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

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FA Cup draw

Fleetwood have been handed a great chance of reaching the First Round proper with a home tie against Nantwich Town in the Fourth Qualifying round.

Nantwich have had two successive promotions which has seen them rise from the NWCL First Division (what is now the NWCL Premier Division) to the Northern Premier League, Premier Division. They are in their first ever season at that level. Home games are played at their new £3.75M Weaver Stadium with a capacity of 3,500. A crowd of 1,375 saw them win promotion to the NPL Premier Divison in the last match of the 2007-08 season. They are currently in mid-table in 11th place.

The current Fleetwood Town have never reached the First Round of the FA Cup. However, the previous Fleetwood Town(*) which folded in 1996, reached the first round in 1980 when, in typical FA Cup fashion they wre drawn at home to of all the teams in the draw - Blackpool!!! The match was moved to Bloomfield Road to allow for more fans as their stadium back then held probably less than 2,000. Blackpool, who were struggling in the old 3rd Division, after only being relegated to the third tier for the first ever time 3 years before, won 4-0.

In theory Fleetwood should win, but this is the FA Cup and anything can happen.

(*) The original club in the town was Fleetwood FC, formed in 1908 and folded in 1976, before the first Fleetwood Town was formed in 1977 and then folded in 1996!!

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Result for Tuesday 14th October

Setanta Shield, Second Round
Barrow 3 Fleetwood Town 2, attendance 618

Fleetwood lost to Barrow in the Setanta Shield last night. The competition is the Conference League Cup and is for all the clubs in the Conference League (Conference National, Conference North, Conference South).

Barrow were promoted last season from the Conference North to the Conference National. They are a former Football League Club, and were founder members of the old Third Division North in 1921. They stayed in the league until 1972 when they were voted out (replaced by Hereford United) and have remained in non-league football ever since.

Barrow tore Fleetwood apart in the first half with a hat-trick from Jason Walker and went in 3-1 up at half-time, but were also a man down following a straight red card for Ricky Mercer. Town pulled a goal back in the second half, but Barrow held on to qualify for the third round. This was manager Micky Mellons first defeat at the club.

However, the match was marred by allegations of hooliganism by Fleetwood supporters, though they are only allegations.

Fleetwood Town news

On Thursday Fleetwood have a VIP Opening Night planned for their new Supporters Bar housed in the new North Stand at their Highbury Stadium. The bar has 20 plasma screens showing live Sky Sports and Setanta Sports football matches. And every Fleetwood Town home game will be streamed live into the bar.

The club were hoping that the bar would be open for the Blackpool Reserves match tonight with the Belarus vs England match being shown live in the bar, with work continuing all day on Wednesday to try and finish off the bar.

There is a video of the new bar on the Blackpool Gazette website in this article (click on play)

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sports-news/First-look-inside-Town39s-new.4594033.jp (http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sports-news/First-look-inside-Town39s-new.4594033.jp)

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Fixtures for Saturday 18th October

Conference North

Fleetwood Town vs Stalybridge Celtic
After their mid-week loss to Barrow in the Setanta Shield, Town are back in league action and back at their Highbury stadium hoping to continue their recent upturn in league form and move away from the relegation area in the league table.

Stalbyridge Celtic are from the semi-rural town of Stalybridge, now in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside but historically in Cheshire. Although they are a non-league club they did spend two seasons in the Football League in the early 1920s when they were founder members of the Third Division North, but had to withdraw after two years due to lack of finance. They then joined the Cheshire Conty League where they stayed for 60 years, before becoming founder members of the NWCL in 1982. With steady promotion over the years they reached the Conference National in 1992, but were relegated in 1998. 2001 was one of the best seasons in the clubs history when they won the Cheshire Senior Cup, the Presidents Cup and were promoted back up to the Conference National. They lasted just one season though. In 2004-05 they were for a third time founder members of a league when they joined the newly created second Conference tier league, the Conference North where they have been ever since. Last season they finished 3rd and reached the promotion play-offs, where they met Barrow in the final, losing 1-0.


NWCL Premier Division

Flixton vs AFC Fylde
Fylde travel to Flixton to take on Flixton who drew at home with Squires Gate last week in front of a whopping crowd of 30. Fylde will hope to win and continue their superb early season form. Flixton are currently in 20th place with just 8 points, having won only one game so far this season.

