Jump to content

F.C. United of Manchester

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 80.2.143.230 (talk) at 20:01, 3 January 2011 (→‎League and Cup history: Updated). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

F.C. United of Manchester
File:FC United.png
Full nameFootball Club United of Manchester
Nickname(s)FCUM, Red Rebels
Founded2005
GroundGigg Lane
Bury, Greater Manchester
England
Capacity11,840
ManagerKarl Marginson
LeagueNorthern Premier League Premier Division
2009–1013th
WebsiteClub website

F.C. United of Manchester is a semi-professional English association football club based in Bury, Greater Manchester who currently play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the 7th tier of league football. The club was formed in 2005 by Manchester United supporters following Malcolm Glazer's controversial takeover which led to hundreds of supporters defecting from the club. They are affectionately referred to as "The Red Rebels".

FC United's first three seasons were successful, winning promotion each time.[1] FC United entered at the tenth level of the English football league system (the second division of the North West Counties Football League) and they were confirmed as champions on 15 April 2006 and followed that up by being crowned as champions of Division 1 on 18 April 2007. The 2007–08 season saw them finish second in the Northern Premier League Division One North then gain promotion through the end of season play-offs.

During their first season (2005–06), they had the second-highest average attendance in English non-League football.[2] Attendances fell in the next two seasons and they were the 97th best supported club in 2007–08.[3]

The team is managed by the former Macclesfield Town player Karl Marginson.

History

Formation

The club was founded on 14 June 2005 by supporters of Manchester United who were unhappy about the club. Although those supporters had various reasons for their dissatisfaction,[4] the prime catalyst for FC United's formation was the hostile takeover of Manchester United by the American businessman Malcolm Glazer.[5] Manchester United supporters had previously considered forming a new club in response to a proposed takeover by Rupert Murdoch in 1998, but the takeover bid was unsuccessful so the idea was not implemented. When it was announced that Glazer was considering taking over the club, the idea was brought up again as a possible "last resort" and discussed in Manchester United fanzines including Red Issue and United We Stand.[citation needed]

The Glazer family obtained overall control of Manchester United on 12 May 2005, and supporters who had opposed the takeover organised a meeting at the Manchester Methodist Hall on 19 May. Although the focus of the meeting was on continuing to oppose Manchester United's new owners rather than forming a new club, the meeting's chairman, Andy Walsh, announced that the formation of a new club would be discussed at a second meeting on 30 May and that Kris Stewart, the then chairman of AFC Wimbledon, had given much advice on setting up the club.[6] It was decided that the club would be formed if 1,000 people pledged financial support by the end of July. This target was exceeded and the steering committee pushed ahead with plans for the club.

A nearby club, Leigh Railway Mechanics Institute, were in financial difficulties at the time and asked FC United to take them over, as the extra support from FC United would have ensured their club's survival. The founders of FC United refused this proposition because they were creating the club in response to an unpopular takeover and didn't feel that taking over an existing club was appropriate.[7] The clubs remained on good terms, though, and FC United's first public match was a friendly against Leigh RMI.

The club's founders originally chose the name FC United, but the Football Association rejected this as too generic. Those who had pledged money to the club were then asked to vote on a name from FC United of Manchester, FC Manchester Central, AFC Manchester 1878 and Newton Heath United FC.[8] On 14 June 2005, it was announced that FC United of Manchester had been chosen with 44.7% of the vote. (AFC Manchester 1878 received 25.7% of the vote, Newton Heath United FC 25.4% and FC Manchester Central 1.7%). FC United continues to be used as an abbreviated form of the club's name.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson criticised the formation of the club, stating that the club and its management seemed to be interested more in themselves than in Manchester United.[9]

Karl Marginson was appointed as manager on 22 June, and the club held trials for players on 26 June. 900 players applied to take part in the trials, of whom 200 were selected to do so and 17 were chosen to play for FC United, although most of those have since left the club. By 8 July 2005, over 4,000 people had pledged money to FC United and the club had over £100,000 in the bank.[10]

FC United were admitted to the second division of the North West Counties Football League, putting the club at level ten of the English football league system, nine levels below the Premier League. The league had four spare places at the time, so no other club was denied promotion as a result of FC United's admission. The club was formed after the deadline for entering the FA Vase had passed so they were not eligible to play in it in the 2005–06 season, although they were able to play in the North West Counties League Challenge Cup. They were eligible to enter the FA Vase in the 2006–2007 season and made their debut in the FA Cup one year later. The club then arranged to play their 2005–06 home matches at Bury's stadium, Gigg Lane where the majority of home league games have been played since—with the exception of some fixture clashes which has seen them move games to Altrincham's Moss Lane in 2006, Radcliffe Borough's Stainton Park Park in 2007 and Stalybridge Celtic's Bower Fold in 2010.

