There is not actually a definite answer as to where Accrington Stanley got their unusual name, but the widely accepted version of events relates to a working men's club. The patrons of the Stanley Arms, located on Stanley Street in Accrington, formed a football club called Stanley Villa in the 1890s.

It is the location of a block of six flats, one of which was the scene of a murder that linked Liverpool and Accrington Stanley Football Clubs, a television milk advert and Merseyside’s violent drugs scene.