 | ||||
| Full name | Fleetwood Town Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Fishermen, The Cod Army | |||
| Founded | 1908 (as Fleetwood) 1928 (as Fleetwood Windsor Villa, later Fleetwood) 1977 (second reformation as Fleetwood Town) 1997 (third reformation Fleetwood Wanderers) | |||
| Ground | Highbury Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 5,327 (2,672 seated) | |||
| Chairman | Jamie Pilley | |||
| Manager | Charlie Adam | |||
| League | EFL League Two | |||
| 2023–24 | EFL League One, 22nd of 24 (relegated) | |||
| Website | https://www.fleetwoodtownfc.com/ | |||
|
| ||||
Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system.
Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club, which was originally formed in 1908. Their home strip is red shirts with white sleeves and white shorts, and their home ground is Highbury Stadium in Fleetwood. Supporters of the club are known as the Cod Army, which is also used as a nickname for the club, alongside The Fishermen, the club's traditional nickname. They contest a rivalry with nearby Blackpool known as the Fylde Coast derby.
The original club, founded in 1908, were known simply as Fleetwood. They won the Lancashire Combination in the 1923–24 season, but resigned from the league in February 1928, due to financial difficulties. Fleetwood Windsor Villa took their place in the Lancashire Combination and won three Lancashire Combination Cups in 1933, 1934 and 1935. 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 initially competed in the Cheshire County League and joined the North West Counties League in 1982. 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. Fleetwood won the North West Counties League Premier Division title in 2004–05, gained promotion out of the Northern Premier League First Division in 2005–06, won the Northern Premier League Premier Division title in 2007–08 and contested the Conference North play-offs in 2010. Fleetwood won the Conference National title in 2011–12 to secure a place in the Football League for the first time. In May 2014, Fleetwood beat Burton Albion at Wembley in the League Two play-off final and gained promotion to League One, the club's sixth promotion in ten years. They were relegated back to League Two in 2024.