2005–06 season

FC United's first public match was an away friendly fixture against Leigh RMI on 16 July 2005. The match ended 0–0.

FC United entered the North West Counties League Division Two, and The League arranged for FC United's first league match to be away to the club with the biggest ground, Leek County School Old Boys, in order to gauge whether it would be possible for other clubs to host FC United at their own grounds. It took place on Saturday 13 August 2005. It was not the first all ticket match in the history of the league as the Workington vs Mossley title decider on 3 May 1999 holds that honour. The attendance of 2,590, however set a new record for the NWCFL (beating the 2,281 from the Workington v Mossley match).

After a successful season the NWCFL Division Two trophy was awarded at the home game against Great Harwood Town FC on Saturday 22 April 2006, in front of a crowd of 6,023, an NWCFL record attendance.

2006–07 season

FC United's first match in the North West Counties League Division One (Step 5 of the National League System) was against St Helens Town on Saturday, 12 August 2006, FC United winning 2–0. The season was an impressive one for FC United with a strengthening squad and good off-field support.[11] The club achieved a league and cup double. They were promoted to the Northern Premier League Division One North on 7 April 2007 after beating Ramsbottom United and were confirmed as champions on 18 April 2007 after beating Atherton Laburnum Rovers 7–1 at Gigg Lane. They also won the NWCFL's Challenge Cup final, beating Curzon Ashton 2–1, becoming only the third side to complete the NWCFL league and cup double.

They were eliminated from their first season in an FA competition (the FA Vase) at the third round stage by Quorn.

2007–08 season

FC United played in the inaugural year of the Northern Premier League Division One North, losing their first two games against Lancaster City on 18 August (1–2) and against Garforth Town on 22 August (0–1) before moving into a mid-table position with wins over Bridlington Town and Rossendale United.

As a result of the eligibility rules for the FA Cup,[12] they made their debut in this competition in the 2007–08 season and played away to Trafford in the Preliminary Round on 2 September, winning the fixture 5–2. They lost to Fleetwood Town 2–1 in the following FA Cup First qualifying round.

They advanced to the final of the 2007–08 Unibond Presidents Cup, even though they had lost the Quarter Final 1–5 to Nantwich Town. They were reinstated, however, after Nantwich had been disqualified because they had fielded an unregistered player, and went on to beat Radcliffe Borough 2–0 in the final to pick up their fifth trophy in three years as a club.

The club finished the season second in the league, trailing champions Bradford Park Avenue by just one point, and entered the play-offs for the other promotion place. After beating Bamber Bridge 3–2 in the semis, FCUM faced Skelmersdale United in the promotion play-off final on 3 May 2008, coming back from a goal down to win 4–1 and earn promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

2008–09 season

FC United received an early setback at the start of the season when Rory Patterson and fellow striker Stuart Rudd, left the club to join rivals Bradford Park Avenue[13] but manager Karl Marginson found a suitable replacement in Kyle Wilson, who would go on to become the club top scorer for the 2008–09 season.

They started the Northern Premier League Premier Division with a 3–3 draw at home against Matlock Town, before settling into a mid-table position with a loss and a win in the next two games. 25 August 2008 saw the biggest crowd of the season up to that point, 2825, when FC United hosted ex-Football League team Boston United at Gigg Lane. The match ended 1–0 to Boston.

FC United started their second FA Cup campaign in the First Round Qualifying away at Nantwich Town. The match ended goalless, which meant that the tie would be decided at Gigg Lane, where FC United almost pulled off a fightback. Three goals down with 20 mins to go FC scored twice, but Nantwich held on to deny FC victory. FC United's misfortune in FA Competitions seemed to give way when they scored in the last minute of the First Round Qualifying match against Radcliffe Borough, but their run came to an end with a 3–1 defeat at home by Boston United in the 3rd Round Qualifying.

