Football Club United of Manchester (FC United of Manchester or FC United for short) is an English football club, created by Manchester United supporters opposed to the purchase of their club by Malcolm Glazer. They were formed in 2005 and will play in the North West Counties Football League Division Two in the 2005-2006 season.
| Full name | Football Club United of Manchester | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | FC United | |
| Founded | 2005 | |
| Ground | Butcher's Arms, Droylsden (subject to council approval) | |
| Capacity | 3,500 | |
| Chairman | To be decided on 16 July, 2005 | |
| Manager | To be announced | |
| League | North West Counties Football League Division Two | |
| 2004-05 | N/A | |
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Football Club United of Manchester (FC United of Manchester or FC United for short) is an English football club, created by Manchester United supporters opposed to the purchase of their club by Malcolm Glazer. They were formed in 2005 and will play in the North West Counties League Division Two in the 2005-06 season.
Choice of name
They 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". Manchester United was founded as Newton Heath in 1878 and the latter two names represented claims to this heritage. On 14 June, 2005 it was announced that FC United of Manchester had been chosen with 44% of the vote. It was simultaneously announced that 2600 people had pledged money to the new club. As attendances in the league that they will enter are typically around 60, they are expected to be the best supported club in their divison by some distance.
Current league
The club has been admitted to the North West Counties Football League (also known as the Moore and Co Construction Solicitors League) and will play in Division Two of that league in the 2005-06 season. This puts the club at level ten of the English football league system, nine levels below the FA Premier League (and two levels lower than AFC Wimbledon started in 2002-2003 season). The divisions that they would have to pass through to reach the Premier League are as follows:
- FA Premier League
- Football League Championship
- Football League One
- Football League Two
- Conference National
- Conference North
- Northern Premier League Premier Division
- Northern Premier League First Division
- North West Counties Football League Division One
- North West Counties Football League Division Two
The club was formed after the deadline for entering the FA Cup had passed so they will not be playing in it in the 2005-06 season. They have been entered into the League Challenge Cup and will play Cheadle Town in the first round on 15 October, 2005.
Formation
At a Manchester United supporters' meeting on 19 May, 2005, the meeting's chairman Andy Walsh announced a meeting to discuss the formation of the club. The meeting took place at the Apollo Theatre, Manchester on 30 May, 2005. He also announced that Kris Stewart, the chairman of AFC Wimbledon, had offered advice on setting up the club. AFC Wimbledon was established in 2002 by supporters of the former Wimbledon F.C., which was purchased by Norwegian interests in 1999 and eventually moved to Milton Keynes in 2003, becoming Milton Keynes Dons.
First match
Leigh RMI have announced that FC United's first match will be a friendly against them on 16 July, 2005, to be played at Leigh RMI's ground.[1] They will play their home league matches at Droylsden F.C.'s stadium.
Notes
- ^ From www.leighrmi-mad.co.uk