Thetownend.com

Beat Rochdale 3-2 with a Roy of the Rovers last kick of the ball of injury time winner. Superb!

"Are you watching David Gill?"  :clap:

That was ace!

The fans were amazing all night.Couldn't believe it when the goal went in at the end.Brilliant  :D

There fans were mental! Best game og football i have watched in a long time.

Give me that over premiership any day.

That was a great game. Given our current form I am sooooooo glad we didn't draw FC United. Fantastic support and they look a very, very useful side. It's inevitable that they will be in the Football  League sooner rather than later.

What I don't quite get is their relationship with Man Utd. Obviously I know they are disillusioned Man Utd fans but what happens if and when the Glaziers sling their hook and it starts getting run as a proper football club again? Presumably those fans wouldn't just ditch FC United, would they? Would FC United become a kind of feeder/reserve side for Man U? In a way it would be a shame if it did. Fair play to them though. If we manage to get past the Janners, I know who I do not want in the next round.

Oh yeah, fair play to Keith Hill being extremely gracious in defeat. The winning goal for FCU should never have been allowed (although you could see why it was. From one angle, i.e the ref's angle, it looked like the keeper spilled it but from behind the goal the lad clearly kicked it out of the keeper's hands) but he didn't go over board about it and gave credit where it was due. And 'Dale didn't play badly to be fair, and that is another great story in itself.

All in all, a good night for football...I liked ESPN's coverage as well.

I thought you were congratulating a knock off fashion label.

OST, while the Glazier's coming in created the club, I think all the other Premiership shit had created the enrvironment in which it was possible, so I think they'll stick with it.  Just because new owners arrive it is not going to make Man Utd cheap to watch again, it's not going to make football matches occur on a Saturday at 3pm, it's not going to change the corporate feel of grounds etc.  You can tell from watching last nights game just how great it must be to be involved with that club.  The goalie ran over to a fan ans jumped on him when they scored the first, imagine that happening, even it our level.  Let alone the Prem.  The fan ownership means they are all in it together.  I must admit, watching it made me wonder why other clubs can't be like that.

There is a little bit about it here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/9147092.stm

I saw an interview with one of the new owners of Liverpool suggesting Premiership matches could be played as far away as Asia.

It's not American Football you cunts. Which sums it up for me really, watching Premiership teams is just a day out for many. It's so far detached from the fans now.

I wonder just how happy the Liverpool fans are now that they've heard the new owners making all the same noises.  The ones that make football sound like a franchise business.

I think alot of people feared this when the Premier League and the Champions League were first conceived. The concern was that the more football became about money, the more and more it would evolve into a business.

If I'd sunk that amount of money into a football club I would want to explore as many ways as possible of getting a return on my investment. I use the word investment, because at the end of the day thats what it is. There has to be some sort of financial return somewhere along the line (whether it be for the football club or for the company/companies being associated with the football club)

It's a shame that a decent Non-League achievement like this will be overshadowed by talk of the politics.

I know in many ways it goes hand-in-hand but on the pitch they are just a Northern Premier League team who have beaten a League One club. Which is great.

They are not just a Northern League team though, are they?  They are glimpse of how clubs could be and a stark reminder of what football has become.  I think it's fantastic that they won last night, and it was compelling viewing, but.....

....they played on a Friday night in front of TV camera's.


I hope they don't end up having to conform to everything they've battled against in creating the club.  I want them, and AFC Wimbledon in the league at some point, but I want them there as a shining example to the rest of us outside the ivory tower of the premier league of how great following a club can be.  That we can have fun and enjoy ourselves and our club doesn't have to consider how best to improve the brand.

I love Non-League football and watch a lot of it. I certainly support the AFC Wimbledon cause but this, for me, is different.

My fear is that if these disgruntled fans of major clubs start following the FCUM model and we start seeing sides like FC Reds of Liverpool and Holloway Gunners emerge througout Non-League then what's going to happen to the long serving stalwarts of grass roots football?

These Manchester United were right to protest but the North West have so many Non-League teams. Withdrawing your financial support is enough.

I'm not sure I like the way they sing more against Glazier and reminisce (sp?) than actually support the club and the 11 blokes on the field.

I agree.

I think the result last night was fantastic.  I think those who set the club up have got good reasons for doing so, and the chaos caused at Liverpool would similarly have justified similar initiative.  Interesting that the story at Chelsea has been so completly different.  Whatever you think of Abramovich and/or the shedloads of money, he has invested in them, not ransacked their treasury to fund other debts.

if FC Utd bring some influence to bear in ridding the PL of asset-stripping foreign owners, then more pwoer to their elbow.

FC United will end up the same as all clubs, it's Animal Farm all over again (the book, not the porno).

