AFC Fylde is a professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club based in
Wesham in the
Borough of Fylde
The Borough of Fylde is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It covers part of the Fylde plain, after which it is named. The council's headquarters are in St Annes. Some council departments, including Plann ...
, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at
Mill Farm.
Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wesham in 1988, the club adopted its current name in 2008 after winning the
FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...
. In 2007, the club announced the goal of reaching the
Conference National
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...
by 2017 and the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
by 2022, the latter objective being printed on club shirts. The club won four promotions between 2007 and 2017 to earn promotion to the fifth tier of English football for the first time ever. The club experienced two play-off campaigns in their first two seasons in the National League, the second saw Fylde miss out on their first promotion to the Football League after losing to
Salford City at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
. However, ''the Coasters'' returned to Wembley a week after their defeat for the
2019 FA Trophy Final as they managed to beat
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...
. The following season, Fylde returned to the National League North after finishing in 23rd place. They are the first and so far only club to win both the
FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...
and the
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
.
History
The club was formed by the amalgamation of Kirkham Town and Wesham in 1988,
adopting the name of a previous club that had played in the
West Lancashire League
The West Lancashire Football League is a football competition based in northern England, consisting of five divisions – three for first teams (Premier, One and Two), and two for reserve teams. The league is currently sponsored by Lancaster ...
in the years immediately before
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The new club assumed Kirkham Town's place in Division One of the West Lancashire League. In 1989–90 they finished bottom of the division and were relegated to Division Two. After three seasons in Division Two they were promoted in the 1992–93 season after finishing third, only to be relegated again in 1994–95. The following season they finished as runners-up in Division Two, losing only two league games all season, and were promoted back to Division One.
The West Lancashire League was re-structured in 1998 with Division One renamed the Premier Division. After finishing fourth in successive seasons in 1997–98 and 1998–99, the club then dominated the Premier Division for a number of years, finishing as champions in seven out of the eight seasons between 1999 and 2000 and 2006–07, the only blip being 2002–03 when they were runners-up.
[ In the 21 months between January 2003 and October 2004, the club did not lose a match in any competition; the run finally ended when they lost a league match, 1–0 to Dalton United.] In April 2006 the club completed a hat-trick of consecutive victories in the Lancashire Amateur Shield cup final when they beat fellow West Lancashire League side Charnock Richard
Charnock Richard is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Chorley, Lancashire, in England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,748.
History
The village was named in the early 13th century by the local ...
2–0 at the County Ground in Leyland, the club's fourth Shield victory in six years.[
] As the nominated representatives of the Lancashire FA
The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of foo ...
, the club also won the Northern Counties Cup in 2004–05, 2005–06, and 2006–07.
North West Counties League
Following their West Lancashire League championship success in 2006–07, the club were accepted into Division Two of the North West Counties League
The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...
for the 2007–08 season. At the club's annual general meeting (AGM) in July 2007, a 15-year plan was put forward with the stated aim of reaching the Conference National
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...
by 2017, and the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
by 2022. The club's first match in the North West Counties League was a home match on 11 August 2007, against Darwen
Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners".
The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...
in front of 101 fans, which they won 5–0. The following Tuesday they played their first ever home match under floodlights winning 2–0 at home to Holker Old Boys On 8 September the club played their first ever match in the FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...
, beating Northern Counties East League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively.
History
Th ...
Division One club Worsbrough Bridge Athletic 3–0. The club had also arranged for the FA Vase trophy to be on display before the game. On 26 January 2008 the club reached the last sixteen of the FA Vase when they beat Studley 3–0.[
] On 9 February they reached the quarter-final after they beat Sussex County League
The Macron Southern Combination Football League is a football league broadly covering the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and South West London, England. The league consists of eight divisions – three for first teams (Premier Div ...
leaders, Crowborough Athletic 2–0 in front of a record crowd of 772 at Crowborough's Alderbrook Recreation Ground.[
] They subsequently defeated Midland Football Alliance
The Midland Football Alliance was an English association football league for semi-professional teams. It covered Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and also southern parts of Derbyshire and Not ...
club Coventry Sphinx
Coventry Sphinx Football Club is a football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at Sphinx Drive.
