[NBR] Local non-league - Fleetwood Town, AFC Blackpool, AFC Fylde, Squires Gate etc

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Conference North
Fleetwood Town 1 Hucknall Town 3, attendance 521

On a disastrous night for Town, they not only lost to Hucknall, another team at the bottom of the Conference National, but it was their third consecutive home defeat, and it sees them now joint bottom of the league alongside Hucknall and Solihull Moors all of whom are on 5 points. It was also a defeat too far for Tony Greenwood, Towns long term manager as he was sacked after the match.

The crowd of 521 was exactly half the number that attended the Tamworth home game on 30th August. Hucknall were fully deserving winners though and the alarm bells are starting to ring on and off the field at Highbury Avenue.

Hucknall took the lead after just 4 minutes, but Fleetwood equalised on 12 minutes through Kieran Walmsley and they held on until half-time. However, Hucknall took the lead again on 51 minutes and stretched their lead further toward the end of the game on 81 minutes.

Fleetwood today though too drastic action and sacked not only Tony Greenwood but also his assistant. Greenwood was in his seventh season as boss of the club having overseen the rapid rise of the club up the non-league pyramid from the North West Counties League to the Conference North just two leagues below the Football League. Town had gone into the season on a high with big expectations, and the superb development of the stadium, but a disatrous start to the season has seen crowds dwindle.

Also sacked are Nigel Greenwood, the younger brother of the manager and his also his asssistant, together with coach Andy Whittaker..

An official club statement said,

"Fleetwood Town wishes to announce manager Tony Greenwood has left the club with immediate effect..... Whilst under Tony's guidance the club has enjoyed tremendous recent success. However, Fleetwood has made a poor start to the current season and it is felt the appointment of a new management team is needed if the club's progress it to be maintained."

They went on to record their grateful thanks for everything Greenwood has done for the club. However, when the Blackpool Gazette approached him earlier today, Greenwood wasn't even aware he had been sacked.

The rumours about who the new manager will be has already started with one high profile name being mentioned, Andy Preece the former Blackpool player who still lives in Blackpool and who went on to manage Bury from 1999 to 2003, after joining them as a player in 1998 from Blackpool. He also managed Worcester City from 2005 to 2007, who also played in the Conference North. Preece made it known last weekend that he is available for a return to management after having resolved issues with Worcester.

My own opinion is that Preece would make a good manager for the club, but whether he would want to take the job on or not is another matter.

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Fleetwood Town news (well speculation really!)

Former Blackpool player Andy Preece has today spoken about the situation at Fleetwood and confirmed that "it is the sort of job he would be interested in". Preece, who lives near Stanley Park in Blackpool, said he has followed the club's results since they were promoted. He did though also say, "I've heard the rumours about me being lined up. People have put two and two together because I live locally and managed in the Blue Square North."

Whether Preece would want to manage Fleetwood Town remains to be seen. He says he doesn't mind whether he ends up at a league or non-league club, just that he wants to go to a club with ambitions. Fleetwood certainly are ambitious.

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This weekends matches are

Conference North
Fleetwood Town vs Alfreton Town

Town go into tomorrow's home match under caretaker manager Steve Macauley, who had left the club in the summer to concentrate on his physiotherapy practice and who met the players for training for the first time on Thursday evening.

Alfreton is a town in the Amber Valley, Derbyshire. Their current manager Nicky Law played 66 league matches for Blackpool between 1985 and 1987. He has managed four League clubs, Chesterfield, Bradford City and Grimsby Town. Last season they finished in 16th place in the Conference North. This season they are currently in 7th place in the league.

Fleetwood are expected to appoint a new manager as soon as possible with Andy Preece strongly tipped as the club's prime target.

