Fleetwood Town F.C.

The club became a founder member of the newly created Northern Premier League in 1968, but folded in 1976 and reformed the following year as Fleetwood Town.

They were promoted as First Division champions in 1983–84 and reached the final of the FA Vase in the 1984–85 season; that incarnation of the club also folded in 1997.

The current club came into existence in 1997, as Fleetwood Wanderers, and won the North West Counties League First Division title in 1998–99.

They changed their name to Fleetwood Town in 2002 and were taken over by Andrew Pilley two years later, who transformed the club's fortunes with significant financial investments but was later jailed for fraud.

After almost sixty years as a Lancashire Combination club, they became founder members of the newly created Northern Premier League in 1968.

Great players of that era include Jack Ainscough and the late Percy Ronson, after whom one stand is named.

Despite winning the Northern Premier League Cup in 1971, the club languished in the lower half of the table, finishing bottom for two successive seasons (1974–75 and 1975–76) before folding in 1976, again due to financial difficulties.

The team reached the final of the FA Vase in 1985, losing 3–1 to Halesowen Town in front of a 16,000 crowd at Wembley.

Re-formed in 1997 as Fleetwood Wanderers F.C., the club was placed back in Division One of the North West Counties Football League (now the tenth tier of the English League system) and a sponsorship deal saw the club's name immediately changed to Fleetwood Freeport.

The club was promoted to the Premier Division of the North West Counties League in 1999 and the name was reverted to Fleetwood Town in 2002.

Cup for the first time in their history, but were beaten 3–2 by Hartlepool United at Highbury, in front of a then record crowd since the club's reformation of 3,280.

In the play-off semi-finals, against Wimbledon, a new attendance record of 4,112 was set in the home leg,[11] but Fleetwood lost both games with an 8–1 aggregate scoreline.

However, Fleetwood only won two of the remaining 15 games, and consequently slipped down the table to finish 13th in League Two; this resulted in a large rebuilding of the squad.

In July 2015, chairman Andy Pilley announced a new club strategy, moving towards a self-sustaining model utilising the development and sell-on of homegrown talent to attempt to climb the league pyramid further rather than more expensive player signings.

After a poor start to the season with only two wins in 10 league matches, Graham Alexander was sacked on 30 September 2015, with the club one point above the relegation zone after being beaten heavily 5–1 by Gillingham.

On 6 October 2015 Steven Pressley was appointed manager,[23] and guided the club to safety, five points above the relegation zone, with 10 wins in 35 league matches and an appearance in the EFL Trophy Northern Area Final.

[29] However, during the 2017–18 season Rösler was sacked on 17 February 2018 after seven successive defeats in all competitions and the club just above the relegation zone on goal difference alone.

[30] On 22 February 2018, former Oldham Athletic manager John Sheridan was appointed on a short-term contract until the end of the season.

Chairman Andy Pilley described the decision as "a tough one for me to make, but I felt now was the right time for the club to go in a different direction.

On the final day, despite a 4–2 loss away to Bolton Wanderers, Fleetwood survived thanks to Gillingham's 2–0 defeat by Rotherham United.

However, following a poor run of form involving six consecutive losses in all competitions, Johnson was sacked on 30 December 2023 leaving Fleetwood 23rd in the league, five points from safety.

[48] On 22 December 2024, after one win in their past 11 league games, Fleetwood Town sacked manager Charlie Adam.

The second phase development, the construction of a new East Stand, to bring the ground capacity over the 4,000 minimum required for Conference National football, was originally scheduled for the 2009 close season, but was postponed, and a £125,000 project to relay the pitch and improve drainage was instead implemented.

[53] Construction began in May 2010, ahead of Fleetwood's successful Conference North play-off final against Alfreton Town.

According to a 2019 survey called 'The League of Love And Hate', Fleetwood supporters named Blackpool (83%), Morecambe (74%) and Accrington Stanley (62%) as their biggest rivals, with Preston North End (51%) and Wigan Athletic (47%) following.

[60] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

Fleetwood Town's main kit sponsors include Commercial Power Ltd[66] and Business Energy Solutions.

Fleetwood town seasons
Antoni Sarcevic 's free-kick in the 2014 play-off final won Fleetwood's first promotion to League One in their history.
Percy Ronson stand at Highbury Stadium
Exterior of the main stand of Highbury Stadium