Formby vs Squires Gate
Gate travel to Merseyside to take on Formby who Fylde hammered 5-1 on 4th October. Doubtful that Gate will get anything like that sort of result out of the game. Formby are two points behind Gate in 17th place, and Gate will want to at least avoid defeat, as even at this early stage they won't want to be drawn into a relegation battle.

NWCL Division One

AFC Blackpool vs Eccleshall
To put it bluntly, Blackpool are struggling on the pitch this season. Off the pitch they are doing ok with investment providing more facilities and also a new youth set up. But in the league they have won just one match so far this season and lie second-bottom in the table. Eccleshall are one of a number of teams in mid-table (they are in 12th) who have between 10 and 13 points. It is that tight that Eccleshall on 10 points are only three points behind 4th placed Chardderton. However, Blackpool need to start winning and they will be hoping this game will see their second win of the season.

Eccleshall are from the small town of the same name in Staffordshire (population just over 6,300) . They were founded in 1971 and played in local leagues in Staffordshire until 2003 when they were accepted into the NWCL following upgrading work was completed on their stadium to meet the requirements of the NWCL. Last season they finished in 15th place.

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Fleetwood Town news

Ahead of tomorrows home match against Stalybridge Celtic, Town have bolstered their squad with the loan signing of young Blackpool midfielder Matty Kay until 22nd November. He is expected to go straight into the team tomorrow. Kay created history in Simon Graysons first game in charge of Blackpool in November 2005, when he came on as a late sub to become the club's youngest player in the Football League at 16 years 170 days old, while he was still a pupil at Collegiate School in Blackpool. He had to receive permission from his headmaster to be able to play. Since then he was given a two year professional contract on his 17th birthday and has been a regular in the reserve team. Town manager Mickly Mellon said of him, "Matty has the ability to do things in midfield that I want a player to do - he is very mobile and aggressive."

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Results for 18th October

Conference North

Fleetwood Town 1 Stalybridge Celtic 2, attendance 1,305
The lure of the new Supporters Bar at Highbury certainly seems to have worked for the fans, as Town had their highest attendance of the season so far. However, the Town fans were to be dissapointed as Stalybridge ran out winners 2-1. Georges Santos is now the team captain and under his captaincy Town took the lead in the first half through an Adam Warlow strike. However, two Stalybridge goals on 53 and 65 minutes gave all three points to the away team. Town dropped to 19th in the table.

NWCL Premier Division

Flixton 1 AFC Fylde 3, attendance 100
Fylde kept up their unbeaten run with another away win that kept them clear at the top of the Premier Division table on 27 points, one point ahead of second place Newcastle Town.

Formby 0 Squires Gate 1, attendance 33
A great result for Gate, the win puts them on 15 points in 12th place in the Premier Divison table.

NWCL Division One

AFC Blackpool 2 Eccleshall 0, attendance 56
Blackpool made it a cleansweep for the three Fylde coast clubs in the NWCL with this very welcome win over Eccleshall. They now have 7 points from 8 games and have moved up slightly to 15th.

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Results for 21st October 2008

Conference North

Fleetwood Town 3 Burscough 1, attendance 515
Fleetwood moved above Burscough with this home win, and up to 17th place in the table in front of 515 fans, their lowest crowd of the season, following their highest home crowd last Saturday of 1,305

NWCL Premier Division

AFC Fylde 4 Nelson 1, attendance 148
Yet again Fylde won tonight, with another emphatic victory. Nelson are from the East Lancashire town of the same name. They were formed in 1881 and were founder members of the Third Division North in the Football League in 1921. However, they were voted out of the Football League after the 1930-31 season and have been in non-league football ever since.

After 11 games Fylde have 30 points, and still sit top of the table having scored 37 goals an average of over 3 goals a game.

Squires Gate 1 Newcastle Town 1, attendance 52
Gate did a huge favour for their South Fylde coast neighbours, AFC Fylde with this hard fought home draw against high-flying Newcastle Town. The result meant that a three point gap has opened up between Newcastle in second place on 27 points and first placed Fylde on 30 points. For Gate though it meant a move up to 9th in the table on 16 points.

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Fixtures for Saturday 25th October

FA Cup, final qualifying round

Fleetwood Town vs Nantiwch Town
Fleetwood manager Micky Mellon said ahead of the game, "This is the biggest game for any non-League player because it's the round where you can set up a shot at the big clubs. The majority of non-Leaguers don't get many cracks at the FA Cup so this is a brilliant opportunity to make a name for themselves. Tomorrow is a one-off and it's very important that my men play a part and ensure they have no regrets by letting an opportunity pass them."

