Legends Squad as voted by you

With more than 430 votes from supporters all over the world – from Salford to San Francisco and Shanghai – you have selected FC United’s Legends Squad to celebrate the club’s 15th anniversary and we can now reveal your choices.

After 15 years of entertaining football, four promotions and no fewer than 11 trophies, there was always going to be stiff competition for places, some selection headaches and numerous fantastic players missing out in your final squad. Here are the 15 players that you chose as your Legends Squad 2005-2020:



Here’s a brief look at each of your selections:

1. Sam Ashton
With more than 230 appearances between August 2006 and May 2011, our most capped goalkeeper claimed the number one spot comfortably. Ashton had many memorable moments for the club including saving a late penalty at Brighton & Hove Albion to earn us a replay in the second round of the FA Cup in November 2010.

2. Liam Brownhill
Three solid seasons and 133 appearances from 2013 to 2016 saw Brownhill edge out former club captain Kyle Jacobs and fan favourite Matty Taylor to be named your right-back. No easy feat.

3. Adam Dodd
Dodd may have only been at FC United for one season so far but his combative displays have clearly caught the eye. He is the only current player at the club to be selected in the Legends Squad.

4. David Chadwick
Chaddy was the most popular name on the teamsheet with exactly 320 supporters selecting him – that’s almost 75% of the vote. Everyone needs a nutter in the middle and Chaddy was ours for seven seasons. No wonder he was nailed on for the starting XI.

5. Charlie Raglan
Rob Nugent, Adam Jones and Tom Davies were all popular choices to partner Chaddy at the back but they were beaten by Charlie Raglan. He only spent the 2013-14 season with us but he certainly made a lasting impression before departing for League One Chesterfield.

6. Simon Carden
"I’d like to be, watching FC, with goals from Simon Carden if he plays." He played 243 times and scored 67 goals whilst collecting 33 bookings but remarkably, for someone who loved a lunging tackle just as much as a volleyed winner, he didn’t receive a single red card.

7. Carlos Roca
The right wing berth in your Legends Squad goes to Carlos ‘feet like lightening’ Roca. The diminutive forward dazzled supporters and opponents alike for five seasons, scoring 43 goals in 204 appearances, which is even more impressive considering he was substituted on or off the pitch in 145 of those matches.

8. Matthew Wolfenden
Wolfy narrowly eclipsed Jake Cottrell, George Thomson and Nicky Platt to claim a place in your starting XI. With 94 goals in 305 games, Wolfy is the club’s third highest goal scorer and has the second most appearances. With a record like that, it’s no surprise that he made it into the team.

9. Tom Greaves
He scored goals just for fun, so it seems. The club’s record goalscorer found the net an incredible 103 times in 274 matches and went on to become player-manager. Greaves was your most popular choice up front. Not bad for the lad who broke our hearts with Bradford Park Avenue in the 2012 play-off final before stealing them with FC United.

10. Rory Patterson
It may be 12 years since ’Mr Mystery’ originally left the club but his legend lives on. Patterson scored 99 goals – including one from the halfway line straight from kick-off – in 129 appearances before making a brief return to the club in the winter of 2015 for eight games. The man with no name will always get a game in your Legends Squad.

11. Jerome Wright
The club’s record appearance maker with exactly 400 matches was almost guaranteed a place in the team, it was more about whether you would select him at left-back or left-wing. It was a fairly even split but with 82 goals in his FC United career, clearly many supporters remember the Wright who would maraud down either wing before curling the ball into the top corner of the net.

Substitutes:
12. Rob Nugent
Former club captain and board member Rob Nugent narrowly missed out on the starting XI but provides solid cover on the bench. Nugent made 176 appearances in five seasons for the club, scoring 19 goals before retiring to tackle the club’s accounts!

13. David Carnell
Carnell made 151 appearances for the Reds between January 2014 and April 2017 before returning to Broadhurst Park on loan briefly for six appearances in autumn 2018. He is a worthy understudy to Sam Ashton in your Legends Squad.

14. Jake Cottrell
Tenacious midfielder Jake Cottrell just missed out on making the starting XI but he provides a good option on the bench, especially when Simon Carden’s yellow cards inevitably start to add up. Cottrell played 182 times for FC United and scored nine goals. His most memorable strike coming against Rochdale in the first round proper of the FA Cup – a 30-yard screamer.

15. Tunde Owolabi
Gone but definitely not forgotten. Last month, Owolabi made the step up to professional football with Hamilton Academical but he left what’s sure to be a long lasting impression on the FC United faithful by scoring an incredible 35 goals in 41 matches. There’s no doubt Owolabi deserves his place in the Legends Squad.

Sadly though, it means no place for Michael Norton, who scored 93 times for FC United including arguably the club’s most famous goal in our 15-year history – the last minute winner at Rochdale. Such is the embarrassment of riches we’ve enjoyed over the last 15 years, even club legends weren’t guaranteed a place in the Legends Squad.

Thank you to everyone who voted. Feel free to let us know on social media and the forums what you think of the final squad.