The rebel club will play their home games in the North West Counties League second division at Gigg Lane after signing an agreement with the cash-strapped League Two outfit.
The new club, formed by Manchester United supporters disaffected by Malcolm Glazer's takeover of the club, was originally expected to share with Droylsden, but that deal ran into licensing problems.
The first home fixture at the fledgling club's home will be against Padiham on August 20, a week after they kick off their season at Leek CSOB. They play their first match, a friendly with Leigh RMI, at Hilton Park tomorrow.
In just six weeks, the breakaway supporters have gathered 4,000 members, elected a board, appointed a manager, signed a squad of good non-league players and now have a stadium.
Club spokesman Jules Spencer said: "This really is history in the making. The level of anticipation is immense for both our first match and the coming season.
"We are expecting large numbers to attend tomorrow and the following week against AFC Wimbledon."
The fixture at Wimbledon has sold 2,200 tickets in advance, and FC United are expecting large numbers at Leigh as well.
Spencer added: "Not only will it be emotional at Leigh, as all the planning becomes reality, but we are also all looking forward to be able to pay on the gate, to be able to stand on a terrace with friends and family and be able to watch a team that all supporters can rightly say is ours.
"We have not concerned ourselves with the critics, but we have noticed an out-pouring of goodwill among Manchester United fans and beyond.
"If people don't want to buy into what we are doing they don't have to, but those that have done have been tremendous.
"The support we have received has been overwhelming." Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
Isn't this page supposed to be about MUFC? Now that the mutineers are sharing a ground with Bury can you please bore their fans with this drivell. ....Repeat after me......boring.......
in reply to Man U 4Ever, Derbyshire
why dont you go and support tour own team Chesterfield
as all the reds in manchester now follow fc united you and your fellow 66000 out of towners are welcome to the macdonalds united franchise club
Terry the red? "as all the reds in manchester now follow fc united" total rubbish. it makes me laugh. almost everyone of my match going mates will be there next season, a few thousand sulkers making their own team won't make a big dent in the support and it never will. And I walk to the home games so that's your theory blown outta the water. dissilusional fools you all are. You have nothing to do with Manchester United. Remember he words to the old song, we'll keep the red flag flying high, cos Man United will NEVER DIE. ta'ra!
Hidden agenda boys? Bury are skint, flat broke. FC United have a few quid & potential of thousands of fans - takeover/merger & quick entry to Coca Cola League Two? I can't believe it's not been discussed. They could call themselves "Greater Manchester United". Good call? anybody else thinking along these lines?
Another day, another Stuart article about SCUM. The S is for Soccer.
For all you prats whinging about FCUM stories being in the Man Utd section..................DON'T READ IT IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED! It's easy, just move your mouse and it's gone.
I've got a better name for the new club: Bury Glazer.
GO AWAY AND PLAY!
LEAVE MANCHESTER UNITED FANS TO READ ABOUT MAN U NOT A BUNCH OF PARTTIME WANNABEES
Terry the Red. FYI it would be the Rams not the Spirites. I go and watch Derby County on a fairly regular basis as my son supports them. Being from Sale though makes it a bit difficult to forget the team I have supported since a young lad! How can you change allegiance so easily. My job has dictated that I have worked all over the world, not just in the UK, but I have never once forgotten where I come from and who I support.
Well there we go with the usual moronic rant from an FC traitor - Terry the Red. Like the rest of his mob he shamelessly misrepresents the situation. The truth is that from reading these pages, you can see that the majority of Manchester Reds have stuck with Utd.
I must say however that these pages have been an eyeopener. We have discovered a small but virulent number of small town xenophobes that had supported United all these years while always resenting it's massive foreign support. It is good to see this cancer has been removed and deposited at FC United where it belongs.
Here we go again with Mr Kelly of Dublin seemingly unable to drag himself away from reports about FC United, and then having the gall to complain that the stories appear on the site. Let's spell it out for you one more time. Most observers agree that the purchase of United by Glazer is unwelcome and could be disastrous. Regardless of whether the business plan is a success or not, it is a certainty that the servicing of the debt will lead to a very aggressive level of commercialisation. I think that even for the fans who are not particularly anti-Glazer, this kind of exploitation will prove to be excessive. For many local fans such as myself who have supported United since long before Munich, the transformation of our club into a global brand has been very, very painful. MR KELLY. PLEASE TRY TO UNDERSTAND THESE FANS. Do not simply say "traitors". This kind of name calling (from both sides) is not what we need at this very critical point in our club's history. We need measured debate and a way to understand what people's motives are. The FC solution will be different things to different people. Some have abandoned United for ever. Some see the club as a temporary rallying point to fight Glazer. Some will continue to support FC AND United. FC United represents different things to different people. But you have to ask yourself why diehards of longstanding such as raggy and others have turned their backs on United after fifty years of support. Very, very strong feelings must have caused this. People don't just give up a lifetime's interest at the drop of a hat. So, one more time, I urge you not to just condemn. Please try to understand.