Nantwich are expected to bring about 300 supporters so the crowd should be a decent sized one, especially with the prize being entry into the First round proper where the likes of Leeds United and Leicester City await!

Even though Nantwich are a leage below Fleetwood, they won't be pushovers, and are unbeaten in four games. They can also call on Rodney Jack, easily their biggest name signing, who has just joined them and who may have to make his debut from the bench. He is best known for his time at Crewe Alexandra and Torquay United. Even though he is 35 and clearly way past his best, he is still a big time player at that level. Town will have to do without their big name signing, Georges Santos who is cup-tied. New signing Sean Webb who only joined the club this week may feature. Webb is a Northern Ireland international who has played for Ross County and St Johnstone in Scotland and was at League Two club Accrington Stanley last season before being released at the end of the season.

NWCL Premier Division

Squires Gate vs Congleton Town
Gate are unbeaten in their last seven Premier Division games, and their only defeat at home all season was to Congleton Town in an FA Cup replay. Congleton are in 4th place with three games in hand on the three clubs above them, including leaders AFC Fylde.

St Helens Town vs AFC Fylde
Fylde are now have a four points gap at the top of the table, thanks in part to Squires Gate drawing with second placed Newcastle Town in mid-week. St Helens are in mid-table and Fylde will be hoping for another win. It will certainly be an unusual experience for the Fylde players, as St Helens play at Knowsley Road, the home of St Helens Rugby League team, which has a capacity of 17,500. Though it will be nothing like full, as their average crowd this season at Knowsley Road is just 81!

Liverpools Reserve team also play their home matches there. The town of St Helens is quite large for a team at such a low level, with a population of 102,000. Fylde by comparison play their home games in Warton, in the parish of Bryning-with-Warton. The total parish population is about 3,000.

NWCL Division One

Leek CSOB vs AFC Blackpool
Blackpool take on Leek CSOB tomorrow. Leek are in mid-table in 12th place on 11 points, four points ahead of Blackpool who will be hoping to get their second away win of the season, after narrowly losing away to Padiham in mid-week.

Leek CSOB (full name -Leek County School Old Boys Football Club) are from the small market town of Leek in Staffordshire. Founded in 1945, they have been in the lower levels of non-league ever since. There are actually two football clubs in Leek. Leek Town play in the Northern Premier League Division One South. And their stadium, Harrison Park, is where Leek CSOB play in a groundshare as they have never owned their own ground, though in 2005 they announced plans to build their own stadium.

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Results for Saturday 25th October

FA Cup, final qualifying round

Fleetwood Town 4 Nantiwch Town 3, attendance 808
Town won through to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup where they had hoped to be drawn against a Football League club, with the likes of Leeds United and Leicester City in the draw. Instead though they were drawn away to either of two Southern clubs - Leiston from the Eastern Counties Football League or Lewes from the Conference National who drew their match 1-1 yesterday with the replay at Lewes on Tuesday.

The same weather conditions that ruined the game further down the Fylde Coast at Bloomfield Road meant two pitch inspections prior to kick-off at Highbury, and in the end a heavy pitch, and it was Nantwich who scored first after 22 minutes when a John Hills back pass simply stopped in the muddy pitch before reaching keeper Danny Hurst and Michael Lennon scored the opening goal. Andy Bell equalised for Town just our minutes later. However, it was Nantwich, defying their status a league below Fleetwood, who took control of the game and went back in the lead through Ashley Carter on 43 minutes and they went in at half-time deservedly 2-1 up.

Six minutes into the second half Nathan Pond equalised and on 57 minutes Sean Webb replaced John Hills to make his debut. However on 63 minutes Hurst came out to challenge Lennon and clattered into him, with the ref awarding a penalty to the visitors, with Dave Walker converting to once again restore the Nantwich lead at 3-2. But for a third time Fleetwood drew level with a second Andy Bell goal on 68 minutes. Then as the game was heading for a replay, in the 89th minute Jamie Milligan kicked the ball up the pitch and Andy Bell scored his hat-trick to take Fleetwood into the draw for the First Round.

A good result for Fleetwood, but a hard fought one and credit must go to Nantwich for holding out nearly to the final whistle. The attendance was a lot lower than predicted though, with 808 when on Friday the prediciton was that it could be up to 2,000.

