ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman feels a proposed near £2million investment will signal “one of the biggest events” in the club’s history.

In a meeting at the Wham Stadium on Wednesday night club shareholders voted - with a 70 per cent-plus majority - to a proposal for local businessman Andy Holt to clear £1.2million of old debt and secure around £600,000 of new capital for the Reds, which will be used to develop the club's infrastructure.

Coleman says that after years of the club struggling to keep its head above water it was like being rescued, adding that the cash injection from the owner of What More UK will bring stability and help to sustain their top seven ambitions this season.

“We’ve always been swimming against the tide. Maybe now we’re just jumping into a boat,” he said.

“The club’s been debt ridden for years, and once you get into that situation you’re only ever putting out fires. You’re only ever trying to live from hand to mouth and keep afloat basically.

“We’re not going to have riches like several clubs in League Two have, but we’re going to be debt free, and just to have the debts wiped is a massive boost for everybody at the club who work hard to keep it going.

“At times in the past, through no-one’s fault, we’ve had to try to make do. But we weren’t cutting corners, we were running across the pitch.

"I think we’re on the watershed of one of the biggest events in Accrington’s history, and that includes the rebirth and that includes going back into the Football League.

“It’s probably a dream come true for the people behind the scenes who know how hard it is to keep it going.

“Fans from the outside looking in don’t appreciate what a money pit a League Two club is and how difficult it is and how much money that you wouldn’t think could get expended does get expended.”

But Coleman says the club’s model will not change by virtue of this investment.

“If Andy turned round to me and said ‘There’s £500,000 to go and buy players', and I go and buy two players for £250,000 each, if they’re worth £250,000 they’re not going to fit into our wage structure,” said the Stanley boss.

“If they do decide that they want to come to Accrington and I break the wage structure and I give them £3,000-£4,000 a week, they’re not coming to Accrington because they’re desperate to play well for us and do well for us, they’re coming to Accrington because they want to pick up £3,000-£4,000.

“That’s not the player we want.

“They don’t have to be young, but they have to be hungry and have a desire to do well, and the younger ones can use it as a platform.

“I think I’m quite clued up in the running of Accrington Stanley because I’ve been there from the early days so I know exactly what the club requires, that’s why I’ve never tried to overspend the budget.

“We have to have a model where we want young, hungry players who are motivated by their own ambition, and we can foster that and try to use that to our advantage. And hopefully these good, young players can go on to earn millions. They’re not going to earn them with us but we can be a platform and a route into that.

“If they do get on to earn those millions they’ll have done something right for us along the way, which means that we’re benefiting, and then we move on to the next one.”

But Coleman expects to see some change in and around the club thanks to the cash.

“Immediately it won’t make a difference but then going forward and adding to the infrastructure of the club, certainly having the facilities updated, will make the whole experience of going to Accrington playing for Accrington a far better thing for everybody,” he said.

“If that develops into training grounds and what have you it certainly is a big boost for the playing staff and makes Accrington a more attractive proposition.

“We’re still using Bolton at the moment, as well as training at the ground and having a presence up here to be honest I think is good.

“Long term you’d want your own place where you can govern what you do, how you build, how you develop it rather than relying on other people."

Coleman, who says the ability to reassure players their wages will be paid on time comes as another boost, added: “It won’t change the squad, and we’ve got a good enough squad to push for promotion.

“But if we did get promotion it’s far better to have it with the stability that you’ve got because you’d be in and out of League One in a blink I’d have thought."