FA Vase Second Qualifying Round
AFC Blackpool vs Squires Gate

AFC Blackpool and Squires Gate meet at Jepson Way in the FA Vase, the trophy for non-league clubs from Level nine of the English league system, which was won by Kirkham & Wesham (before their name change to AFC Fylde) last season. Blackpool are one league below Gate who are in the NWCL Premier Division while Blackpool are in the First Divsion. In the league, Blackpool have had a poor start to the season and are yet to win. They are in 16th place out of 18 teams. Gate, in the league above, are in 15th place out of 22 teams. Gate will start favourites but in the Cup and a local derby it could go either way.

NWCL Premier Division
Newcastle Town vs AFC Fylde

Fylde face a tough match at Newcastle Town who are flying high in the NWCL Premier Division, in first place having won 5 and drawn 1 of their six league games, scoring 20 goals and conceding just twice. Fylde are currently in 9th place, but have played just four games, winning three and losing one.

Newcastle are from the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, a market town in Staffordshire. Last season they just missed out on promotion finishing in 3rd place in the Premier Division.

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Results from Saturday 20th September

Conference North
Fleetwood Town 1 Alfreton Town 1, attendance 812
Without a manager Town at least managed to get a point out of the match, in front of what was the days highest attendance in the Conference North. A late equaliser from Andy Bell gave Town a share of the points. Getting one point hasn't helped them in the table though as they remain in a relegation place in 21st out of 22 teams.

FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round
AFC Blackpool 1 Squires Gate 2, attendance N/K
Gate are through to the 1st round of the FA Vase with this close victory over there next door neighbours. Even though Blackpool play a league below it took extra time for Gate to win the match.

NWCL Premier Division
Newcastle Town 2 AFC Fylde 3, attendance 106
Fylde moved up to 5th place in the NWCL Premier Division, with a record of 4 wins and just 1 defeat after 5 league games. Fyldes goals came from Mick Horsfall, Sean Paterson and sub Matt Walwyn.

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Fleetwood Town new manager

The club's new manager is Scottish former Blackpool player Micky Mellon.

Mellon, 36, is currently a youth team coach at Burnley, another former club of his, a role which he will continue to fulfill while also managing Fleetwood. He still lives in Blackpool where he moved to when he joined the club in the early 1990s.

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NWCL Premier Division
Ashton Athletic 0 AFC Fylde 3, attendance 90

Fylde moved up to third place on 15 points in the Premier Division with this away win, their ourth consecutive victory. They are now just one point behid second place Glossop North End and only two points behind Newcastle Town in top spot. However, Fylde have a game in hand on both clubs.

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FA Cup, second qualifying round
Wakefield 0 Fleetwood Town 3, attendance 161

Fleetwood under new manager Micky Mellon overcame their opponents from Yorkshire who play in the Northern Premier League, Division One North, two levels below Town. Their goals coming from Adam Warlow (23 mins), Jamie Milligan (72 mins) and Colin Potts (78 mins)

NWCL Premier League
AFC Fydle 1 Runcorn Linnets 0, attendance 351

In front of what was easily their highest league crowd of the 2008-09 season, Fylde kept up their winning streak at home to Runcorn, a result which saw them leap to the top of the table. Fylde won the game with an 82nd minute goal from Mark Wane. Linnets were only formed in 2006 following the folding of the towns former club, Runcorn FC Halton.

Silsden 2 Squires gate 2, attendance 133

The top of the table now reads (there are 22 clubs in the league)
1st AFC Fylde - pld 7, pts 18
2nd New Mills - pld 9, pts 18
3rd Newcastle Town - pld 8, pts 17
4th Glossop North End - pld 9, pts 17
5th Winsford United pld 7, pts 15
6th Congleton Town pld 6, pts 15
7th Nelson pld 10, pts 14
8th Runcorn Linnets pld 8, pts 13
9th St Helens Town pld 6, pts 12
10th Alsager Town pld 10, pts 12

Squires Gate are in 18th out of 22 clubs on 8 points

NWCL Division One
AFC Blackpool 3 AFC Liverpool 6, attendance 182

The two "Pool AFC's" met at Jepson Way, in front of what was Blackpools biggest crowd of the season so far (and will almost certainly be the seasons best crowd), but got hammered by the Reds of Liverpool. AFC Liverpool are a fans club, set up by fans of Liverpool for those who can't get into Anfield. However, unlike FC United of Manchester who were set up in opposition to the rnning of the club by the Glazers, AFC Liverpool have the full backing and support of Liverpool FC, who even showed highlights of their first ever game on LFC TV.