NWCL Premier Division

Squires Gate 0 Congleton Town 0, attendance 68
Gate held 4th placed Congleton to a scoreless home draw making it eight games unbeaten now. They are in a good ninth place now with 17 points, though a large gap is opening between the top three clubs and the rest. Fylde are on top with 33 points, then Newcastle Town with 30 and New Mills on 28, though Congleton are in fifth place now with 22 points but with three games in hand on the top three clubs.


St Helens Town 0 AFC Fylde 3, attendance 79
Another three goals, another three points as Fylde kept up their superb form at the top of the table. The goals coming from Richie Allen (15 mins), Joe Booth (59 mins) and Matt Walwyn (84 mins). It must have been a surreal experience though playing at Knowsley Road, capacity 17,500 in front off 79 fans!


NWCL Division One

Leek CSOB 3 AFC Blackpool 2, attendance 35
Blackpool continue to struggle in the league. Leek were two goals up by 43 minutes, though Blackpool pulled a goal back early in the second half. However, on 72 minutes the home team restored their two goal advantage before a second Blackpool goal on 80 minutes.

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Results for Saturday 1st November 2008

Conference North

Fleetwood Town 1 Hinckley United 0, attendance 894
Town secured victory with a late 85th minute goal from Andy Bell and continued their move up the table away from the relegation places. They are now in 17th place on 15 points, three points above the relegation places. There is a long way to go before the end of the season, but they are at least heading in the right direction.

NWCL, Premier Division

New Mills 1 AFC Fylde 0, attendance 268
The top two teams in the Premier Division met today with New Mills coming out on top to end Fylde's long unbeaten run. It was only Fyldes second defeat of the season and they still remain top of the league, with New Mills now five points behind.

St Helens Town 1 Squires Gate 3, attendance 45
A great result for Squires Gate, with all the goals coming late in the second half. Gate took the lead on 62 minutes, and St Helens equalised 11 minutes later. However, it was Gate who went on to claim all three points by re-taking the lead in the 78th minute before adding a third just before the final whistle. Gate are now in 8th place on 21 points and if they can get a good run going they may well yet feature in contention for promotion.

NWCL, First Division

AFC Blackpool 1 Rochdale Town 0, attendance 51
Blackpool got back to winning ways despite the loss this week of a number of first team players who left the club in a dispute with the team manager who had criticised some of them for their commitment to the club. In came some youth team members who ended up getting what was only the clubs third win of the season. However, it was a vital win and they have moved up to 15th place, but just 5 points behind ninth placed Darwen.

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Fleetwood Town news

BBC North West Tonight
BBC North West Tonight sent a camera crew and reporter to Highbury for the home match against Hinckly United and today during the local North West News half-hour programme they had a short piece about the club, focussing on how they have progressed with four promotions and from averaging attendances of 100 up to 1,000 (which isn't actually correct as the current average is 840, but hey 1,000 sounds better!! :rolleyes: )

They interviewed chairman Andy Pilley, manager Micky Mellon as well as some fans in the new Supporters Bar, showing the winning goal and saying how their ultimage goal is the Football League.

FA Youth Cup
Fleetwood's youth team last week beat Formby in the final qualifying round of the FA Youth Cup (which like the FA Cup is open to teams from all levels of the English football pyramid system) and so got through to the First Round Proper, where they face Oldham Athletic this coming Wednesday at home. Not bad really for the club to have their youth team in the first round of the FA Youth Cup in the same week the first team is in the first round of the FA Cup. Blackpool, being in the Championship, don't enter either the FA Yoth Cup or FA Cup until the third round of each competition.

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Results for Saturday 8th November

FA Cup first round

Leiston 0 Fleetwood Town 0, attendance 1,250
Leiston are the lowest ranked club left in this years FA Cup and they very nearly won this match. They play in the Eastern Counties League, Premier Division, which is at level 9 of the English football pyramid and held their visitors from three levels higher (the Conference North is at level 6) in a fairly equal contest in the 1st half. With under 30 minutes left Nathan Pond was sent off for Town, and the home side soon had the ball in the net, only to see the goal ruled out for offside.

The replay is at Highbury stadium, Fleetwood on Tuesday 18th November. The draw for the second round was made on Sunday, and whoever wins the replay will be at home to either Brighton & Hove Albion or Hartlepool United (both clubs in League One).

