Fleetwood Town

Fleetwood Town plays in League Two, the fourth and final tier of the English Football League structure, which includes the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two. The club was founded in 1908 as Fleetwood with the current incarnation Fleetwood Town coming into existence in 1997 after the previous Fleetwood Town folded in the same year. In 1997, the club were known as Fleetwood Wanderers before changing their name to the current Fleetwood Town.

Fleetwood Town Updates

Fleetwood Town is currently a member of League Two, having worked their way up from non-league football to League One. Fleetwood find themselves back in League Two for the first time since the 2013-14 season after suffering relegation from League One last season. The club are currently safely positioned in the middle of the League Two table, looking sure to be safe from relegation but too far away to challenge for the playoff spots. Fleetwood has already changed their manager this season with Pete Wild replacing Charlie Adam in December 2024. The Cod Army’s squad has an average age of just below 25 years of age with 34-year-old Danny Mayor the oldest player in the squad. Striker Ronan Coughlan and midfield man Matty Virtue are the club’s leading scorers so far this season having found the net eight times so far this season. Phoenix Patterson and Ryan Graydon have both chipped in with six assists this campaign.

Fleetwood Town Transfer News & Rumours

Fleetwood Town was busy in the winter transfer window, adding no fewer than four players to their squad. Kian Harratt joined on a permanent basis from Huddersfield Town having been on loan at Highbury for the first half of the season. Attacker Louie Marsh has left Sheffield United for a loan stay at Fleetwood while midfielder Harrison Neal joined from League Two strugglers Carlisle United. Shaun Rooney returned to the club for a second spell on a free transfer having left Scottish Premiership side St Mirren in October. The defender spent two seasons at Highbury between 2022 and 2024, making 80 appearances. Captain Brendan Wiredu was rumoured to have interested in Wigan Athletic during the January transfer window with at least one bid rejected for the former Colchester United man.

Fleetwood Town Signings

Fleetwood Town were incredibly active in the summer transfer window and continued to add to the squad during January. The Cod Army utilised the loan and free transfer market as they looked to rebuild following last season’s relegation. The club looked into Scotland for players like James Bolton and Shaun Rooney and Premier League development squads for the likes of MacKenzie Hunt and Luke Hewitson who joined in free transfers from Everton and Liverpool respectively. Zech Medley was brought back to these shores from Belgian club KV Oostende having come through the ranks with Chelsea and Arsenal.

Player	Age	Nationality	Left	Fee	Contract Duration
Zech Medley	23	England	KV Oostende Challenger Pro League	Free	2 Years
Matty Virtue	27	England	Blackpool League One	Free	2 Years
MacKenzie Hunt	22	United Arab Emirates	Everton U21 Premier League 2	Free	2 Years
Luke Hewitson	19	England	Premier League 2	Free	2 Years
Kian Harratt	22	England	Huddersfield Town League One	Free	N/A
Mark Helm	22	England	Burton Albion League One	Free	3 Years
Elliot Bonds	24	Guyana	Cheltenham Town League Two	Free	3 Years
James Bolton	29	England	St Mirren Premiership	Free	2 Years
Harrison Neal	23	England	Carlisle United League Two	Free	18 Months
Brandon Cover	21	Jamaica	Leicester City U21 Premier League 2	Loan	Until End Of Season
Louie Marsh	20	England	Sheffield United Championship	Loan	Until End Of Season
Kobei Moore	20	England	Aston Villa U21 Premier League 2	Loan	Until End Of Season
Rhys Bennett	20	England	Manchester United U21 Premier League 2	Loan	Until End Of Season
Liam Shaw	23	England	Without Club		18 Months
Shaun Rooney	28	Scotland	Without Club		N/A

Fleetwood Town Key Matches Of The Season

As they head into the second half of the season with seemingly little to play for, Fleetwood will be looking to gain momentum in preparation for next season and to test themselves against some of the league’s better sides. Town have games against promotion chasers Port Vale and Bradford City to look forward to as well as games against rivals Accrington Stanley and Barrow.

Visit Betiton

]

Visit Bet442

]

Fleetwood Town Key Achievements

Since their 1997 reincarnation, Fleetwood Town has risen rapidly through the football pyramid. Starting in the Northwest Counties League Division One, they were promoted to the Premier League in 1999, then won the title in 2005 and 2008, earning promotion to the Conference North. In 2010, they reached the top tier of non-league football, going professional in 2011. After a near-miss in the Conference playoffs, they won the title in 2012, gaining Football League status. Jamie Vardy was sold to Leicester for a record fee that same year. After two seasons in League Two, Fleetwood earned promotion to League One through the playoffs, beating Burton Albion 1-0 at Wembley. They spent ten seasons in League One, competing against teams like Sheffield Wednesday, before relegation last season.