History
The club was established in 1946 as a works team for Armstrong Siddeley under th ...
1–0 in a replay after a 3–3 draw.[
] In the two-legged semi-final against Eastern Counties League
The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...
Premier Division club, Needham Market
Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market.
History
It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 1665. ...
, Kirkham & Wesham won 4–2 on aggregate. On 11 May, Kirkham & Wesham won the FA Vase in their first season in the competition, beating Lowestoft Town 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
in front of a crowd of 19,537, with about 14,000 from Lowestoft and about 3,500 Kirkham & Wesham supporters. A goal down for most of the game, Kirkham & Wesham scored twice in the last six minutes, both goals coming from seventeen-year-old substitute Matt Walwyn, son of former Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
player Keith Walwyn
Kenford Keith Ian Walwyn (17 February 1956 – 15 April 2003), more commonly known as Keith Walwyn, was a Kittitian footballer who played as a striker.
Career
Born in Nevis, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Walwyn had trials for Barnsley and Preston No ...
, who only played the last 11 minutes of the game. Kirkham & Wesham secured prize money of £20,000 for their win,[
] although the total amount the club earned was expected to be around £75,000. The season also saw the club win the Division Two knockout trophy with a 1–0 win over Bootle
Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449.
Histo ...
, as well as securing promotion to the Premier Division when they beat Castleton Gabriels 3–1 on 26 April.
For the start of the 2008–09 season, the club changed their name to AFC Fylde. They won the Premier Division at the first attempt, finishing above New Mills
New Mills is a town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England, south-east of Stockport and from Manchester at the confluence of the River Goyt and Sett. It is close to the border with Cheshire and above the Torrs, a deep gorge cut thro ...
on goal difference and earning promotion to Division One North of the Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...
.
Northern Premier League
Long-serving manager Mick Fuller was moved upstairs in September 2010 and Kelham O'Hanlon was brought in as first team coach. The club finished in mid-table with a high turnover of playing staff. The following season the club finished fifth, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Skelmersdale United
Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Footb ...
1–0 in the semi-final, they lost 2–1 to Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...
in the final.[
In the 2011–12 season they were installed as early promotion favourites, but O'Hanlon was replaced as manager in November 2011 after a poor run of results and was quickly replaced by a new management team of ]Dave Challinor
David Paul Challinor (born 2 October 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back in the Football League for Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County and Bury. He is the manager of club Stockport C ...
and Colin Woodthorpe
Colin Woodthorpe (born 13 January 1969 in Liverpool) is an English former footballer who played for Chester City, Norwich City, Aberdeen, Stockport County and Bury before moving into management roles.
Playing career
Chester City
Woodthorpe ma ...
. Challinor left Conference North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...
side Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...
to drop two divisions to join ''the Coasters'', pointing to the club's ambition and plans for the future as the factor that made them move to the Fylde Coast. The club were 16 points off the top of the table when the new management duo arrived at the club but claimed the title with a 1–0 win over Salford City, earning promotion to the Premier Division.
In 2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
the club finished fifth, qualifying for the play-offs. However, following a 3–3 draw, they lost out 3–1 on penalties to Hednesford Town
Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park.
History
The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top. in the semi-final. The 2013–14 season saw the club win the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy
The Lancashire Football Association Challenge Trophy is an English football competition for senior non-league clubs who are members of the Lancashire County Football Association. The trophy was first played for in 1885, when it was known as the L ...
(beating Chorley 4–1 at the Reebok Stadium
The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England.
Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...
), the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...
(with a 1–0 win against Skelmersdale United at Edgeley Park
Edgeley Park is a football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for rugby league club Stockport RFC in 1891, by 1903, the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County Football Club moved in.
Edgeley Park is an all-seater stadium hold ...
) and gain promotion to the Conference North via the play-offs. After beating Worksop Town
Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop.
History First clu ...
3–1 at home in the play-off semi-final, they defeated Ashton United 4–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.[
]
National League
AFC Fylde finished their first season in the Conference North in second place with 85 points, losing to Guiseley
Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds.
It sits in t ...