NWCL League Cup second round

Atherton Collieries 0 AFC Fylde 5, attendance 59
Premier Division leaders Fylde eased into the third round of the League Cup with a comfortable away win over their fellow Premier Division opponents Atherton Collieries.

Formby 2 Squires Gate 1, attendance 24
In front of just 24 fans, Gate went out of the League Cup in the second round away to fellow Premier Division opponents from Merseyside, Formby.

NWCL First Division

AFC Blackpool 0 Chadderton 1, attendance 46
A dissapointing home league defeat for Blackpool who went down to a 43rd minute goal. The result moved Chadderton up to 4th place.



Other FA Cup results

The first round of the FA Cup saw some giant-killing acts with some Football League clubs knocked out by non-league opponents.

Blyth Spartans 3 Shrewsbury Town 1, attendance 2,742
Leading the way were Conference North club Blyth Spartans who convincgly beat League Two leaders Shrewsbury Town 3-1 at home in front of a crowd of 2,742. Blyth were 3-0 up before Town eventually got a goal back. Shrewsbury are riding high in League Two and hoping to be promoted to League One, yet Blyth from two levels below them fully deserved their win, even though in the league they are struggling to avoid relegation to the Northern Premier League, Premier Division

Curzon Ashton 3 Exeter City 2, attendance 1,259
Tiny Curzon Ashton of the Northern Premier League First Division North, beat their League Two opponents at the Tamside Stadium. Together with Blyth Spartan's win, this was the shock of the round as for divisions separate the two clubs, and with Curzon, from Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, usually playing in front of average crowds of around 140-150 (though they did get 601 for the visit of FC United of Manchester this season, but that included around 450 FCUM fans)

Histon 1 Swindon Town 0, attendance 1,541
Another shock result as Conference National Histon beat League Two Swindon Town. Though Histon could well be in League Two next season as they are having a very successful season so far and are in 4th place in a play-off spot and only three points behind leaders Burton Albion.

Carlisle United 1 Grays Athletic 1, attendance 3,921
League Two Carlisle were held by Conference National strugglers Grays at home, and very nearly lost as it took a late equaliser to earn a replay.

Darlington 0 Droylsden 0, attendance 2,479
League Two Darlington were held at home to a 0-0 draw by Conference North club Droylsden, and now have to win the replay in Manchester to get through to the second round.

AFC Telford United 2 Southend United 2, attendance 3,631
Telford have quite possibly the best stadium in the whole of non-league football. And in front of a decent crowd the Conference North club held their League One opponents (three levels higher) to a 2-2 draw and could have won it as they were leading 2-1 before Southend equalised.

Kettering Town 1 Lincoln City 1, attendance 3,314
Conference National club Kettering held League Two Lincoln to a draw and earned themselves a replay.

Luton Town 0 Altrincham 0, attendance 3,200
Luton struggling at the foot of League One, and seemingly destined for relegation to the Conference National, as they started the season with a massive 35 points deduction and are still on minus points with -14 points, were held by perennial Conference National strugglers (yet regular FA Cup giant killers as Blackpool know only too well), Altrincham who thought they had won the match with a goal that was ruled out for offside.

AFC Wimbledon vs Wycombe Wanderers
Tonight sees AFC Wimbledon vs Wycombe Wanderers. AFC Wimbledon were set up by supporters of Wimbledon FC when they simply upped an moved to Milton Keynes to create MK Dons - something seen in English football as against the nature of the game, and many fans still now have a real distaste for MK Dons. AFC Wimbledon had to start at the bottom of the pyramid and have gradually won promotion up to the Conference South, and tonight they play League Two Wycombe live on Setanta Sports.

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Results for Tuesday 11th November

Lancashire County Football Association Challenge Trophy, First round

Squires Gate 3 Radcliffe Borough 3 (3-4 on pens), attendance 25
Gate finally lost this tie that lasted over two hours against a club who play a league higher in the Northern Premier League First Division North. Gate were behind three times, (twice in 90 minutes then once in extra time) and each time drew level. In the penalty shoot-out they were 2-0 up and heading for the second round, but then missed three out of their next four penalties to go out 3-4 on pens.

Holker Old Boys 0 AFC Fylde 3, attendance 26
Fylde easily won this tie in Barrow-on-Furness to reach the 2nd round. Fylde manager Mick Fuller gave most of his first team the night off and played with six reserves including 16 year old student Sam Nightingale, who scored direct from a corner.

