Five years on, the club founded by breakaway Man United fans have just qualified for the FA Cup first round for the first time, and will play local club Rochdale. FCUM have also turned full circle with plans to build a new stadium in Newton Heath, and currently play in the Northern Premier League, three levels below League Two.
Also, AFC Wimbledon are top of the Conference at the moment and should hopefully be in the league next year. Good to see. Do you know how FCUM's attendances are doing these days? I think they were regularly getting 3,500 - 4,000 in the beginning.
FCUM, moving a games kick off for television??
Already using their financial muscle to outbid all the clubs around them for players.
It's a real fairytale.
And don't get me started on AFC Wimbledon!!
They've stabilised around 2,000 these days, but that's still roughly the same as their landlords Bury, so if eventually they climb the pyramid again, they could well draw the same interest they had in the beginning.Originally Posted by holidaysong
There was a big debate on entering the FA Cup in the first place because of that issue actually.Here's the explaination. There is a big drop in prices though for the game. Difference is, the AGM's on sunday - if the members don't like it they can vote down the board.
Less of an issue now than it was at the start - hence they've stalled. Pretty much as AFC Wimbledon did. Obviously not helped by the costs involved in using Gigg Lane (and other grounds).
If you attack me with stupidity, I'll be forced to defend myself with sarcasm.
It is a myth that FCUM has a lot of money, they are struggling badly to raise £3.5m for their new stadium
The Hallion Battalion Molests football.:D
Unsurprisingly, FC instantly sold their 3,500 ticket allocation - the tie's supposed to earn them £67,000 through TV rights and prize money, so you'd probably be talking six figures if they'd got a home draw.
Split gates for the FA Cup, so they'll get more from this game.
Struggling badly might be a bit extreme, but they are getting hammered for rent, which makes it harder for them to raise the money. They don't get the advantage/ benefit their gates might suggest.
If you attack me with stupidity, I'll be forced to defend myself with sarcasm.
happy days for bury so
FCUM beat rochdale with a stoppage time winner!
was 11/1 with PP before kick off, must have been a nice price on betfair!
Think it was 17.5 on Betfair if I remember correctly. I was putting a bet on the Monaghan - Bray play-off and went for a long shot bet to accompany it. Obviously I went with St. Pauli in the Bundesliga instead of FCUM.
Brighton will host FCUM after drawing 2-2 in their replay with Woking and winning on penalties. The hosts are top of League One, so while it is the worst draw possible for FC United, at least they'll be facing a real high-quality team.
MUFC v FCUM?
The fairytale nearly continued for FC United today, leading Brighton until the equaliser in the 83rd minute, before clinging on by saving a penalty in the sixth minute of injury-time! Still, and most importantly, the non-leaguers are in tomorrow's third-round draw at 6pm, so a trip to Old Trafford could well be on the cards. No luck for Wimbledon, crashing 0-2 to Stevenage.
Since exiting the FA Cup, FCUM have won virtually all their matches and are on the brink of promotion through the playoffs to Conference North. Obviously, they're counting no chickens yet, but if they did go up, they could realistically aim for League 2 within five years. Wimbledon have been toppled by moneybags Crawley, but should still win promotion to the Football League.
Tonight FC United travel to meet their arch-rivals for promotion, Chester FC (basically a reformed Chester City), but the main talking point is likely to be the attendance - both sides have fanbase levels similar to League Two clubs, so a crowd of over 4,000 is likely to pack into Chester's stadium for the encounter.
Chester beat FC United 2-1 in front of a slightly disappointing 3,219 at the Deva Stadium. That said, it was the ninth-highest non-league crowd of the season so far. Not bad for a Step 3 side, when you consider that the BSBP (Conference) is chock-full of ex-League teams like Luton, Grimsby, Mansfield, York and Cambridge United.
PP
Semper in faecibus sole profundum variat
So if you sign good players that's a bad thing? Should they be crap then to make them more of a 'pure' football club?
In any case, if they had been outbidding everyone, they wouldn't have been stuck at Level 7 for four years, will be needing another cup run, you suspect, to keep the show on the road.
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