• Northwest Counties Football League Division One champions 1998-99
• Northwest Counties Football League Premier Division champions 2004-05
• Northern Premier League Premier Division champions 2007-08
• Conference North playoff winners 2010
• Conference Champions 2011-12
• League Two playoff winners 2014

Fleetwood Town Current Squad

Fleetwood Town’s squad has undergone an overhaul since being relegated back to the fourth tier. The current squad’s average age sits just below 25 years of age with central midfielder Danny Mayor the elder statesman of the side at 34. The squad has been put together using free transfers and the loan market with players heading to the Fylde Coast from the continent, Scotland and development squads of those higher up the football pyramid.   The top scorer in the current squad is midfielder Marty Virtue who has scored eight goals so far this season along with Irish striker Ronan Coughlan. Scottish winger Phoenix Patterson and forward Ryan Graydon share the top spot on the assist charts with six apiece. Captain Brendan Wiredu and goalkeeper David Harrington are two of the club’s top performers so far this season and on loan Jamaica international Brandon Cover has made a positive start to his temporary switch from Leicester City.

Fleetwood Town Attackers

In attack, Ronan Coughlan leads the line and has got 10 goals to his name in all competitions so far this term. He is supported by former Derry City striker Ryan Graydon and United Arab Emirates international MacKenzie Hunt.

Fleetwood Town Midfielders

Marty Virtue and Phoenix Patterson lead the midfield in terms of goals and assists and are supported by the experienced former Plymouth Argyle man Danny Mayor. Guyana international Elliot Bonds is a mainstay in the side while new addition Harrison Neal is yet another option alongside five-goal man Mark Helm.

Fleetwood Town Defenders

Brendan Wiredu is the captain of the club and leads the defence impressively. He is joined by experienced defenders Shaun Rooney, in his second spell with the club, James Bolton and Ryan Broom. Rhys Bennett is on loan from Manchester United and is gaining important minutes for his development with full-back Brandon Cover joining on loan from another Premier League outfit Leicester City.

Fleetwood Town Goalkeepers

The experienced Jay Lynch is the current starting goalkeeper having lost his place to youngster David Harrington earlier in the campaign. Lunch has been with the club since 2022 having represented the likes of Rochdale and AFC Fylde. Former Cork City stopper Harrington joined Fleetwood in January 2023 and has made over 30 appearances already for the Highbury outfit. The third member of Fleetwood’s goalkeeping union is former Liverpool academy keeper Luke Hewitson. The 20-year-old has recently been on the bench for the first team as back up to Jay Lynch.

Fleetwood Town Manager & Coaching Staff

Pete Wild – Manager

Pete Wild was appointed Fleetwood Town manager in December 2024 following the dismissal of Charlie Adam. Wild has previously been in charge of Barrow and FC Halifax Town of the National League, guiding the club to their highest-ever finish at the time of 4th.

Adam Temple – Assistant Manager

Manager Wild brought his former Barrow assistant Temple with him to Highbury when he was appointed in December. The 43-year-old has previously worked at Manchester United and Manchester City before joining up with Wild in Cumbria.

Matt Lawlor – First Team Coach

Lawlor first joined Fleetwood in 2017 as an academy coach and has held a variety of roles since, including youth development phase lead and head of coaching and player development. The 36-year-old also spent time as assistant manager at Fleetwood’s sister club Waterford last season.

Owen Fon Williams – Head of Goalkeeping

Fon Williams enjoyed an extensive playing career making 500 appearances across the English Football League, time in Scotland and a short spell in the United States. He has held his current role since July 2022.

Fleetwood Town Former Managers & Key Coaches

Fleetwood Town's fortunes improved with Tony Greenwood as manager and Andy Pilley as chairman, leading to back-to-back promotions in 2005 and 2006, reaching the Northern Premier League Premier Division. Greenwood continued the success, winning the Northern Premier Division Challenge Cup in 2007 and securing promotion to the Conference North in 2008.

