Accrington Stanley: John Coleman and Jimmy Bell sacked by League Two club

John Coleman was in charge of Accrington for 1,098 games across his two spells as manager

Accrington Stanley have sacked long-serving manager John Coleman, along with his assistant Jimmy Bell.

Coleman, 61, was in his second spell in charge of Stanley, which began in September 2014 - but his contract was due to expire at the end of the season.

Stanley lie 16th in League Two after Saturday's 4-0 defeat at Wrexham.

"Accrington confirm that John Coleman and Jimmy Bell have been informed their contracts are terminated with immediate effect," said a club statement.

"Everyone at the club thanks them for their long-standing service and we wish them all the very best for the future."

Liverpudlian Coleman first took over as boss of Accrington in their non-league days in 1999.

Coleman and Bell took the reformed club back into the Football League in 2006 before leaving in 2012 to manage then League Two neighbours Rochdale.

But, after lasting just a year at Spotland, they returned to Accrington in 2014 after short spells at Southport and Sligo Rovers.

Coleman and Bell then won a second promotion with Stanley to League One in 2018, the highest the club had ever been, but they were relegated back to the EFL's bottom tier in May 2023.

The club are yet to announce who will take charge for Stanley's next game, this coming Saturday at home to Bradford City.

Who's the longest-serving gaffer?

Former team-mate Jimmy Bell (right) has been John Coleman's right-hand man throughout his time in management

At nine years and six months, in this second spell in charge, Coleman was the longest-serving manager purely in the EFL.

That is a record now taken on by Coventry City boss Mark Robins, who has been in post since March 2017.

However, two Premier League managers - Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp (October 2015) and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola (June 2016) - have been in position longer.

Harrogate Town boss Simon Weaver has been in his job since May 2009, but the Yorkshire club did not get into the EFL until 2020.

'The end of an era' for Accrington

Analysis - BBC Radio Lancashire's Accrington Stanley commentator Dan Jewell

It's the end of an era. Of course it's a surprise after all that John Coleman and Jimmy Bell have done for Accrington Stanley, the success they've had and the regard that they're held in not just by Stanley fans but by the general football-watching public.

But, given the background noise coming out of the club, and the fact they were out of contract this summer, I'm not really surprised by the timing of it, coming after the 4-0 defeat at Wrexham, when they were four down by half-time.

They've only won three games in this calendar year, lost their last three and have only taken five points out of the last 21 available.

But there were plenty of mitigating factors, mostly the number of players that they have been without.

John Coleman said only last week before the Wrexham game that if you were to take any squad in football and take out their seven or eight top players for a significant part of the season then that team would struggle, whoever they are.