An indifferent run of results in the league left FC stranded in 11th place for several weeks. Gigg Lane witnessed one of the games of the season when FC United drew a ten goal thriller with Cammell Laird. 5–2 down with 20 minutes to go, FC produced one of the best fightbacks in its short history, to take a point. One of the lowest points of the season came when FC lost 4–2 at home to rock bottom Leigh Genesis, FC undone by a hat-trick by former Manchester United starlet Phil Marsh, who would go on to sign for FC United in the closing months of the season.

FC United's league form had improved after Christmas, but still they looked good for a mid table finish at best, with 48 points from 32 games, with only 10 games remaining. United were also without the services of 24-goal Kyle Wilson, whose season had been cut short by a knee injury. But FC went on a remarkable run of 7 wins and 2 draws to start the final week of the season as favourites to clinch the final play-off spot. FC United were locked on 71 points from 41 games, with Bradford P.A. and Kendal Town, but with a better goal difference. Spurred on by the season's biggest crowd of 3718,[14] FC United looked to be heading for the play-offs with a 1–0 lead, but Bradford equalized with 7 minutes remaining. Kendal were drawing 2–2 and FC would still have gone through had the scores remained that way, but Kendal scored in the 88th minute to take the final play-off position.

2009–10 season

FC United's second season in the Northern Premier League Premier Division started disappointingly. At the end of September they were third from the bottom of the table with only three wins from ten matches. In their third FA Cup campaign they beat Sheffield, North Ferriby United and Stalybridge Celtic in the first three qualifying rounds, but lost 3–0 to Northwich Victoria in the fourth round. They reached the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy by beating Ashton United and Lancaster City (after a replay), but then went out to Harrogate Town.

In 2010, FC were unbeaten during a seven match run until March, but fixtures began to pile up due to postponements through poor weather. They became the first team to lose to Durham City, who had lost all their previous 28 games in the season, and their form never recovered.[15] They ended the season with just one win their last nine matches—on the last day of the season at home to Matlock Town—and finished 13th, their lowest league position in their first five seasons.[16]

2010–11 season

FC had an inconsistent start to their league season in 2010–11, winning their first three matches but following that with three successive defeats. In their FA Cup campaign they recorded victories over Radcliffe Borough, Gainsborough Trinity, Norton & Stockton Ancients and Barrow to reach the first round proper for the first time. There they beat Rochdale 3–2 with a late winner from Mike Norton.[17] They then went on to play League One leaders Brighton & Hove Albion, in which Sam Ashton of FC United forced a replay after saving a late penalty taken by Brighton's Elliot Bennett. Brighton denied United a third round home tie against Portsmouth by winning the replay 4–0 at Gigg Lane[18], in front of FC United's highest ever home attendance of 6,731.

League and Cup history

Season
 League Contested ∆
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
 League Position
 Avg. Home
Attendance
 FA Cup
 FA Trophy
 Leading scorer[note 1]
2005–06 North West Counties League
Division Two		 10 36 27 06 03 111 35 0+76 087 1st of 19
Promoted		 3,059 n/a n/a Rory Patterson 18
2006–07 North West Counties League
Division One		 09 42 36 04 02 157 36 +121 112 1st of 22
Promoted		 2,581 n/a n/a Stuart Rudd 38
2007–08 Northern Premier League
Division One North		 08 42 24 09 09 091 49 0+42 081 2nd of 18
Won playoff
Promoted		 2,086 1Q Prelim Rd Rory Patterson 35
2008–09 Northern Premier League
Premier Division		 07 42 21 09 12 082 58 0+24 072 6th of 22 2,152 1Q 3Q Kyle Wilson 21
2009–10 Northern Premier League
Premier Division		 07 38 13 08 17 062 65 0-3 047 13th of 20 1,954 4Q 3Q Phil Marsh 10
2010–11 Northern Premier League
Premier Division		 07 17 07 00 010 025 30 0-5 021 19th of 22 1,901[note 2] R2 3Q
  1. ^ League games only
  2. ^ FC United's first six home games were split between Gigg Lane, Bury (3 games average 1,804) and Bower Fold, Stalybridge (3 games average 1,642)

Last Updated: January 3rd, 2011

Q = Qualifying Round
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points;

Stadium

See also: Ten Acres Lane Stadium

Since the club's formation, F.C. United have not had their own home ground. Instead, they share the ground with Bury F.C., using their Gigg Lane ground.

