Much like the manager that originally brought him to Rochdale, Sean McConville seems to have been a man perfectly moulded for Accrington Stanley and probably not anywhere else in the Football League.

Position: Left midfield

Appearances: 4

Goals: 0

Signed from: Stockport County (loan)

Left for: Stockport County (end of loan)

As Dale's form continued to plummet in the 2011/2012 season, Coleman understandably looked to bring in the kind of players he could trust, but in a blue and black shirt there seemed to be far less confidence and belief in some of those players, including Sean McConville, than there had been (and would be) in a red one.

Born in Liverpool (quelle surprise), McConville started his youth career with Burscough, known to Dale supporters as being the team that brought through a certain Lee McEvilly a few years previously. Before he broke into the first-team the midfielder moved to Skelmersdale United, where he started to catch the eye of some clubs in the Football League, having a trial at Stockport County before joining Accrington Stanley a matter of weeks before his 20th birthday.

Despite his tender age and despite taking such a leap up the divisions, McConville was quickly introduced to the first-team at Accrington and he enjoyed a very productive first two-and-a-half year spell with the club.

Playing either on the left side of midfield or in the hole behind the striker, McConville developed a reputation as a mercurial talent (a word only used to describe left-footed players) and with a wicked set-piece delivery started to rack up goals and assists. After 14 goals in 76 appearances for Stanley, he moved on in the summer of 2011, perhaps surprisingly dropping into non-league to join Stockport County.

Unfortunately for McConville, he found himself walking into something of a basket case club at this point. Stockport floundered dramatically in their first season in the Conference, struggling under Dietmar Hammann's management before he was replaced by Jim Gannon. In his one season at Edgeley Park, McConville featured 23 times, scoring four goals and as he looked to secure a return to the Football League, McConville was loaned out to his former manager at Spotland in the final weeks of the season.

By the time he moved to Dale in late March though, relegation was starting to look unavoidable. He featured in four matches as Coleman possibly looked to see if he was worth taking a chance on in League Two the following campaign.

Unfortunately for all parties, he frankly didn't. McConville looked unfit, lacking in confidence and floated through his two starts whilst barely getting involved. The second of those two starts was the defeat to Chesterfield on April 21st that condemned Dale to their first relegation since 1974.

Having done little to convince fans, or indeed his former manager, that he was worth a contract in League Two, McConville instead remained in non-league that summer, joining Barrow - but failing to score in 25 appearances for the Bluebirds in 2012/2013.

Another drop in divisions to join Stalybridge Celtic however seemed to be the catalyst for McConville to rebuild his career. At Bower Fold, the winger found his form again, scoring 11 times in 38 games to help the club steer clear of the relegation zone in the Conference North.

From there, he was able to earn himself a move back in the right direction, joining Conference Premier side Chester in 2014. In his one season there, he scored nine times in 41 outings, alerting a certain Mr. Coleman, now back at the Crown Ground, to his improved form.

In time for the 2015/2016 season, McConville found himself back in Lancashire with the Reds and he immediately became a key player for the side, remaining so ever since.

Thus far in his second spell he has racked up 47 goals in no fewer than 266 appearances and written himself into Accy folklore in the meantime. Remarkably, 15 of those goals came in the club's first season in League One back in 2018/2019 as, by this point one of the senior members of the team, he took responsibility as vice captain and turned in some stunning performances to help the Reds to promotion the previous year and to the relative comfort of 14th in that season.

Sometimes a player and a club just seem to fit and that certainly appears to be case with McConville. Now aged 33, he appeared in all but one of Accy's League One fixtures last season and is utilised in a handful of different roles for Coleman, proving to be a key, experienced member of a team that consistently punches above it's weight in League One.

What's more, less than a week ago at the time of writing he added his latest Stanley goal by opening the scoring with a well-taken strike against Dale in a 3-3 EFL Trophy draw at the Crown Ground.

All credit to him for turning his career around as the short loan spell at Dale seemed to set off a quick and serious decline that not many players would have come back from.

Photo: Action Images

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