed down in 2010.

The club was ridiculed during the 1980s with a milk advert on television, in which a young boy boasted that Ian Rush had told him that " if didn't drink lots of milk, when up, only be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley ".

However, their time in league football was even less successful and considerably briefer than that of Accrington Stanley: they dropped out of the league in 1893 and folded shortly afterwards due to financial problems.

Throughout this era, one notable Accrington Stanley player was portly Australian striker J. P. Winter, who joined the club after several unsuccessful trials in Scotland and who eventually gained cult status amongst the Stanley faithful.

After being caught in a malicious brawl at the Green Horse Pub the night before a game, he was banished indefinitely from the club until a petition to reverse the decision was raised by Accrington Stanley supporters.

As his poor form continued, the rotund striker was eventually released by Accrington Stanley, leaving the club to join a Finnish amateur side where he would see out the remainder of his playing days.

The original town club, Accrington, was amongst the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888, before resigning from the league after just five years.

In a PFA Fans ' Favourites survey published by the Professional Footballers ' Association in December 2007, Chris Grimshaw was listed as the all-time favourite player amongst Accrington Stanley fans.

Following the collapse of the club a new Accrington team did not join the league until in 1921-22 the Lancashire Combination league's Accrington Stanley, which was originally a local rival, joined in.

Morecambe was a Bevin Boy: conscripted to work in a coal mine in Accrington from May 1944.

Jon Anderson was born John Roy Anderson in Accrington, Lancashire, England, to Albert and Kathleen Anderson.

One well-known association the town has is with the ' Accrington Pals ', the nickname given to the smallest home town battalion of volunteers formed to fight in the first world war.

He netted a hat trick on debut and went on to score 26 goals in his first season at Accrington.

They became the first Football League club since Accrington Stanley to resign from the League during the course of a season.

In 1848 the East Lancashire Railway Company's extension from Accrington linked the town to the nation's nascent railway network for the first time.

Carlisle United won their first game in the Football League Third Division North with the side of Prout, Coulthard, Cook, Harrison, Ross, Pigg, Agar, Hutchison, McConnell, Ward and Watson beating Accrington Stanley 3 – 2.

Finally, in 1921, Rochdale were recommended to be included in the new Third Division North, and played their first League game at home against Accrington Stanley on 27 August 1921, winning 6 – 3.

However, runners-up Sheffield United beat Accrington to become the first team to win promotion to the First Division.

After being limited to substitute appearances against Huddersfield Town and Brentford, Ephraim returned to the starting line-up against Accrington Stanley, on 15 December, in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and scored his first goal for Leeds as well as providing as assist for Neil Kilkenny's goal.

* Accrington Stanley ( the third, present version ) played in the Football League for the first time.

Their first match at the ground was against Accrington in September.

Results continued to go against the Vale though, as on 19 March they lost 3 – 0 at Accrington Stanley, and as a result dropped out of the play-off zone for the first time in the season.

The line from Preston was the first to serve the town, opening in 1846 with the extension eastwards to Accrington following two years later.

She has said that her great-grandfather, George Bargery, was one of the founders of Everton Football Club, and either the club's first goalkeeper, or that he played in goal for the club in its first Football League game, a home game against Accrington.

Smith struck 17 times in 1945 – 46, including once against Accrington Stanley at Peel Park in first edition of the FA Cup since the outbreak of war.

The Football League was open to clubs all over the United Kingdom, but the first twelve entrants ( Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke ( now Stoke City ), West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers ) were all from the Midlands or North of England ( in later years the competition became the de facto English league, though some clubs from outside England still compete in it ).

On 31 October 2006, he scored his first goals for Blackpool when he bagged a brace in a 4 – 4 draw with Accrington Stanley in the League Trophy.

2007 – 08 began with Marriott achieving yet another notable record: his clean sheet in the 2 – 0 victory against Accrington Stanley on 25 August 2007 saw him become the first goalkeeper in Lincoln's history to keep 100 clean sheets in The Football League.

Born in Bury, Lancashire, Shaw first played for his home club, Bury, and then Accrington Stanley, helping the side win the Lancashire Combination.

In 1997 he joined the staff of Accrington and Rossendale College, working first in their Student Services Department and later moving on to full-time lectureship.

He scored in Stevenage's 2 – 0 home victory against Accrington Stanley in the semi-final first leg, which the club went on to win by a 3 – 0 aggregate scoreline.

He netted his first Tranmere goal in the win at home to Accrington Stanley in the Football League Trophy in September 2008.

He scored his first and only goal for the club in a FA Cup first round match on 6 November 2010 against Accrington Stanley.

Accrington is represented in parliament as a part of the constituency of Hyndburn.

Due to its size Accrington is represented by a number of wards in the Borough of Hyndburn.