FC United of Manchester (H) – Match Preview

At some point, FC United's fortunes are going to turn around. When they do get back to their best though, they will be a threat to any team in this league

Until a 96th-minute equaliser, your Steelmen were sitting 4th in the league, though we did only drop one spot after Avro equalised against Leek.

An Emley side who seem to be a permanent defensive unit against us means that that match was just the fourth league fixture since the 22nd of October 2025 where we failed to score.

Technically, they were also the 2nd, with Lincoln and Bury being the only other two times we were held to no goals.

We are also approaching two massive milestones in terms of results. If we don’t suffer defeats to FC United and Leek Town, then we will have officially gone a year without losing at home, with that last home defeat coming against Emley on the 23rd of August.

Wins/draws in our next 9 league matches would mean we have gone an entire year unbeaten in the league, and the final milestone that is looking likely is that if we score just 22 more goals, then we will have scored 100 goals in 2026

With the amount of games we do have throughout the rest of the year, this is looking like it will be a fact, rather than a potential stat, with your Steelmen still set to play at least 20 matches, and that isn’t including any future FA matches/county cup fixtures.

Bosh’s 4 goals so far have him sat 4th in the NPL Premier top scorer chart, with Aaron Martin of Guiseley, Harry Salt of Avro, and James Blunden of Cleethorpes all sitting on 5 goals.

So, a goal or two for Bosh tomorrow could put him first in that race

The final rankings we are involved in are with Non-League Rankings, where we currently are ranked 129th out of all non-league teams, and a reminder of how this tracking works is that teams started being tracked in Step 4, dating back as far as 2014 in some cases

So, just to reiterate.

We are 129th, and we have only been tracked since August 2025.

The only other team in our league tracked for that short a timeframe is Bury, and they’re ranked 138th at the moment.

Onto FC United, who are currently ranked 112th but have been dropping rapidly, having been ranked 92nd at the end of last season

Now, I could write an entire report on the club’s history, but these previews are about now, so I will skim their start.

FC United were founded in 2005 following dissatisfaction towards Malcolm Glazer’s ownership of Manchester United. The concept of a breakaway had been a thing for decades prior, but it only came to fruition in 2005

The club’s first signing, following trials of 200 different players, saw the great-nephew of Charlie Mitten (a former Manchester United forward), called Johnathan, join the side

The years after saw the side rise through the leagues, with their peak being a stint in the National League North between the 2015/16 season and the 2018/19 campaign, where they were relegated, along with fellow NPL Prem side Ashton United (and a Nuneaton Borough side that has since folded, and is now situated in the Midland Football League (Steps 5/6/7)

Anyway, now onto this season. Things have started quite rough for FC United, with the side sat at the foot of the league and no wins recorded so far.

There have been several late goals against them to deny them draws, including a 93rd-minute winner from Hyde United along with a pair of goals from Workington in the 81st and 89th minutes, as they beat FC United 2-1

Having lost last season’s play-off semi-final to Warrington Rylands, the Reds will be trying to reach those heights again, though their next few matches won’t be an easy set.

After us, they then host Avro and Warrington Town, before travelling to a Curzon Ashton side who have just battered an otherwise threatening Warrington Town side, 4-0

Their squad is full of some high-profile names, including former Everton youth players, a former Liverpool, Salzburg and Derby defender in the form of Andre Wisdom, and most notably, former Premier League striker Adam Le Fondre.

But we have Adam Boyes and Danny Rowe… so who’s the real winner?

Anyway, that’s it from me; I feel like this preview has gone on long enough.

See you tomorrow, don’t forget about the other entertainment on offer at Green Lane outside of our match, and as always:

Up the Steelmen!.