FC United of Manchester

Formation

The club was founded in 2005 by disaffected supporters of Manchester United. Although there were varying reasons for their dissatisfaction, the catalyst for F.C. United's formation was the 12 May 2005 takeover of Manchester United by American businessman Malcolm Glazer. Supporters first considered forming a breakaway club in 1998 during an attempted takeover of Manchester United by BSkyB. The creation of F.C. United in the event of a Glazer buyout was first proposed in February 2005 by Manchester United fanzine Red Issue.

Public meetings for fans were held on 19 May 2005 at the Central Methodist Hall in Manchester's Northern Quarter and on 30 May at the Apollo Theatre. Subsequently, a steering group was created to set up the new club. After the name "F.C. United" was rejected by The Football Association for being too generic, those who had pledged money to the club were asked to vote on a name. On 14 June 2005, it was announced that "F.C. United of Manchester" had been chosen, beating "A.F.C. Manchester 1878", "Manchester Central", and "Newton Heath United", and F.C. United were officially registered with the Manchester County Football Association on the same day.

Karl Marginson was appointed as the club's manager on 22 June, and the club held trials for players four days later. Around 900 players applied to take part in the trials, of whom 200 were chosen to take part and 17 selected to play for F.C. United. Jonathan Mitten, great-nephew of Manchester United forward Charlie Mitten, was the club's first signing.

F.C. United's inaugural members' meeting was held on 5 July 2005 at the Methodist Central Hall. Members voted on the club's constitution, badge, and core principles and elected the 11-member board. By 6 July, over 4,000 people had pledged money to F.C. United and the club had over £100,000 in the bank. During F.C. United's formation, the owners of Leigh RMI offered to merge the two clubs, but the parties decided against the idea. F.C. United later arranged to play their first ever game against Leigh RMI on 16 July 2005; the match ended 0–0.

North West Counties years (2005–07)

For the 2005–06 season, F.C. United played in the Second Division of the North West Counties Football League (NWCFL), which is level ten of the English football league system and nine levels below the Premier League. The club played its home matches at Bury's Gigg Lane. F.C. United were ineligible to play in the FA Vase for their first season because the club was formed after the deadline to enter the competition. They were, however, able to play in the North West Counties League Challenge Cup.

F.C. United's first competitive match was a 5–2 away victory against Leek County School Old Boys on 13 August 2005. 2,590 people attended the game. In its home debut on 20 August, the club defeated Padiham 3–2 with two goals from Rory Patterson. During their first season, F.C. United consistently broke NWCFL attendance records. A crowd of 6,032 watched the team during their final home league match of the season against Great Harwood Town, which remains an NWCFL record as of 2016^[update]. Despite losing that game 0–1, the team were promoted to Division One.

F.C. United's successful 2006/07 season in Division One of the NWCFL earned the club a promotion to Division One North of the Northern Premier League. They secured their second successive league title with a 7–1 win over Atherton Laburnum Rovers on 18 April 2007. They then won their second cup of the season by beating Curzon Ashton 2–1 in the NWCFL's Challenge Cup final. In the third round of the FA Vase competition, the club was eliminated when it lost 2–3 in the last minute of extra-time to Quorn.

Northern Premier League years (2007–15)

In 2007–08, F.C. United played in the inaugural season of the Northern Premier League (NPL) Division One North. They made their debut in the FA Cup that season, but lost 1–2 to Fleetwood Town in the first qualifying round. They advanced to the final of the 2007–08 NPL President's Cup, in which they beat Radcliffe Borough 2–0 to pick up their fourth trophy in the three years following the club's formation. The club finished the season second in the league, trailing champions Bradford Park Avenue by one point, and entered the play-offs for the other promotion place. After beating Bamber Bridge 3–2 in the semi-finals, F.C. United faced Skelmersdale United in the promotion play-off final, coming back from a goal down to win 4–1 and earn their third successive promotion to play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

In 2008–09, F.C. United made their debut in the FA Trophy, reaching the third qualifying round, and missed out on a play-off place on the last day of the regular season. In the 2009–10 season, they finished 13th in the league, their lowest league position in the first five seasons, before progressing to the play-offs in 2010–11. They beat Bradford Park Avenue 2–0 in the semi-finals but lost the final 0–1 to Colwyn Bay. Earlier that season, F.C. United reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, recording victories over Radcliffe Borough, Gainsborough Trinity, Norton & Stockton Ancients and Barrow to play League One side Rochdale. They defeated Rochdale 3–2 after a late winner from Mike Norton, and played eventual 2010–11 League One champions Brighton & Hove Albion in the second round. After a 1–1 away draw at Withdean Stadium, F.C. United lost the replay at Gigg Lane 0–4, in front of their highest home attendance of 6,731.

In the 2011–12 season, F.C. United reached the first round of the FA Trophy for the first time after knocking out Frickley Athletic, Durham City and Altrincham. In the league, they qualified for the end of season play-offs, despite finishing 6th, due to the demotion of Northwich Victoria for breaching of financial rules. They beat Chorley 2–0 in the play-off semi-final to qualify for consecutive play-off finals but lost 0–1 to Bradford Park Avenue in the penultimate minute of extra time.

F.C. United finished third in the 2012–13 season to book a place in the play-offs. They won 3–1 against Witton Albion in the semi-final, but lost the final for the third consecutive time with a 1–2 defeat to Hednesford Town. The following season, the club finished second in the league but lost in the play-offs in the semi-finals. During the 2014–15 campaign, F.C. United reached the fourth round of the FA Trophy and recorded a streak of 21 league games without a loss from December to April, including 16 victories. They secured their promotion to the National League North following a 1–0 win against Stourbridge on 21 April 2015; after seven years of trying. The club's top scorer for this championship winning season was Tom Greaves, the same player who scored the winning goal for Bradford Park Avenue against F.C. United in the 2012 play-off final.

National League years (2015–2019)

F.C. United recorded their first victory in the National League North in a 3–2 home win over Brackley Town on 22 August 2015, which was the club's first competitive win at Broadhurst Park. In October, for the second time in the club's history, they secured a place in the first round of the FA Cup with a 3–1 away win over Sporting Khalsa, but were eliminated from the competition after a 4–1 home loss against Chesterfield. In November, the club ended their cup runs for the 2015–16 season after two successive home defeats to Stalybridge Celtic 3–4 in the Manchester Premier Cup and to A.F.C. Telford United 1–2 in the FA Trophy. Between September and November 2015, F.C. United lost seven consecutive league matches; their worst run ever as of April 2017^[update]. They eventually finished the season in 13th place.

The following 2016–17 season, the team again finished 13th and won the Manchester FA county cup for the first time in their history, beating Stalybridge Celtic 1–0 in the final. After a poor start to the 2017–18 season, Karl Marginson, the team's first and only manager, left the club by mutual consent in October 2017. He was replaced by forward Tom Greaves who took over on a temporary basis and was appointed permanent player-manager the next month. F.C. United finished the season in 16th place and retained the Manchester FA county cup with a penalty shoot-out victory against Trafford F.C. Greaves, who became the club's all-time record goal-scorer in December 2017, saw his contract extended until the end of the 2018–19 season.

After a poor start to the 2018–19 season, Greaves left the club at the end of August 2018, with long-serving former player David Chadwick acting as interim manager. In late October, the club appointed Neil Reynolds as first team manager. On 22 April 2019, Easter Monday, FC United were relegated back to the Northern Premier League following a 1–2 home defeat to Blyth Spartans.