Cod Army boss plots to take on the world

IF YOU were asked to name an English football club responsible for creating a network of teams spanning the globe, Manchester City would most probably spring to mind.

But what you might not know is that a similar international expansion is being plotted elsewhere in the north west of England – and more specifically down in the lower reaches of League One.

Because simply masterminding Fleetwood Town’s fairy-tale rise through the divisions over the last two decades has not been enough for ambitious chairman Andy Pilley (above).

No, now he is setting his sights much further afield than the Cod Army and Lancashire’s Fylde Coast.

The Blackpool-born businessman has recently overseen the creation of both Western Cape Fleetwood FC in South Africa and Fleetwood

United in the United Arab Emirates – and he has big plans for both teams in the future.

But why would the owner of a club whose main aim this season has been to stave off relegation from the third tier choose to go global?

Pilley replied: “I have an enormous love of football.

“So when I’m abroad on business, I’ve started to look at the local football teams in the area.

“And when I’ve taken stock of the situation, it’s my belief that both areas really can grow.

“When I look back on my Fleetwood journey, we started in the North West Counties League, five leagues below the Football League, and won six promotions in 10 years – so I’ve starred in this movie before!

“It might be a different part of the world, but it’s fantastic when you can win promotions and win leagues – and that’s what we want to do.”

Pilley is particularly keen for his new clubs to exploit the youth development expertise that has created a well-worn path from academy to first team at Fleetwood. It saw the club provide seven players to various Under-21 international teams in November.

Though he concedes it would be a long shot to bring any youngsters developed overseas to the UK – principally due to Brexit red tape – player creation also has the potential to create its own rewards.

Pilley added: “My ultimate target is that I don’t think a football club should ever be reliant on one individual’s finances – and Fleetwood has been for 18 years while I’ve been the owner.

“So I have to have a plan. It’s a small town, we’re never going to get big gates because the population is 25,000 people.

“So we have to work smart, think outside the box and come up with ways.

“Because we have this track record of creating players, we find we can attract players to our clubs with the model being that we want to climb leagues and provide a stepping stone for players.

“And I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting adventure.”

Despite flying over to Dubai, Pilley ultimately missed out on watching Fleetwood United’s firstever game there due to an unexpected postponement, but they, like their sister club in South Africa, eventually got off to a winning start.

However, the owner of this collection of clubs certainly isn’t getting carried away.

He remains realistic about the prospect of them going on to match City Football Group’s tally of 41 trophies thus far.

He says: “I think Man City’s model is about world domination – ours is about player creation!

“There’s a big world out there – we’re all aware of that – but I really do think we can create players elsewhere in the world.

“It’s not exactly a fair comparison, but I’d obviously always take being compared to Manchester City... they’re a great club.”