John Coleman was appointed manager of Accrington Stanley on August 10, 1999.

He is currently the countries third longest serving manager behind Sir Alex Ferguson CBE and Arsene Wenger OBE.

Coleman is Accrington's longest serving manager and he is the longest serving in The Football League.

He is Stanley’s most successful ever manager as during the time with the club has won three Championships and five cup competitions.

He was voted The Conference Manager of the season after leading Stanley to the league title in 2005/06.

Previously, Coleman won the Northern Premier League Division One in 1999/00 and the Northern Premier League in 2002/03.

Since ganinig promotion to the Football League in 2006, Coleman has helped to establish the side in Coca-Cola League Two.

Before Accrington, Coleman was player-manager at Ashton United where his side narrowly missed out on promotion, but the side did win the First Division Cup twice.

As a player, Coleman played for Kirby Town, Burscough, Marine, Southport, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Rhyl, Morecambe and Lancaster, scoring over 500 goals during his career.

His honours as a player include England Semi-Pro caps and several Player of the Year awards.