County host FC United tomorrow in a 3pm kick-off and, ahead of this Vanarama National League North tie, County Tweet-meister (as quoted on the BBC Tweet of the Week more than once) Gareth Evans has put together five factoids on FC United for you.
1. Goodness me – are those ‘Red Rebels’ coming to Edgeley again? That’s thrice this year!
Quite correct. And, of course, it will be our fourth meeting of 2017 in all, when last month’s FA Cup replay at Broadhurst Park is added – although, by the time the year is out, FC will have to share the accolade of ‘most frequently met team’ with Brackley and Curzon Ashton, both of whom we are scheduled to visit next month.
2. Yet another opposing club born in the 21st Century, too.
Yes – and the only one of the four (after Nuneaton, Spennymoor and Telford) that we have have yet to meet in the National League North this term. Technically speaking, the Red Rebels – formed in 2005 and three years before Nuneaton Town rose from the ashes of the liquidated ‘Boro’ – are not the youngest among the quartet, although, in a footballing sense, they may be considered the newest, given that the other three have followed in the footsteps, and continue to play at the same grounds as those, of clubs that have folded.
3. So – by ‘new’, you mean a protest-club, set up to counter Malcolm Glazer’s takeover at Old Trafford?
The failure to repel Glazer was certainly a key factor in the mind of those disaffected Manchester United fans when it came to setting up a supporter-owned, not-for-profit club – and, indeed, the idea had first been mooted during the late 1990s when a similar approach by Rupert Murdoch was successfully kept at bay – but there were additional, pre-existing reasons, borne out of the experience of following a Premier League outfit. Irritation over ticket prices, the lack of atmosphere in new, all-seater grounds, over-zealous stewards and the constant tinkering of kick-off times to accommodate live television all played their part, too.
The Red Rebels do follow the lead of the ‘Red Devils’ when it comes to sporting club colours of red, white and black, and their supporters chant songs once favoured by the other United – but FC’s shirts never carry the names of sponsors. And, on the pitch, the team has climbed four tiers of the non-league pyramid since beginning life in the Second Division of the North West Counties Football League. Three of them, in fact, were successfully negotiated in FC’s first three seasons, which yielded two NWCFL titles and promotion, through the 2008 play-offs, from the Northern Premier League First Division North. Seven seasons of competing in the NPL Premier Division followed, and included three consecutive near-misses as beaten play-off finalists between 2010/11 and 2012/13, before FC’s efforts were eventually rewarded two years ago with the championship and automatic promotion to the NLN – where, to date, the club has, unluckily or otherwise, finished 13th on both occasions.
4. Broadhurst Park’s opening coincided with that last promotion, didn’t it?
Well remembered – albeit quite easily, as the Hatters were the first visitors for a competitive match there! Second-half goals from Calum Dyson and Kay Odejayi spoiled the party in Moston on 11 August 2015, to secure three points for County after the hosts had taken a lead before the break.
For the first nine years of FC’s life, the club plied much of its trade at Bury – although delays in the construction of Broadhurst Park during 2014/15 saw the Red Rebels having to call Staybridge Celtic’s Bower Fold and Curzon Ashton’s Tameside Stadium their temporary homes after leaving Gigg Lane. At various times before that, fixture clashes with Bury had also seen them play at Altrincham, Hyde and Radcliffe Borough.
5. And what of players who have turned out for both clubs?
Between them, they could fill most of the positions required in a squad. Goalkeeper James Spencer (at County from 2001 to 2007) could go between the sticks – protected by defenders Tom Eckersley (2012), Kyle Jacobs (2013/14 and 2015), Dale Tonge (2015/16) and current Red Rebel, Jordan Fagbola (2012-16).
Our own Harry Winter (who joined us from Moston earlier this year) would be accompanied in midfield by Richie Baker (2014/15), Sam Sheridan (2011/12), Andy Welsh (2001-04) and Greg Wilkinson (2015), while the attack might include Micah Evans (2015/16), Tom Fisher (2009-11), Glynn Hurst (2001) and, finally, Sefton Gonzales (2015 and 2017), who has just this week left Broadhurst Park less than a month after arriving.