Whilst Glazer was the trigger, they also state that the money aspect in the modern game was a major factor. Now all they're talking about is money - their earnings from their FA Cup run and the fund raising to build a new stadium which already includes a £650k grant from the Manchester Council (don't they have better things to spend their money on?). They are also living from their story and milking it for all they can.

They made a good start but have stalled in their climb up the leagues and their attendances are in free fall. They'll end up staying where they are and eventually everyone will forget about them, with their supporters drifting back to Man Utd.

AFC Wimbledon is a different story as they are the new Wimbledon. FC United is just a piss poor attempt to stick it to Glazer which was always doomed to failure.

Fair play to them for the FA Cup win at Rochdale though, but it's only getting the coverage it is due to who they are and not what they are.

That is bollocks. Did you watch the game last night? It looked pretty dammned impressive to me, both on and off the pitch. Great team, FANTASTIC support. On that evidence, they will be in the Football League within the next five years. Wimbledon stalled a little bit in getting out of the Conference South but now they're knocking on the door of the Football League. FC United will not be far behind.

Your last sentence is bollocks as well. Any side from the Northern Premier League or equivalent winning away to a L1 side would quite rightly get a load of coverage.

There was a David Conn article in t'Grauniad the other day and it did make it sound like there is a genuine community club being built - also one that defines itself not just through what it is not I.e. anti-Glazer.

Fantastic support? Their attendances have been steadily dropping, despite the fact they've been promoted 3 times. They are still very high for the level they play at but what will they be in a few years?

- 2005/6 3,059
- 2006/7 2,581
- 2007/8 2,086
- 2008/9 2,152
- 2009/0 1,954
- 2010/1 1,723

Sure, any team would get a lot of coverage for knocking out a team a good few divisions higher. But they're getting even more than that due to them being a bunch of ex-Man Utd fans that are standing up to the man. And failing.

I'm so happy for FCUM supporters, they deserve it. It's 11 long years since they were celebrating the Champions League Final win over Bayern Munich :)

Joking aside, I remain cautious about disgruntled fans of massive football clubs forming Non-League sides simply because (as I've mentioned) it jeopardises the future of Non-League teams at that level. All the 'community' talk is no different to any grass roots club because it has to be about community or they won't survive.

Why weren't people talking about this a week ago? Because nobody outside of this cause really gives a shit. They scored a dramatic winner in that magical competition and all of a sudden they're the talk of football. This will die down the moment FCUM are knocked out.

2000 fans won't change world football and the way the big leagues conduct themselves, they'll (maybe) simply join the Rochdale and Bury's of the world.

...and that'll be an achievement in it's own right.

Yes jonny, fantastic suppport. There were over 4000 at Rochdale last night and they sang and sang for the whole 90 minutes. To me, that is fantastic support and shows what they are capable of when they do get going up the leagues again, which I am sure they will do. What are Wimbledon's average attendances for that same period?

At that level their attendances are fantastic.

Just as Liverpool were sold to another American sports venture, Man United will be sold to another sports venture. No individual will ever be able to take on the debt to buy them.

FC Uniteds support on friday was the best away support in the entire FAC first round. Easily.

Mancs have never been affraid to be pioneers in football. They do need a ground actually in Manchester though. Once they get that then Im sure they will thrive.

No, all the media have talked about is the money. Which is all they ever talk about in relation to lower league sides making progress in the FA Cup. Don't mistake the reporting for what's actually going on

Mentioning Wimbledon and FC United in the same sentence, let alone comparing them, is just wrong.

One was formed by the supporters of a club who had their club taken away from them, the other is a bunch of Man Utd fans in disguise making out their club was taken from them when in reality they sold it out years ago themselves. If anyone bothered to check the facts they'd think the same.

FC United attendances are falling rapidly despite promotions, whilst Wimbledon's are rising. FC United fans admit to still being Man Utd fans and will watch them on TV and still follow their results. There is no need for FC United to have their own ground and there are better things the money could be spent on - the Bury ground is about the same distance from Manchester as going from the County Ground to Webb's Wood and back.

Sure their support at Rochdale was good. But it was just a few miles down the road, and how many of them were just Man Utd fans with nothing better to do? They can't be FC United fans as they only get 1700 for home matches.

In case anyone is unclear, I don't like FC United and never will.

Herthab, should we all fuck off to the fcom
forum?

 :D :D

FCUoM fans should have put their resources into supporting **Bury, would have been a whole lot less hassle.

AFC Wimbledon don't play in Merton, so what they have achieved?

Both of them should just fuck off.

**I forgot that bit.

I agree...went of Wimbledon when that thug Fashunu smashed his elbow into Gary Mabbutts face.

I dislike FCUM :)

Are they muslim?

I don't think their fans are too bothered what you think. FCUM they say.