Stanley supremo admits football failings

You have to admire Marcelle Lazarus’ honesty, but is publically admitting you do not understand the offside rule the wisest thing to do when you’ve just taken charge of a Football League club?

That’s what Accrington chairman Lazarus has bravely done. After admitting she is “not a mad football fan” the new Stanley supremo revealed she does not understand specifics of the offside law.

When asked she said: “I haven’t a clue. I know when they score a goal – and that’s the most important thing.” The 47-year-old mother-of-six took over the position of the league Two outfit last week and has a number of contacts in the game through her successful mobile phone business.

“I do check the scores on Sky News every weekend because I want to see the players doing well but, to be honest with you, I’m not a mad football fan,” she added. “People get so obsessed with football it’s unbelievable.

“I’m friendly with quite a lot of players and managers from other clubs and I’d like to see them to come visit Accrington,” she told the Lancahire Telegraph.

“I think it’s got an awful lot of potential this club.”

Over the past decade she has developed close links with Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers and Liverpool through her portfolio of mobile phone companies.

And she aims to dip into her high-profile contacts book to boost Stanley’s image.

Lazarus has said she is looking forward to the challenge which might prove to be her biggest test yet when you consider Stanley’s average home attendance is around the 1000 mark – still, it’s a safe football bet that she would get top marks for enthusiasm.