The result leaves Blackpool struggling down at the bottom of Division One.

14th Holker Old Boys pld 4, pts 6
15th Darwen pld 8, pts 5
16th AFC Blackpool pld 6, pts 4
17th Rochdale Town pld 8, pts 4
18th Ashton Town pld 7, pts 3

Fortunately for them, there is no automatic relegation. Below the league are a number of even more localised regional leagues, none of which have automatic promotion, but who can be promoted if they apply and are accepted. The leagues below are the Liverpool County Premier League, Manchester Leage, Cheshire Association Football League, Staffordshire County Senior League, West Cheshire Amateur County League and the West Lancashire League (the league where a number of local Fylde coast clubs play).

West Lancashire League update
Premier Division
In the fifteen club Premier Division, Blackpool Wren Rovers have had a good start to the season, and are currently in third place having won five of their seven games, drawing one and losing one.

Freckleton are in seventh place on 12 points. Having started well with three wins, two draws and no defeats, they have since lost two of their last three games, drawing the other one.

Garstang, the WLL champions last season, are one place behind Freckleton in eighth place on 10 points from six games. They had a good start to the season with three wins and a draw, btu have lost their last two games.

Poulton Town are in eleventh place. They have played more games than anyone in the league - ten so far. They have won just two and drawn two, losing the other six, and have 8 points. However, they had a dreadful start to the season, drawing their first game, then losing the next five games. They have though won two of their last four games and seen a slight improvement.

Division One
Division One has fourteen clubs. Norcross & Warbreck are currently in 9th place on 6 points from five games. Wyre Villa are one place behind them in 10th on 5 points also from five games. Villa though lost their two opening games and have since won two and drawn one.

Division Two
In the thirteen club Division Two, Lytham Town currently lie in sixth place with 7 points from five games. They have had a real mixture of results though, losing their opening day fixture 8-0 at Furness Cavaliers, and beating Lancashire Constabulary away from home 7-1.

Thornton Cleveleys are just behind Lytham in seventh place with six points, however they have played just three games so far this season.

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FA Cup, third qualifying round draw

Fleetwood have been given a good chance to win through to the last qualfying round before the First Round proper and the entry of Football League One and Two clubs into the competition, with a home tie against Frickley Athletic.

All matches are due to be played on Saturday 11th October. Frickley will be the second consecutive Yorkshire opposition in the FA Cup. And it was at home to Frickley Athletic, on the final day of last season that Town were crowned champions of the Northern Premier League, Premier Division.

Frickley are from the town of South Emsall, in West Yorkshire. Their name comes from Frickley Colliery a former mining pit that closed in 1993. Their Westield stadium backs onto the former colliery, and is overlooked by a huge spoil heap.

[Dynamogal]

Lovely....:D

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e9/GMB_stadium1.jpg/250px-GMB_stadium1.jpg

[M]

Lovely....:D


Looks a lot better than it used to now there's some grass growing on it!

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Fleetwood Town news

Fleetwood this week announced the signing of the French born Cape Verde player George Santos from fellow Conference North club Farsley Celtic.

At 38 Santos is clearly way past his best, however he has a wealth of experience in English football where he has played since 1998. Fleetwood are his 12th club in England. It was his stint at Sheffield United for which he is most remembered between 2000 and 2002, when he was one of three United players sent off in what became known as "The Battle of Brammall Lane", a match against another former club of his West Bromwich Albion which was abandoned ater 82 minutes when with more injuries and no subs left to bring on, United were reduced to six players on the pitch. A horrendous foul by Santos on West Broms Andy Johnson sparked a mass brawl in the 65th minute.