Ashton Athletic 2 AFC Blackpool 1, attendance 32
Blackpool were two goals down by half time and despite the home side having a player sent off right on the stroke of half time and having to spend the 2nd half with 10 players, Blackpool could only manage to score once

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Results for Saturday 15th November

Conference North

Stafford Rangers 1 Fleetwood Town 2, attendance 529
Fleetwood moved further away from the relegation places with this good away win at Stafford Rangers who are managed by former Wolverhampton Wanderers legend Steve Bull.

NWCL Premier Division

Nelson 1 Squires Gate 1, attendance 85
Gate came away with a decent result and are now in 7th place on 22 points. However, they are 12 points off the all important top two promotion places, so unless they go an a superb run of wins their probable target for the rest of the season is to at least finish as high as possible.

FA Vase second round

AFC Fylde 1 Newcastle Benfield 0, attendance 437
In front of their highest attendance of the season so far, Fylde, the FA Vase holders, won this match with an 86th minute penalty to reach the third round in their defence of the trophy they won at Wembley last May.

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Results for Tuesday 18th November 2008

FA Cup first round replay

Fleetwood 2 Leiston 0, attendance 2,010
With this win Town now play Football League Two club Hartlepool United at home in the second round. Not only that but this is the first time in the club's history that they have reached the second round of the FA Cup. As with Fylde on Saturday this was Town's largest crowd of the season so far. It took two second half goals to see off Leiston who were watched by Premier League star Titus Bramble who plays up in the North West for Wigan Athletic, and who was born in Ipswich, Suffolk not far from Leiston. His brother Tes plays as a striker for Leiston and he was there to support him.

NWCL First Division

AFC Blackpool 1 Darwen 1, attendance 46
Blackpool took the lead in the 20th minute but Darwen equalised after 70 minutes to earn a share of the points. The result leaves Blackpool in 16th place out of 18 clubs.

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Results for Saturday 13th December

NWCFL Premier Division

Glossop North End 0 AFC Fylde 1, attendance 200
A close win for Fylde who seem to be breezing their way to being NWCFL champions this season. Only Newcastle Town really stand any realistic chance of catching them even at this early stage.

Squires Gate 1 Winsford United 0, attendance 42
And another close win which keeps Gate mid-table.

AFC Blackpool and Fleetwood Town
In the First Division AFC Blackpool's match at Chadderton was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

Fleetwood Town had no match today. They are though also improving and they lost out 3-2 at home to Football League Two club Hartlepool United a couple of weeks ago in the second round of the FA Cup, in front of a crowd of 3,280. ITV filmed the match for extended highlights on their FA Cup programme. However, heavy fog had engulfed much of Northern England and although the match went ahead, the tv coverage was to say the least dodgy with the cameras not really able to see the other side of the pitch which was a shame for Fleetwood who were hoping to show off their two new stands.

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Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy, second round

Skelmersdale United 4 AFC Fylde 1, attendance 110
Fylde were knocked out of the competition for the top levels of non-league football in Lancashire, run by the Lancashire County Football Association. Fylde though played with a number of fringe first team players against their opponents from one level higher, Skelmersdale United who are currently in the Northern Premier League's Division One North.

Fleetwood Town's home game in the competition against Bacup Borough was called off due to a waterlogged pitch. Bacup had been in the news this week as they have been trying (unsuccessfully) to sign former Manchester United and England striker Andrew Cole, who recently retired from the professional game at the age of 37.

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Results for Saturday 20th December 2008

Conference North

Hucknall Town 3 Fleetwood Town 2, attendance 271
After doing so well in the FA Cup, Fleetwood got back to league action, but defeat to bottom placed Hucknall leaves Fleetwood just three points above the relegation places, although with a game in hand on the clubs around them.

North West Counties League, Premier Division

Newcastle Town 1 Squires Gate 1, attendance 96
With Fylde's game being called off due to a waterlogged pitch, Gate did them a huge favour with this draw, as a win for Newcastle would have see them just two points behind Fylde at the top of the table. Instead they are four points behind first placed Fylde. The result also means that Gate are now in sixth place. However, they are still 11 points behind second placed Newcastle. A good run though could see Gate sneak into possible promotion contenders.