On 25 March 2010, the club announced plans to build their own 5,000-capacity football ground in Newton Heath, the original home of Manchester United. The development will be located on the site of the current Ten Acres Lane sports centre and will cost £3.5 million, to be financed by public donations, a Community Shares issue and grant funding.[19]

Organisation

FC United is an Industrial and provident society. Membership is obtained by paying an annual fee of £12 to the club (£3 for children), but each member receives only one share in the club and is entitled to a single vote at meetings, regardless of the amount donated.

The club has an elected board of eleven members.

The club has two full-time employee positions: Andy Walsh as chief executive and Lindsey Robertson. Andy Walsh was heavily involved in the club's formation.[20]

The club's manifesto includes the following core principles:[21]

  1. The Board will be democratically elected by its members
  2. Decisions taken by the membership will be decided on a one member, one vote basis
  3. The club will develop strong links with the local community and strive to be accessible to all, discriminating against none
  4. The club will endeavour to make admission prices as affordable as possible, to as wide a constituency as possible
  5. The club will encourage young, local participation – playing and supporting – whenever possible
  6. The Board will strive wherever possible to avoid outright commercialism
  7. The club will remain a non-profit organisation

The club accepts sponsorship but does not allow sponsors' logos to be displayed on the team's shirts. The club's main sponsor in its inaugural 2005–06 season was the Bhopal Medical Appeal and in season 2006–07 it was the Williams BMW Group.

Future aspirations

Partway into their second season at their Annual General Meeting in November 2006, the club outlined aspirations for the next six years.:[22]

  • winning promotion in three successive seasons to take them to Conference North by 2009.
  • reaching an average of 5,000 supporters per home game by 2009.
  • building their own 7,000 – 10,000 capacity stadium, as central to Greater Manchester as possible, by 2012.
  • developing their own training facilities by 2009.
  • starting a women's team for the 2007–08 season.

Their aspirations have had mixed results. The club did achieve two successive promotions after the AGM, but have remained in the Northern Premier League Premier Division since 2008 missing out on their Conference North target. Rather than fulfilling the aim of 5,000 supporters per home game, crowds have declined in all but one of their seasons so far. But progress is being made on plans to develop their own stadium (see Ten Acres Lane Stadium) and they have teamed up with The Manchester College for use of their training facilities and to operate a women's team since 2009.[23][24]

Current squad

The club's current squad is as follows:

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK England ENG Sam Ashton
— GK New Zealand NZL Zach Hibbert
— DF England ENG Mark Ayres
— DF England ENG Dave Chadwick (Captain)
— DF England ENG James Holden
— DF England ENG Kyle Jacobs
— DF England ENG Scott McManus
— DF England ENG Lee Neville
— DF England ENG Richard Battersby
— DF Guadeloupe GLP Ludovic Quistin
— DF England ENG Nick Swirad
— DF England ENG Karl Munroe
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF England ENG Martin Parker
— MF England ENG Simon Carden
— MF England ENG Jake Cottrell
— MF England ENG Chris Ovington
— MF England ENG Nicky Platt
— MF England ENG Carlos Roca
— MF England ENG Steve Torpey
— MF England ENG Jerome Wright
— FW England ENG Ben Deegan
— FW England ENG Michael Norton
— FW South Africa RSA Glynn Hurst
— FW England ENG Matthew Wolfenden

First team coaching staff

  • England Darren Lyons
  • England Roy Soule

Honours

  • BBC North West Sports Awards
    • Newcomer of the Year 2006
  • Jimmy Davis Memorial Cup
    • Winners 2007–2008
  • Northern Premier League Presidents Cup
    • Winners 2007–08

