Getting to know the Blue Square Premier : Fleetwood

Fleetwood have rapidly climbed through the non-league scene since their reformation in 1997 and were close to joining the Football League for next season before getting mullered by AFC Wimbledon in the Playoff Semi Finals.

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I am one of a probably small group of Lincoln fans that have actually seen Fleetwood play since their inception in 1997 and that came when they faced Lincoln United at the end of the 2007/8 season. United needed to win to stand any chance of staying up and Fleetwood were going for the title and despite United dominating the first half, a 3-0 win for the Cod Army relegated the Whites to what is now known as the Evostik Division One South. Fleetwood went on to win the title to get into the Blue Square North.

The club reformed in 1997 and was initially known as Fleetwood Wanderers, then Fleetwood Freeport and finally Fleetwood Town in 2002. It's the third club baring the name Fleetwood. They play at Highbury, a stadium with a capcity of 5,500 thanks to the construction of the new Parkside Stand, opened a few months ago.

They won successive promotions in 2005 and 2006 before being promoted in the aforementioned 2007/8 season, going up despite only drawing at Frickley on the final day and Witton's failure to win. Two years later and they were celebrating promotion to the Blue Square Premier following a successful campaign in the Playoffs, beating Droylsden in the semi finals and Alfreton Town in the final, with former Imp Lee Thorpe scoring the winning goal. Infact, it was the second Playoff Final in three years where a former Imp scored the winner.

Last year saw them again challenge for promotion and despite all the odds, they made the Playoffs again, although the season ended extremely disappointingly as they went down 8-1 on aggregate to eventual winners AFC Wimbledon.

The big spending Lancastrians will be one of the favourites for promotion next season after signing prolific non-league striker Brodie from Crawley.

Fleetwood's average attendances have gone up every year since 2003/4, it started with 134 and since then has gone to 206, 466, 537, 721, 920, 1355 and 1753. With Blackpool's crowds more than likely to return to normal following relegation from the Premiership, Fleetwood will hope to inherit some of their fans and finally breach the 2,000 mark.

The Cod Army are managed by Micky Mellon.