3–1 on aggregate in the subsequent play-off semi-final.[ Three Fylde players, Ben Hinchcliffe, Josh Langley and Brad Barnes, were selected in the Conference North Team of the Season at end of season AGM awards. Fylde finished the 2015–16 season in third place in the renamed National League North. After beating ]Harrogate Town
Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...
2–1 on aggregate in the two-legged semi-final, they lost 2–1 to North Ferriby United
North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane.
F ...
after extra time. In 2016–17 they won the National League North, earning promotion to the National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
. In their first season in the National League the club reached the second round of the FA Cup for the first time after beating Kidderminster Harriers
Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...
4–2 in the first round. In the second round Fylde drew 1–1 at home to Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
before losing the replay 3–2. They went on to finish seventh in the league, qualifying for the expanded play-offs, but lost 2–1 by Boreham Wood
Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...
in the quarter-final.[
In 2018–19 Fylde finished fifth in the National League. They defeated ]Harrogate Town
Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...
in the play-off quarter-final and Solihull Moors
Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the National Leag ...
in semi-final to qualify for the final at Wembley against Salford City. Although the final saw them lose 3–0, the club returned to Wembley a week later in the FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
final and won the competition with a 1–0 victory over Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...
. In October 2019, after eight years with the club, Dave Challinor
David Paul Challinor (born 2 October 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back in the Football League for Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County and Bury. He is the manager of club Stockport C ...
was sacked with Fylde in the relegation zone. The 2019–20 FA Cup
The 2019–20 FA Cup (also known as the Football Association Challenge Cup) was the 139th edition of the oldest football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as The Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes.
On 13 Marc ...
saw the club reach the third round of the FA Cup for the first time; after beating Nantwich Town
Nantwich Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1884 and is nicknamed ''The Dabbers'', a reference to the town's tanning industry. They currently compete in and play ...
1–0 in the first round and Kingstonian
Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...
2–0 in the second, they lost 2–1 at Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
in the third round.[ In 2019–20 Fylde finished second-from-bottom of the division, resulting in their relegation back to the National League North after the season had been cut short due to the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Stadium
The club played home games at Kellamergh Park in the village of Warton between 2006 and 2016, having previously played at the council-owned Coronation Road in Kirkham. In 2005 the club purchased land in Kellamergh and began to develop the facilities at a cost of £150,000 in order to meet the requirement for playing in the North West Counties League.[
]
The new ground was officially opened on 5 August 2006, with a £30,000 200-seat main stand with four rows of seating and a designated Press Box area.[
] Further improvements were made to the stadium in March 2009 to achieve Ground Grading Grade E (Step 4) including additional covered seating and a new Directors Box. Kellamergh Park eventually had 533 covered seats and could hold just over 3,000 spectators, having been upgraded during the latter part of the 2014–15 season to meet the Football Conference
The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...
requirement of 500 covered seats, which were installed in late March 2015 and situated at the south end of the ground behind the goal.
On 19 January 2008, the club announced plans for a further move to yet another new stadium at an unnamed site. In February 2010, a charitable trust called the Haythornthwaite Sports Foundation unveiled plans for a new Community Sports Complex in Wrea Green
Wrea Green is a village in the Fylde borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about 2 miles west of Kirkham. Along with the village of Ribby, it forms the civil parish Ribby-with-Wrea.
Wrea Green has approximately 1,600 residents, many of whom ...
, comprising outdoor sports facilities catering for local junior football, cricket and other sports plus a new 2,500 capacity stadium for AFC Fylde. Consultations took place in 2011 but a planning application was rejected by Fylde Borough Council in spring 2012.
On 3 September 2013, it was announced that plans had been drawn up for a new £18m development, Mill Farm Sports Village
Mill Farm Sports Village is a multi-sport facility located on the outskirts of the town of Medlar-with-Wesham, Wesham in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. Facilities include the Mill Farm football stadium, home to the football team ...