North West Counties League, First Division

AFC Blackpool 1 Bootle 3, attendance 75
Blackpool were well beaten at home in front of their second highest attendance of the season. Only the home game against AFC Liverpool with a crowd of 182 has seen a higher attendance at Common Edge. The result leaves them third from bottom of the league in 16th place. Bootle though now lie in third place behind Padiham and their Merseyside neighbours, AFC Liverpool.

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Results for Saturday 20th December 2008

Conference North

Fleetwood Town 1 Workington 0, attendance not yet known
Town left it late, but took all three points at home to Workington, moving them away from the relegation zone.

North West Counties League, Premier Division

Squires Gate 1 AFC Fylde 3, attendance 405
In front of easily their highest attendance of the season (and also the second highest attendance in the North West Counties League this season behind only the crowd of 455 also on Friday at Glossop North End vs New Mills), Gate were beaten by the North West Counties top team, with Fylde continuing to dominate the league. Fylde took the lead on 44 minutes. Gate equalised 19 minutes into th second half, only for two late goals (75 and 89 minutes) meaning all three points in this Fylde coast derby would head back to Warton with AFC Fylde.

North West Counties League, First Division

AFC Blackpool play on Saturday at home to Holker Old Boys

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Update on Fleetwood Town's game - the attendance was 1,269 and the win moves Town up to 16th place in the Conference North. They are now six points above Burscough in 20th place and nine points above both Blyth Spartans and Hucknall Town in 21st and 22nd respectively. Although, Blyth with their superb FA Cup run have two games in hand on Fleetwood.

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Results for Saturday 3rd January 2009

Conference North
Fleetwood Town's game against Hyde United was called off just 75 minutes before kick-off by the referee due to frost, although Town manager Micky Mellon had wanted the game to go ahead, but Hyde's manager had expressed concerns about the pitch.

North West Counties League, Premier Division

Squires Gate and AFC Fylde both had their games postponed, both due to frozen pitch.

North West Counties League, First Division
AFC Blackpool 0 Ashton Town 0, attendance 82
Blackpool were dissapointingly held to a goal-less draw at home to bottom club Ashton Town, who have won just one game all season, and who before the game had just two draws, with 15 defeats. Ashton have also scored just 13 goals while conceding 63, so Blackpool should have won. Blackpool currently lie in 14th place on 16 points from 18 games.

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Results for Saturday 17th January 2009

Conference North

Blyth Spartans 3 Fleetwood Town 0, attendance n/k
A bad result for Town, whose manager, Micky Mellon has just become full-time at the club, having given up his job coaching at Burnley. The result leaves them just 3 points above the relegation places on 22 points. Hucknall Town are last (22nd) on 15. Then Blyth have moved up a place with the win to 21st on 16 points. Burscough are in 20th, the final relegation spot, with 19 points. Hyde United are 19th on 19 points, one place below Fleetwood, who really need to turn their season around soon if they are to stay in the Conference North.

North West Counties League, Premier Division

Squires Gate 1 Abbey Hey 0, attendance 64
A 35th minute goal was enough to give all three points to Gate over a Abbey Hey side who are struggling at the lower end of the table. The result means Gate are in 6th place on 33 points. The top two spots are occupied by AFC Fylde (51 points) and Newcastle Town (47 points) so it would take a lot for Gate to make any headway with promotion this season. Newcastle though slipped up today, losing to Bacup Borough, for whom Ryan Giggs' younger brothr, Rhodri plays. A win would have seen them go just 1 point behind Fylde (who were playing in the FA Vase today) in the chase for top spot. Instead they stay 4 points behind, with New Mills just 3 points behind them on 44 points.

North West Counties League, First Division

AFC Liverpool 5 AFC Blackpool 0, attendance 388
The battle of the two "AFC" clubs Liverpool and Blackpool saw the Merseysiders convincingly beat the Mechs. Liverpool were 3-0 up within 10 minutes and added a 4th goal on 35 minutes to take a 4-0 lead into half-time. They added a fifth goal just 3 minutes into the 2nd half, but thankfully didn't score again!

FA Vase - Fourth Round
Needham Market 0 AFC Fylde 0, attendance n/k

On their way to winning the FA Vase last season, Fylde (who were then known as Kirkham & Wesham FC) beat Needham Market in the two-legged semi-finals, winning 4-2 on aggregate. In the fourth round this season the two clubs met once again, and they will have to do it all again in a replay after this goal-less draw.