Later at Grimsby Town Santos was their Player of the Season in 2002-03, his only season at the club. Santos has never really settled at any club. At QPR between 2004 and 2005 he made his most league appearances for any of the clubs he has played for - 74.

A good signing for Fleetwood who will bring a wealth of experience and maybe the idea is also to have him help coaching.

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Results for Saturday 4th October

Conference North
Gainsborough Trinity 3 Fleetwood Town 4, attendance 329

Fleetwood moved out of the relegation places with this, only their second win of the season, but a very welcome win under new manager Micky Mellon and with new signing Georges Santos in the side. Trinity were founded in 1873 and in their early years played in the Football League from 1891 to 1912. Gainsborough is a small town in Lincolnshire.

Fleetwood were 1-0 up by half-time thanks to a goal from Andy Bell in the 23rd minute. In the second half Trinity went in front with goals from Simon Bird and Lewis McMahon. Kevin Leadbetter then scored twice in three minutes to put Fleetwood back in front at 3-2 before Davies levelled for Trinity. But, it was Leadbetter who was to have the final say, completing his hat-trick in the 83rd minute to secure the win and the points for Twon.

FA Vase First round proper
Penrith 2 Squires Gate 1, attendance 60

Gate went out of the FA Vase, even though they took the lead after 53 minutes. But two late goals from Penrith saw them through to the second round. Penrith, from the Cumbrian town of the same name, play in the Northern League, Division One following promotion from Division Two in the 2007-08 season.

NWCL Premier Division
Formby 1 AFC Fylde 5, attendance 68

Fylde kept up their highly impressive start to their first season in the Premier Division with this convincing win at Formby. The town of Formby is historically a part of Lancashire for centuries, but since 1974 has been part of Merseyside.

Two goals up by half-time, Fylde added a two more before Formby finally got a goal. Former Blackpool youngster Sean Paterson added a fifth in the 88th minute. Fylde are now three points clear of second placed New Mills with a game in hand at the top of the table.

NWCL First Division
AFC Blackpool 0 Wigan Robin Park 1, attendance 40

An 18th minte goal was enough to give the away team all three points. Mechs are now in 17th out of 18 in the league with jst one win and one draw out of seven games. Only Ashton Town lie below them in the table.

This is Wigan Robin Park's first season at this level. They were only founded in 2005 as part of the Robin Park Arena in Wigan. And they were promoted from the Manchester Football League First Division to the Premier Division in only their second season. In 2007-08 they were promoted again, this time as champions of the Premier Division. Robins Park Arena is on Loire Drive in Wigan, next to the JJB stadium, home to Wigan Athletic FC and Wigan Warriors RLFC.

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Video footage of Fleetwood Towns 82nd minute equaliser at home to Alfreton Town on 20th September.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Vc4Rg4sAg

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The Blackpool Gazette has three Fleetwood Town video interviews on their site -

Interview with clu chairman Andy Pilley
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sports-news/Andy-Piley-video-interview.4556199.jp (http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sports-news/Andy-Piley-video-interview.4556199.jp)

Interview with manager Mickey Mellon
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sports-news/Mickey-Mellon-speaks-to-GTV.4556069.jp (http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sports-news/Mickey-Mellon-speaks-to-GTV.4556069.jp)

Interview with coach Steve Macauley
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sports-news/Macauley-talks-to-GTV.4556256.jp

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Non-league attendance news

In the Conference National, the average attendances are healthy. Highest are Oxford United with an average of 4,305. Only four clubs have averages below 1,000 (Northwich Victoria 949, Lewes 858, Histon 808 and Grays Athletic 664).