, on the outskirts of Wesham, close to junction 3 of the M55. This included a distribution centre, an Aldi
Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...
supermarket, a hotel, a restaurant, a petrol station, community sports pitches, sports science facilities, and a 6,000-capacity Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
standard football stadium. The stadium plans include a 2,000 capacity all-seater main stand with a supporters' bar, executive boxes and a function room. The planning application for the stadium and associated facilities was accepted by Fylde Borough Council on 4 June 2014, and the ground opened on 13 August 2016 for the club's first National League North match of the season against Brackley Town
Brackley Town Football Club is a Association football, football club in Brackley, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at St. James Park. The club won the FA Trophy in 2018.
History
Established in 1890, the club sp ...
.
Players
Current squad
Coaching staff
:Source:
Honours
*FA Trophy
**Winners 2018–19
*National League
**National League North champions 2016–17
*Northern Premier League
**Division One North champions 2011–12
**Challenge Cup winners 2013–14
**President's Cup winners 2013–14
*North West Counties League
**Premier Division champions 2008–09
*FA Vase
**Winners 2007–08
*West Lancashire League
**Premier Division champions 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07
*Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy
**Winners 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14
*Northern Inter Counties Cup
**Winners, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07[
]
*Lancashire Amateur Shield
**Winners 2000–01,[
] 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
*Richardson Cup
**Winners 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06[
]
*Presidents Cup
**Winners 1995–96
Records
*Best FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
performance: Third round, 2019–20[
*Best ]FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
performance: Winners, 2018–19[
*Best ]FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...
performance: Winners, 2007–08[
*Record attendance: 3,858 vs ]Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...
, National League North, 26 December 2016
*Biggest victory: 10–0 vs Droylsden
Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689.
Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...
, Northern Premier League Premier Division, 29 October 2013
Controversies and criticisms
The rise of the club has been criticised by football traditionalists and fans of more established teams as the club's rise in fortunes has been strongly linked to bank-rolling the club to success by its chairman. The record low attendance of the 2019 National League play-off Final where AFC Fylde sold only a few hundred tickets at Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
was used to highlight this point.
In 2019, the club's ground had a pro-Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
billboard encouraging the then prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
for a no-deal solution. The chairman David Haythornthwaite, publicly supports UKIP
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest pa ...
and fracking
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...
, is a prominent Brexiteer
In the wake of the referendum held in the United Kingdom on 23 June 2016, many new pieces of Brexit-related jargon entered popular use.Al Jazeera. (2018)''Brexit jargon: From backstop to no deal, 17 key terms explained'' (Al Jazeera) Retrieved 2 ...
and endorses right-wing populist
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...
politician Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...
. That same year the club hosted a Brexit Party
Reform UK is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was bri ...
rally led by Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...
, with allegations of some participants encouraging violence against then Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
leader Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
.
That same year the club's former accountant was jailed for 32 months for misappropriating £240,000 of the club's funds to spend on cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
, cam-girls and gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
.
In 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
the club was relegated from the National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
after it suspended the season which was met with a legal threat
A legal threat is a statement by a party that it intends to take legal action on another party, generally accompanied by a demand that the other party take an action demanded by the first party or refrain from taking or continuing actions object ...
from the club.
In 2021 the club posted a job opening for the role of general manager, warning candidates, "don't apply if you are looking for 'a work life balance' or have to pick the kids up from school twice a week at 3.30". After being posted social media users branded it "discriminatory" and "disgusting", while others said the club should "change its attitude". The advertisement was shortly removed.
It was announced on 28 September 2022 that manager James Rowe had been formally charged with sexual assault and would appear in court on 7 November. He had left Chesterfield FC by "mutual consent" following a suspension after allegations were made. Fylde had stated that due diligence had been done before his appointment. Rowe resigned one day later following a board meeting.
See also
*AFC Fylde players
AFC may stand for:
Organizations
* Action for Children, a UK children's charity
* AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
* Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution
* A ...
*AFC Fylde managers
AFC may stand for:
Organizations
* Action for Children, a UK children's charity
* AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
* Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution
* A ...
* Fylde Ladies F.C.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:AFC Fylde
Football clubs in England
AFC Fylde
AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm.
Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...
Association football clubs established in 1988
Football clubs in Lancashire
1988 establishments in England
West Lancashire Football League
North West Counties Football League clubs
Northern Premier League clubs
National League (English football)