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FC United v Fleetwood Town XI - Pre-season Friendly

FC United v Fleetwood Town XI - Pre-season FriendlyAs announced last week, FC United will face Fleetwood Town in a pre-season friendly as part of our preparations for the 2017/18 season. The match will take place at Broadhurst Park on Tuesday 1st August kick-off 7:45pm - The friendly will be our final pre-season game of the summer before our league campaign commences on the following Saturday (5th August).

As announced last week, FC United will face Fleetwood Town in a pre-season friendly as part of our preparations for the 2017/18 season. The match will take place at Broadhurst Park on Tuesday 1st August with a 7.45pm kick-off. The friendly will be our final pre-season game of the summer before our league campaign commences on the following Saturday (5th August).

The two sides last met in September 2007 in the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round. That season was the first time that FC United had competed in the FA Cup, and a large travelling army descended on Fleetwood, where a crowd of 3,112 watched on as Rory Patterson equalised on 25 minutes, following a Fleetwood penalty 7 minutes earlier. A second Fleetwood penalty was converted midway through the second half to send Northern Premier League side into the second qualifying round. Fleetwood then went onto to win the League and gain promotion to the Conference North.



In the 2009/10 season Fleetwood won promotion to Conference via the play-offs, and the following season the club made all of its players full-time professionals. The club won the football Conference for the first time in their history in the 2011/12 season, thanks to goals from Jamie Vardy who would then sign for Leicester City for a fee of £1m, which subsequently rose to £1.7m—a record transfer fee for a non-league club.

It took just two seasons for Fleetwood to break out of English football’s fourth tier with promotion to League 1 back in 2014 beating Burton Albion 1-0 back in that famous playoff final at Wembley Stadium, which is still arguably Fleetwood’s biggest game in their history. The win also marked their 6th promotion in just ten seasons, a quite stunning achievement.

Next season Fleetwood Town will once again compete in the third tier of English football for the fourth successive season. The seaside club known as ‘the Cod Army’ finished 4th in last season’s Sky Bet League 1 campaign but lost their two-legged playoff Semi-Final 1-0 on aggregate to Bradford City who eventually came runners up.

The current club, which is based at Highbury Stadium, was officially established in 1997 but, in two previous incarnations, the club’s history dates back to 1908. The original club, Fleetwood F.C. folded in 1976 but was re-established in 1977 as Fleetwood Town F.C. Initially placed in Division One of the Cheshire League, they were moved in 1982 to the North West Counties League Division Two in its inaugural year, and promoted to Division One in 1984. By 1996 they were playing in the Northern Premier League but once again folded.

Re-formed in 1997 as Fleetwood Wanderers, the club was placed back in Division One of the North West Counties Football League (now the tenth tier of the English League system) and a sponsorship deal saw the club’s name immediately changed to Fleetwood Freeport F.C.The club was promoted to the Premier Division of the North West Counties League in 1999 and renamed Fleetwood Town F.C. in 2002. By 2006/07 Fleetwood were competing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

Since 2014/15 the Fleetwood have maintained a level of stability in League 1 with 10th, 19th and 4th placed finishes respectively in their last three seasons. Having taken over as manager nearly a year ago now, former Manchester City man Uwe Rosler has produced the goods since taking the job, aiming to keep the club’s rapid rise of recent years going. The German played a huge part in Fleetwood Town’s success last season with the Cod Army coming agonisingly close to promotion to the Championship.

As for goals last season, it would be hard to look past former Manchester City youth team graduate David Ball notching in 14 in all competitions to top the Cod Army’s 2016-17 scoring charts. Well supported by former Manchester United striker Andy Cole’s son Devante who netted on nine occasions in all competitions last season.

The long-serving Nathan Pond (who joined the club back in 2003) captains the side from the back while defensive strength is ever-present with Northern Ireland international Conor McLaughlin a key asset with plenty of experience. The Northern Irishman currently possesses 23 caps for his national side, including a start in their opening game at last summer’s European Championships, a 1-0 loss to Poland.

Pre-Season Friendly
Tuesday 1st August kick-off 7.45pm
FC United v Fleetwood Town XI

Broadhurst Park
Lightbowne Road, Moston, Manchester M40 0FJ
Admission prices tbc



First Posted ~ 11:17 Fri 9 Jun 2017
News ID ~ 7480
Last Updated ~ 16:00 Fri 19 Feb 2021