This article is about the history of F.C. United of Manchester, which is a football club based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England.
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The club was founded on 14 June 2005 by supporters of Manchester United. Although they had various reasons for their dissatisfaction,[1] the prime catalyst for FC United's formation was the hostile takeover of Manchester United by the American businessman Malcolm Glazer.[2] 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.
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 (another supporter-owned club that was established three years earlier), had given much advice on setting up the club. The meeting took place at the Apollo Theatre, Manchester. 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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6]
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 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 in 2007 and Stalybridge Celtic's Bower Fold in 2010.
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.
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.
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 of Manchester winning 2–0. The season was an impressive one for FC United of Manchester with a strengthening squad and good off-field support.[7] 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 then 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.
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,[8] 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 President's Cup, even though they had lost the Quarter Final 1–5 to Nantwich Town. They were reinstated due to Nantwich being disqualified because they had fielded an unregistered player. They went on to beat Radcliffe Borough 2–0 in the final to pick up their fifth trophy in their three year existence.
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, FC United 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.
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[9] 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.
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 fight-back. Three goals down with 20 minutes 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 fight-backs 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, 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 Park Avenue and Kendal Town, but with a better goal difference. Spurred on by the season's biggest crowd of 3,718,[10] 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.
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 qualifying 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.[11] They ended the season with just one win in 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.[12]
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 League One side Rochdale 3–2 with a late winner from Mike Norton.[13] They then went on to play League One leaders Brighton & Hove Albion, in which Sam Ashton (FC United's goalkeeper) forced a replay by saving an injury time penalty taken by Brighton's Elliott Bennett. Brighton denied United a third round home tie against Portsmouth by winning the replay 4–0 at Gigg Lane,[14][15] in front of FC United's highest ever home attendance of 6,731.[16]
Meanwhile in the league, poor form and postponed matches had seen them fall to 21st at the turn of the New Year; in the relegation zone. However, January saw FC climb back up the table and from February they sustained an unbeaten run of 16 games which brought them up to 3rd place; in the play-off places.[17] On 23 April 2011 FC confirmed their place in the play-offs by beating Matlock Town 2–1.[18] At the end of the season they secured 4th place, their highest ever placing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, and secured a play-off semi-final tie against 3rd placed, Bradford Park Avenue,[19] which FC United won 2–0 to book their place in the final against Colwyn Bay.[20] In the final, they lost 1–0, denying them a place in the Conference North.[21]
FC United had a mixed start to the 2011–12 season, with high-scoring victories against Buxton, Bradford Park Avenue and North Ferriby United (fellow play-off contenders in the 2010–11 season), but losing five games before mid-September.[22]
In the FA Cup FC were drawn against Woodley Sports in the First Qualifying Round.[23] The tie went to a replay which FC United won.[24] In the next round they were knocked out by Lancaster City 0–1.[25]
| Season |
League Contested | Level |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
League Position |
Avg. Home Attendance1 |
FA Cup |
FA Trophy |
Leading scorer1[26] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | North West Counties League Division Two |
10 | 36 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 111 | 35 | +76 | 87 | 1st of 19 Promoted |
3,056[27] | n/a | n/a | Rory Patterson 18 |
| 2006–07 | North West Counties League Division One |
9 | 42 | 36 | 4 | 2 | 157 | 36 | +121 | 112 | 1st of 22 Promoted |
2,581[28] | n/a | n/a | Stuart Rudd 38 |
| 2007–08 | Northern Premier League Division One North |
8 | 42 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 91 | 49 | +42 | 81 | 2nd of 18 Won playoffs Promoted |
2,0862[29] | 1Q | Prelim Rd | Rory Patterson 34 |
| 2008–09 | Northern Premier League Premier Division |
7 | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 82 | 58 | +24 | 72 | 6th of 22 | 2,152[30] | 1Q | 3Q | Kyle Wilson 21 |
| 2009–10 | Northern Premier League Premier Division |
7 | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 62 | 65 | -3 | 47 | 13th of 20 | 1,9543[30] | 4Q | 3Q | Phil Marsh 10 |
| 2010–11 | Northern Premier League Premier Division |
7 | 42 | 24 | 4 | 14 | 76 | 53 | +23 | 76 | 4th of 22 Playoffs Runner-up |
1,9614[31] | R2 | 3Q | Michael Norton 24 |
| 2011–12 | Northern Premier League Premier Division |
7 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 20 | 9th of 22 | 1,7595[32] | 2Q | – | Matthew Wolfenden 6 |
1: League games only
2: Includes games split between Gigg Lane, Bury (20 games, average 2,103) and Stainton Park, Radcliffe (1 game, 1,744)
3: Includes games split between Gigg Lane, Bury (18 games, average 1,971) and Ewen Fields, Hyde (1 game, 1,650)
4: Includes games split between Gigg Lane, Bury (15 games, average 2,089) and Bower Fold, Stalybridge (6 games, average 1,659)
5: Includes games split between Gigg Lane, Bury (4 games, average 1,814), Bower Fold, Stalybridge (2 games, average 1,618) and Tameside Stadium, Curzon Ashton (1 game 1,831)
Last Updated: 8 October 2011
Q = Qualifying Round; R = Round Proper; 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;
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