After a poor start in 2009, Mickey Mellon took over, ensuring league safety and guiding the club to promotion in 2010, with all players turning professional. He then led Fleetwood to the Conference title in 2012, securing Football League status. Graham Alexander replaced Mellon the same year, overseeing promotion to League One via the playoffs. Fleetwood maintained their League One status, but managerial changes became frequent. Alexander was succeeded by Stephen Pressley, then Uwe Rosler, who led the club to the playoffs but fell short in the semi-finals.

John Sheridan followed Rosler, with Joey Barton later taking charge and securing a playoff spot in his second season. After a COVID-19-disrupted period, Barton was sacked, and subsequent managers included Simon Grayson, Stephen Crainey, Scott Brown, Lee Johnson, and Charlie Adam. Brown led Fleetwood to their best-ever FA Cup run, reaching the fifth round, but was dismissed after a poor start to the 2023-24 season. Johnson and later Adam took over, but the club was ultimately relegated under Adam’s leadership.

• Scott Brown was in charge of 64 games and won 20 of those, guiding the club to their best-ever FA Cup performance before being relieved of his duties.
• Lee Johnson replaced Brown having lost his job at Hibernian two weeks previously. He would only oversee 22 matches before his time was up after just six victories.
• Charlie Adam followed Johnson and was the man in charge when relegation to League Two was confirmed. Adam won 14 of his 49 matches which proved too little to save the club from the drop and himself from the sack.
• Pete Wild has been in charge since December 2024 after spells with FC Halifax Town and Barrow.

Fleetwood Town Legends

Alex Cairns

Alex Cairns was a stalwart in goal for Fleetwood Town for seven years from 2016, making close to 250 appearances for the club. He now represents Leeds United.

Ashley Hunter

Ashley Hunter joined Fleetwood Town from Ilkeston Town in December 2014 and went on to play over 200 times and scored close to 40 goals. Hunter has since represented teams such as Salford City and Morecambe and is currently on the books at Accrington Stanley.

David Ball

David Ball joined Fleetwood from Peterborough United in 2012 in need of getting his career going. He joined the club in League Two and was part of the side that gained promotion in 2014. Close to 50 goals in just over 200 games led to Ball being a favourite at the club. He has since represented Rotherham United, and Bradford City and has just left Wellington Phoenix of the Australian A-League after six successful years down under.

Paddy Madden

Paddy Madden joined Fleetwood in 2018 for an alleged fee of £150,000 from Scunthorpe United. The one-cap Republic of Ireland international would spend just over three years at Highbury and would go on to become the club’s leading scorer in the Football League and would leave the Cod Army for Stockport County with over 50 goals in 149 appearances.

Andy Mangan

Andy Mangan was only at the club for a short period but was part of the squad that won promotion to the Football League as Conference champions in 2012. Mangan scored 24 and assisted 18 goals in 59 outings for Fleetwood.

Fleetwood Town Team Metrics & Performance

Fleetwood Town currently sits just below halfway in the League Two table in 13th place with 41 points from their 31 fixtures so far. The Cod Army find themselves eight points off the playoffs and a healthy 15 points from the bottom two. Fleetwood scores, on average, 1.3 goals per game and has conceded 1.2 goals per game. Despite sitting in mid-table in terms of goals conceded per match, Fleetwood has kept the joint second-most clean sheets in the league so far with 13. Since entering the Football League in 2012, Fleetwood’s highest-ever position is a 4th-place finish in League One under Uwe Rosler in 2016-17. Joey Barton also led the club to a League One playoff spot when his side finished 5th in 2019-20. Fleetwood had toyed with relegation during their time in League One, including in 2021-22 when they finished 20th. Eventually, they would succumb to the drop last season when they could only manage 43 points.

Watch Fleetwood Town’s Latest Highlights

Fleetwood Town Pitch & Amenities

Fleetwood Town play their home matches at Highbury stadium and has done since 1997 and also in their previous incarnations since the stadium was built in 1939. Highbury Stadium has a capacity of just over 5,300 making it one of the smallest in the division. Since 2007, Highbury Stadium has undergone extensive building works including the all-new Percy Ronson Stand at a cost of around half a million pounds. Construction began in 2008 on the new west and north stands to be known as the Highbury Stand and the Memorial Stand respectively.

Fleetwood Town Fan Base & Support

Fleetwood Town supporters are sometimes known as the Cod Army and they are averaging around 2,900 fans at home this season, which is around 400 down on last season’s League One average. One of the key supporter groups is the Fleetwood Town Official Supporters Club who aim to support and promote Fleetwood Town regardless of the club’s fortunes. The Fleetwood Town Official Supporters Club aim to promote the club to juniors and organise events for their fans of the future.