Well Alan Mac, I dont seek out reports on FC. It is just impossible to avoid them on this site.
I would agree that there has been a lot of name calling on both sides but I would argue that the crowd that you are alligned to inflamed the situation by calling people who disagreed with them as glory hunters.
In conclusion, I would say it is very difficult for Man Utd fans to understand how you and your allies could be so fickle and dissert United the way you have. You can only support one club by the way.
David Kelly, Dublin - How is it impossible to consciously do anything? - It would seem that people with stereotypical imaginations and over zealous typing skills can do so on an almost daily basis. Why do you comment on articles you claim to have no interest in? Do you know what 'obsessive compulsion' is? - It's a condition, which causes sufferers to repeat actions or views compulsively to a point of obsession. If you genuinely have no interest in a new football club, which has little if any bearing on your life, why are you so obsessed with that club? What are you so concerned about? OK so a few United supporters formed a new club! What's the big deal? It isn't the first time a new club has been formed and the way football is going, it won't be the last. Things tend to develop naturally and football is no different. The idea that Manchester United serves its host community has all but died out. The make up of the support at Old Trafford has changed almost beyond recognition. United now only serves to exploit people and football at Old Trafford has been going that way for years. The time is perfect for a new club to be formed and FC United will do a lot of good. I am willing to bet that more fans clubs will be formed in the coming years.
It's a changing world and football is at the forefront of those changes as the most popular sport. With all the money, marketing and PR at the top end I can understand people saying enough is enough and looking elsewhere for the kind of football they want. I liken United/Fc united to a high earner in the city with the stress, traffic, pollutuion and noise who finally has had enough and goes to norfolk to grow organic vegetables. Both sides have to justify their choice and it all ends up in a slanging match. I'm with United and I have no interest in FC but the stories are here and I usually end up looking at the comments and join the slanging match. MEN do us all a favour and stick these stories somewhere else, the people who are interested will find them.
Well I can see why AR does not like people like me exposing FC for what it is (a nest of traitors). This may explain his rant.
While I maintain FC is unimportant in itself, I will not stand by and allow it's supporters to attack my club.
David Kelly, you'll defend them no matter what? Do you pay to watch games?
David Kelly, Dublin - At what point did I say I didn't like you! I don't even know you, or you I. Having read your comments, you simply come over as irrational. Your arguments are vitriolic and I find it interesting you see the club as 'yours'. Who is ranting? You are the one who comes over as someone who's lost the plot. If you maintain FC United is unimportant, what are you so frightened of! Perhaps it's because you will have to suffer more of the preverbal 'prawn sandwich' brigade this season whilst the ones you call 'traitors' are off enjoying themselves. 'Your' club, as you put it, is now run by parasites. Some who have followed the club through thick and thin have had enough of being exploited and are quite rightly moving on. Rant all you will, but you are the one who's incapable of accepting change. Hope you enjoyed yourself mouthing off at Rio for doing nothing more than a true mercenary should (if you actually went to Clyde). Asia next, perhaps you will be able to teach the natives how to be exploited and prompt 'brand' football. That should help stifle the development of home-grown teams in their Country. Well you won't do it here and the 'brand' clubs won't either.
Well it's obvious we will never agree so I think it's time to move to our prospective clubs and get on with our lives. I am prepared to do that if you FC guys can. However if you continue with your sanctimonious claptrap I will call you on it.
Yes Electro I pay Sky Sports for my football during the season. No doubt your next question will be why I don't attend every match at Old Trafford. If it is I refuse to reply as I am sick of answering the same questions.
No the point I was going to make is it's not fair criticising people who find themselves forced out by the ever-increasing ticket prices, not being able to sit with friends, the commercialisation, the mercenaries taking all the money etc. for finding their own route. Walking away would be the most painful thing, IMHO, you could possibly do (why I'm struggling)
To shout 'traitor' at people being priced out of one of their true loves, or finding it has changed and doesn't want them there, or just isn't what it used to be, is out of order
Also I think it's right that no organisation, let alone a football club, is above criticism. It's right to question things United do, and it's right, IMO, for people to have a line in the sand where they say 'enough's enough'