WE’LL ALWAYS STAND UNITED
VERY few clubs can trace their formation back to a specific event that shaped the future of another. But then again, FC United of Manchester have never been just another club.
Formed in 2005 after the Glazers completed one of the most controversial takeovers in English football history, the NPL Premier Division side has gone from being a protest club – and a vehicle for disaffected Manchester United supporters to get their football fix away from Old Trafford – to one of the most instantly recognisable entities outside the Football League.
But now, as a number of interested parties make their interest knowing to take the club off the Glazers’ hands, is there a concern that the Manchester fanbase will be split again?
According to Natalie Atkinson, the club’s chief executive, the answer to that is a resounding ‘no’.
“I’m not worried at all because we’re established as a club in our own right now,” she told The NLP.
“We’ve got a core fanbase but everyone keeps asking the same question – will they go back to United? But I don’t think they will. I think disaffection with the owners also includes disaffection with the Premier League and the way football is run at the highest level.
“Yes we set up our club because of discontent with the owners and the Glazers but this is our 18th year and we’re established.
“We’re deep-rooted in the community. We don’t have one owner or one benefactor. The difference is that 3,000 people own this football club and 3,000 people are able to have a say on how it’s run and how it’s managed and what they want to see in the community and what they want to see on matchdays.
Strategy
“The reason we do what we do is for those 3,000 people and over a thousand season ticket holders.
“Every decision we make is for them, and, I believe, that gets lost when you have one benefactor.”
In fact, regardless of events at Old Trafford and the talk of the potential £6bn sale of a club already enjoying a significant onpitch revival, FC United are looking to the future with increasing confidence.
“We launched our business plan in June, which is our three year strategy looking at development and growth in new areas,” says Atkinson.
“We’ve never really spoken about the commercialisation of the football club before but we’re on an incredible journey. I’ve been in and around Non-League football a long time, and a lot of people have a NonLeague club as their second team.
Approach
“But what we’re increasingly seeing is that that second team is becoming their first team, and it’s the same for their children. Non-League footbali is becoming increasingly highlighted because people want to support their local team and community. That’s the beauty of FC – people support us because they feel like they want to give something back.”
As it stands, there are no plans for the club to alter its approach, regardless of who is writing the cheques at Old Trafford. There are also no plans to make any concessions on a matchday.
So, would FC United would consider switching fixture times so that any potential Old Trafford returnees could watch their much larger neighbours in the result of any clash?
“It’s not something we would do or have any plans to do,” says Atkinson.
So the message from FC United of Manchester is clear.
You do what you do at Old Trafford. And we’ll go about our business.