In the Conference North, despite being down near the foot of the table, Fleetwood Town have the fourth highest average home crowd which is still an 11% increase from their crowds last season. AFC Telford United lead the way with an average of 1,831. Then Kings Lynn with 1,153, Southport with 939 and Fleetwood Town with 802. Vauxhall Motors have the lowest with 184.

In the Conference South, AFC Wimbledon are way above every other club with an average of 2,930.

Below the two regional Conference leagues in the Northern Premier League FC United of Manchester are averaging 2,295 at Bury FCs home ground. By comparison Bury who play in Football League Two are averaging only just over 600 more with 2,940.

In the NWCL Premier Division, AFC Fylde who are top of the league also lead the way in attendances with an average of 218, which is 63% up on last seasons average of 134. Squires Gate average is 72 which is still 9% up from the 68 from last season! Lowest are Bacup Borough with an average of just 38.

In the NWCL Division Two the AFC Blackpool average is 78, a 20% increase from last season. However, this includes their home match with AFC Liverpool who have way more support than other clubs in the league and when the two teams met in Blackpool, had the majority of the support in a crowd of 182. AFC Liverpool have an average of 426.

The West Lancashire League doesn't produce any official attendances.

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AFC Fylde

Holders AFC Fylde begin their defence of the FA Vase trophy at home to Newcastle Benfield, who they beat 5-2 last season in the third round. This time they play them in the second round, with the match due to be played on 15th November.

Newcastle Benfield play in the Northern League, Division One and have so far this season reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup and last week beat Peterlee 4-1 in the first round of the FA Vase.

The club are based in the Walkergate area of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. They are a relatively young club, being founded as Brunswick Village FC in 1988. Since then they seem to have a fixation for name changes. After just one season they changed name to Heaton Corner House FC, then when they moved stadiums, to Newcastle Benfield Park FC. Then in 1999 they merged with North Shields FC and became Newcastle Benfield Saints FC before becoming Newcastle Benfield Bay Plastics FC in 2005. Maybe they might stick with Newcastle Benfield for a few seasons now!! :D

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Result for Tuesday 7th October

NWCL Premier Division
Squires Gate 3 Atherton Collieries 1, attendance 55

Gate scored two goals in the last 17 minutes to take all three points and move four places up the table to 15th in a amtch played for the most part in torrential rain. Atherton took the lead on 10 minutes before Gate equalised on 39 minutes through a Nigel Taylor penalty. Kevan Ford put Gate in the lead late on in the second half before Paul Ryan added a third from 30 yards in the last minute.

Atherton Collieries are one of two clubs from the small town of Atherton in the Premier Division, the other being Atherton Laburnum Rovers. Atherton has a population of under 20,000 and is in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.

AFC Fylde's game at home to St Helens Town was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

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Fleetwood Town news

Yesterday Fleetwood signed David McNiven on a one month loan deal from fellow Conference North club Stafford Rangers.

McNiven is a striker who has a wealth of experience in non-league football as well as spells in the Scottish League (with Hamilton Academical and Queen of the South) and in the Football League with Oldham Athletic, York City and Scarborough.

He was born in Leeds but raised along with his twin brother Scott in Lytham St Annes. Scott is also a professional footballer. He spent seven years at Oldham Athletic between 1995 and 2002 and has since played for a number of league clubs and now non-league. He had a handful of games for Fleetwood in the 2006-07 season. And he, like David, is also back on the Fylde coast, as he is now playing for AFC Fylde.

Their father, also called David, was also a professional footballer. He played for Leeds United (1972 to 1978), Bradford City and 49 league appearances for Blackpool as well as playing for Halifax Town and Morecambe.

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Fixtures for Saturday 11th October

FA Cup Third Qualifying Round

Fleetwood Town vs Frickley Athletic
After back-to-back league wins Town hit the FA Cup trail again tomorrow at home to Frickley. Club captain, Jamie Milligan said of new manager Micky Mellon, "Micky is a quality coach who is good at telling you what he wants. But the main thing is that he has got the lads working hard. Maybe we had slackened off a bit but we are being a bit more professional now."

