FC United of Manchester
FC United of Manchester were set up by disgruntled Manchester United fans in 2005, who had threatened a similar move following a takeover attempt by Rupert Murdoch. The final straw saw their beloved Manchester United purchased by the Glazier Family. The new establishment can now proudly describe itself as a ‘member owned democratic, not-for-profit organisation.’
After just two weeks in existence they appointed Karl Marginson as the club's manager and played their first match. It was a 0-0 draw at Leigh in July 2005 in front of an impressive crowd. The game ended with a pitch invasion as the fans’ new heroes in red were carried off on their shoulders.
The next game for the non-league circuit's newest club was against AFC Wimbledon, another flourishing fan run club. Ground sharing with Bury at Gigg Lane, United entered the football ladder at the bottom, joining the 10th tier of English football when they were accepted into the North West Counties Football League.
The Red's tasted their first success on the pitch when they were crowned Division Two Champions in front of a record crowd and for the
2006-07 season they had set an ambitious target of a second consecutive promotion and achieved it with little difficulty. They began the season with 12 straight wins on their way to a fantastic league and cup double.
The following season United moved into the Unibond first division, looking for a 3rd straight championship. Impressively, they finished just a point behind Bradford Park Avenue before beating Skelmersdale United 4-1 in the play-off final.
A solid debut season in the Northern Premier League Division the Manchester side almost achieved a 4th consecutive promotion only being denied a play-final on the final game of the season.
Despite a fairly poor showing in the Unibond Premier League this term it has not stopped some fantastic support for the club. With plans for a possible move to Newton Heath, the original home of Manchester United they will hope home comforts can bring the club to the next landmark, Conference football.
Football Focus Magazine spoke to their General Manager, Andy Walsh last month. We began with youth football...
Q How important is youth football to the club?
“Youth football is fundamental to the club. We have a strong youth team and have developed a strong relationship with Manchester College. Their teams compete as FC United in national and regional competitions. We do not have any junior teams below U18s as we prefer to work with a range of existing local junior clubs to help them with the work they are already doing with young people in Manchester. We provide coaching, help with grant funding applications and kit procurement. As well as coaching support we offer free tickets to games and opportunities to raise funds through ticketing schemes.”
Q Would you consider yours a community club?
“Community is central to everything we do from our coaching and involvement with junior clubs to the development of an extensive and award winning community programme of work with schools, colleges, housing associations and local councils.
Football is not only a wonderful sport and a great way to keep fit and active but it is also a great way to engage with young people who otherwise feel they have been passed by or ignored by society. We use our community programme to help people come together and overcome difficulties in their lives and as a hook to deliver key messages about health, well being and community cohesion.”
Q Do you feel that the fairly negative financial news surrounding Manchester United off the field at the moment has helped to vindicate the birth of FC?
“The Glazer takeover at Manchester United was always going to end up with the club saddled with a heavy debt burden. The fans did all they could to stop the takeover in 2005 the FA, Premier League and Government refused to help us and welcomed the Glazer’s in. Many fans can no longer afford to attend Premiership games and games lower down are becoming increasingly expensive too. The pressure on clubs to compete has seen owners jeopardise the future of clubs to chase success when they get bored or run out of money they disappear leaving supporters to pick up the pieces, at FC United we are trying to show that an alternative model of ownership can work where supporters take responsibility for running the club. It works very successfully elsewhere such as in Germany and at Barcelona we believe it can work in England too.”
Q Are there any guys showing particular promise at the club?
“We have a few good prospects at the club. Five players came through our youth team last year to join the first team squad with a further six joining other local non-league sides. Last year’s leading scorer Kyle Wilson signed a professional contract with Macclesfield and former player Rory Patterson has just got his first international cap for Northern Ireland.”
Q What are the clubs ambitions for the next 5 years?
“We had a decent cup run this year and are still in with a shout of the play offs, with an announcement on a ground of our own shortly we are quite happy with the way the season has gone so far. Getting to the play offs remains a target.
The central ambition is to develop our own ground without which it will be very difficult for us to compete at a reasonable level.”