Fleetwood Town Rivalries & Notable Matches

Blackpool are the closest Football League club to Fleetwood, but the sides have met on less than 20 occasions. The Cod Army have other local rivalries with Morecambe, Southport and Barrow as the sides faced each other regularly in non-league football. One of the notable most recent meetings between Fleetwood and Blackpool was actually a goalless draw in League One in April 2016. Blackpool were relegated from League One that season, and the draw helped Fleetwood to secure survival and condemn their neighbours to the drop.

Fleetwood Town Facts

Fleetwood Town History

Fleetwood Town, officially established in 1997, traces its roots back to 1908. The club underwent several reforms before 1997, with a previous incarnation reaching the Northern Premier League in 1968, just below the Football League’s Division Four. After folding in 1996, Fleetwood reformed as Fleetwood Wanderers, later renamed Fleetwood Freeport due to sponsorship. They earned promotion to the Premier Division in 1999 and reverted to Fleetwood Town in 2002.

A turning point came in 2003 with Tony Greenwood as manager and Andy Pilley as chairman. The club secured back-to-back promotions, winning the Northwest Counties League and finishing as runners-up in the Northern Premier League First Division. They won the Northern Premier Division Challenge Cup in 2007 and, the following season, secured promotion to the Conference North. Greenwood was replaced by Mickey Mellon in 2008 after a poor start, and Mellon soon took over full-time.

Under Mellon, Fleetwood stabilized in the Conference North and earned promotion to the Football Conference in 2010, turning fully professional that summer. In 2011-12, they reached the FA Cup third round before losing to Blackpool and won the Conference title to secure Football League status. That season, they also sold Jamie Vardy to Leicester City for a record-breaking £1.7 million.

Mellon departed amid links to Burnley and Blackpool and was succeeded by Graham Alexander, who led Fleetwood to League One in his first full season, winning the playoff final at Wembley. The club spent a decade in League One, making the playoffs twice and narrowly avoiding relegation at times.

During this period, Fleetwood saw frequent managerial changes. Alexander was replaced by Steven Pressley, followed by Uwe Rosler, who led them to a fourth-place finish before departing. John Sheridan took over briefly, followed by Joey Barton, who secured an 11th-place finish in 2018-19 and a playoff spot the next season, though they lost to Wycombe Wanderers after the COVID-19 disruption.

Barton was succeeded by Simon Grayson, then Stephen Crainey, who kept the club from relegation. Later, Scott Brown, Lee Johnson, and Charlie Adam all took charge. Despite a historic FA Cup run under Brown, Fleetwood lost their League One status in the 2023-24 season under Adam.

Fleetwood Town Social Media Links

The official Fleetwood Town website is the place for all things Cod Army. Tickets, hospitality and fixtures are all available via the site and you can explore the archives of the club with a former players section and details of the first team and Under 19s are all there at NEWS – Fleetwood Town FC. For match pictures, match reactions and latest from Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood Town’s official X account is the place to go.

Fleetwood Town Outlook & Forecast

Fleetwood Town would have hoped to challenge for promotion back to League One but have instead changed managers and look to build for next season. After a decade in the division above, the Cod Army will be hopeful that current boss Pete Wild can build a side capable of challenging at the top end of the table next season.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fleetwood Town

Who owns Fleetwood Town football club?

Willows 96 Holdings Ltd owns Fleetwood Town Football Club after purchasing 98% of the shareholding in the club with Jamie Pilley the sole shareholder.

What is the capacity of Fleetwood Town FC?

Fleetwood’s Highbury Stadium has a capacity of just over 5,300.

What league is Fleetwood Town in today?

After suffering relegation from league One last season, Fleetwood play in League Two which is the fourth tier of the English Football League.

How do I get to Fleetwood Town FC?

Fleetwood Town can be accessed by train links from Blackpool station and Poulton-le-Fylde station. There are tram services that run from Blackpool every 20 minutes and for those driving, the club can be found at Fleetwood Town Football Club, Highbury Stadium, Park Avenue, Fleetwood, Lancashire, FY7 6TX.

Is Fleetwood Town a big club?

Fleetwood Town are not a big club in English football. They have made their way up from non-league football with the backing of a wealthy chairman. Their Highbury Stadium is one of the smallest in the Football League.

Where to watch Fleetwood Town FC?

Fleetwood Town Football Club, Highbury Stadium, Park Avenue, Fleetwood, Lancashire, FY7 6TX.