Milligan recalls watching Mellon as a Blackpool player from the Bloomfield Road terraces, though their paths had barely crossed until his appointment as Town boss last month.

A win tomorrow would see Town just one match from the first round proper and the entry of Football League One and Football League Two teams. However they have to overcome Frickley first and then in the final qualifying round the Conference National clubs enter the cup.

Frickley were the vistitors on the final day of last season when Town were crowned Northern Premier League champions and promoted in front of a crowd of over 2,000. They are hoping for a big turn out tomorrow.

NWCL Premier Division

AFC Fylde vs Winsford United
Like Fleetwood, Fylde are hoping for a bigger turnout tomorrow with the International break meaning no matches for Blackpool fans. Their highest attendance so far this season was 351 for the last home match and they will be hoping to beat that as they look to maintain their lead at the top of the Premier Division table.

Winsford United are from the town of Winsford in Cheshire. After spending a few seasons in the Northern Premier Division they suffered three relegations in four seasons, ending up in the NWCL Division Two (now renamed Division One) The club were promoted to the Premier Division as champions in the 2006-07 season and finished mid-table in 10th last season.

Flixton vs Squires Gate

Squires Gate are away in the league tomorrow to Flixton. Flixton is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, about 6.5 miles southwest from Manchester city centre. It is within the historic county of Lancashire. Flixton FC were founded in 1960. They were promoted to the Premier Division in the 2006-07 season. Bizarrely there is another football club in Flixton who broke away from Flixton FC, to form Trafford FC, and they now play at a higher level being in the Northern Premier League, Division One North following promotion from the NWCL Premier Division last season.

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Results for Saturday 11th October

FA Cup, Third Qualifying Round

Fleetwood Town 2 Frickley Athletic 0, attendance 772
Town moved on to the fourth and final qualifying round of this seasons FA Cup with this win over Yorkshire outfit Frickley Athletic. The crowd of 772 was probably a bit of a dissapointment.

Neither Georges Santos nor David McNiven played today as Town took the lead after nine minutes through an Andy Bell strike. Five minutes later Ricky Mercer made it 2-0 and just before half-time, keeper Danny Hurst saved a Frickley penalty kick. They are now in the draw for the fourth qualifying round to be played in two weeks time when the Conference National clubs join them. But enticingly they are now just one match from the First Round Proper when Football Leagues One and Two clubs enter the FA Cup.

NWCL, Premier Division

AFC Fylde 5 Winsford United 1, attendance 306
Another emphatic win for Fylde, their seventh on the trot, kept them clear at the top of the Premier Division table in front of their second largest crowd of the season. Fylde are one point ahead of Newcastle Town at the top of the table on 24 points from nine games. Newcastle though, on 23 points have played a game more.

Fylde took the lead through an own goal on 28 minutes and added a second after 35 minutes. Winsford pulled a goal back right on the stroke of half time, but three goals in the second half secured all three points for Fylde.

Flixton 3 Squires Gate 3, attendance 30
In front of a very low crowd, Gate came back to Blackpool with a point in a high scoring draw. Gate have moved up the table now to 14th on 12 points from 8 games. They do though have at least one game in hand on most clubs around them, and even three games in hand on one club, Alsager Town who are in 13th place on 13 points.

Oddly, the first half was scoreless and all the goals came in the second half. Gate took the lead on 51 minutes but Flixton equalised a minute later before taking the lead themselves on 62 minutes. Gate then equalised on 77 minutes and took the lead again with eight minutes left of the game, only for Flixton to equalise again through a penalty with just two minutes left, for a share of the points.

NWCL League Cup, First Round

AFC Blackpool 0 Bootle 2, attendance 37
I had forgotten that this game was on, and probably best I had, as in front of just 37 fans Blackpool went out of the League Cup in the first round to two second half goals.