Team Records

  • Record League victory: 10–2 v Castleton Gabriels, 10 December 2005[25]
  • Record win margin: 8
  • Record League defeat:
  • Record home attendance: 6,731 at Gigg Lane, Bury – v Brighton & Hove Albion, (FA Cup Second Round), 8 December 2010
  • Worst home attendance: 756 at Gigg Lane, Bury – v Lancaster City (FA Trophy), 4 November 2009
  • Longest unbeaten run: (League) 22 games, 3 December 2006 to 18 August 2007
  • Most League games won in a row: 13, 29 April to 30 September 2006 (last game of 2005–06 season and first 12 games of 2006–07 season)
  • Most League games lost in a row: 4 (twice), 7 April to 21 April 2010; 30 August 2010 to 18 September 2010
  • Most League games without a win: 8, 24 March 2010 to 21 April 2010 (2 draws and 6 defeats)
  • Best league performance: 6th Northern Premier League Premier Division 2008-09
  • Best FA Cup performance: Second Round Proper 2010-11
  • Best FA Trophy performance: Third Qualifing round 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11

Individual Records

at the end of the 2009–10 season, league matches only

  • Most league appearances: 200 Simon Carden
  • 100 league appearances: Five other players have made more than 100 league appearances for FC United: Sam Ashton (188), David Chadwick (179), Rob Nugent (176), Jerome Wright (156) and Rory Patterson (129).
  • Shortest league career: Manager Karl Marginson played 19 minutes of the last home game of the 2006–07 season against Formby and Stephanos Ioannou has played 19 minutes in two matches towards the end of the 2009–10 season.
  • Most league goals: 86 Rory Patterson
  • 20 league goals: Four other players have scored more than 20 league goals for FC United: Simon Carden (54), Stuart Rudd (45), Jerome Wright (30) and Kyle Wilson (25)
  • Most goals scored in a match: 5 – Simon Carden v Castleton Gabriels, 10 December 2005
  • Most red cards in FC United career (all games): 3 – Rory Patterson (Rob Nugent, Ben Deegan and Stuart Rudd are the only other players to have been sent off more than once).
  • Most yellow cards in FC United career (all games): 30 – Jerome Wright. Other players with 20 yellow cards in their FC career are Simon Carden (28), Rory Patterson (26), David Chadwick (26) and Rob Nugent (21)

Source: FC United Official Site

References

  1. ^ FC United clinch first promotion BBC News, 13 April 2006
  2. ^ Attendance comparison 2005–06
  3. ^ Attendance comparison current season
  4. ^ "United We Stand". ESPN Soccernet.com. Retrieved 12 July 2005.
  5. ^ FC UNITED ARE SERIOUS NonLeagueDaily.com, 9 June 2005
  6. ^ The meeting took place at the Apollo Theatre, Manchester. AFC Wimbledon is another supporter-owned club that was established three years earlier.
  7. ^ "FC United in Leigh RMI merger talks". Bolton News. Retrieved 3 October 2007.
  8. ^ Manchester United was founded as Newton Heath in 1878 and the latter two names represented claims to this heritage (Manchester Central was one of the three choices in 1902 for the new name for Newton Heath, along with Manchester Celtic and Manchester United).
  9. ^ Fergie lays into FC United Manchester Evening News, 5 September 2006
  10. ^ "Mitten's family affair". Manchester Online. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2005. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "North West Counties Division One – Attendances". Tony's English Football Site. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
  12. ^ FA Cup rules The FA
  13. ^ Rory explores new Avenue Punk Football
  14. ^ Bumper Crowd Punk Football
  15. ^ Durham City win at 29th time of asking durhamtimes.co.uk
  16. ^ FC United Results 2009–10 fc-utd.co.uk
  17. ^ "Rochdale 2 – 3 FC United of Manchester". BBC Sport. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  18. ^ "Football Video Highlights FC United of Manchester 0-4 Brighton - FA Cup 2010/2011 2nd Rnd Replay". The Global Herald. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  19. ^ "FCUM reveals location of proposed stadium". fc-utd.co.uk. FC United of Manchester. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  20. ^ The club prefer to use the term General Manager instead of Chief Executive, but the term Chief Executive has to be used for legal reasons.
    "Chief Executive and Club Secretary Appointed". Archived from the original on 22 February 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2006.
  21. ^ "The Manifesto: Who We Are and What We Mean". Archived from the original on February 8, 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2005. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "FC United 'two steps from the League in three years'". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N. media. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "FC United Women's Team". FC United website. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  24. ^ "Life at FC United". The Independent. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  25. ^ Statistics FC United of Manchester Statistics

Sources

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=F.C._United_of_Manchester&oldid=405741650"