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A Lancashire hotspot in fight for Les
THERE'S normally no love lost between football clubs on either side of the Pennines.
But that hasn't stopped fans of one team in Lancashire getting behind a campaign for Leeds United backroom stalwart Les Cocker to be recognised for his role in England's 1966 World Cup triumph.
The Accrington Stanley Official Supporters' Club has started a petition calling for Les to be posthumously awarded the winner's medal he was denied in the summer of '66.
TO ADD YOUR SUPPORT TO OUR CAMPAIGN, CLICK HERE.
Les is fondly remembered by Stanley fans of a certain age – he played for the club for five years in the 1950s before taking up his position as trainer at Leeds.
But it isn't just Accrington's longer serving followers who are rallying to the cause of the late dad-of-three, who was England boss Alf Ramsey's right-hand man for the 1966 campaign.
Supporters' club secretary Mel Mackie said she also received a good reaction from young fans at the side's League Two home game against Brentford on Tuesday night.
Mel told the YEP: "Once we explained what Les did for England in '66, they couldn't wait to sign.
"Some of our players who weren't in the side on Tuesday also put their names down.
"The response was brilliant – everyone was really keen to do their bit."
Mel is planning to collect more signatures at Stanley's next two home matches before forwarding the petition to the YEP.
It will then be included in a dossier of letters and other messages of support for the campaign and then sent to Fifa, world soccer's governing body.
Fifa has said it is looking into the possibility of retrospectively awarding medals to backroom staff such as Les.
Following a rule change in 1978, modern World Cup winning sides get 45 medals.
Around half of them go to players, with the rest being shared out among the manager and his aides.
Before then, however, the only people who received medals were the players who appeared in each tournament's final.
Les combined his work in the England set-up with a full-time coaching role at Leeds during the club's hugely-successful Don Revie era.
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Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
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