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PLAYER NEWS - 11th July

PLAYER NEWS - 11th JulyFC United Manager Karl Marginson spoke with FCUMRadio on Saturday to provide an update on how the squad was shaping up for the new season.



As most teams are taking advantage of the close season to bring in new players, FC United actually strengthened their squad throughout the course of the last season.

Following a slow start to last season’s campaign FC Manager Karl Marginson brought in 10 new players between October and the end of the season to completely transform the team.

Last season 36 players appeared for the first team in all competitions, and of the 42 league games played, only 3 players started more 30 matches - Luke Ashworth, Tom Greaves and Dave Carnell.

Last season’s new signings were:
- George Thomson (aged 24),
- Harry Winter (26),
- Sam Sheridan (26),
- Scott Kay (26),
- Tom Eckersley (24),
- Chris Chantler (25)
- Dale Johnson (31),
- Dale Tonge (31),
- Tom Smyth (25),
- Dylan Forth (19).

Naturally it took a bit of time for the new-look squad to bed in, but with FC finishing the season strongly, Karl will be hoping to take that form and a settled team into the new season.

As Margy explains in the interview with FCUMRadio, apart from Greg Daniels, who has decided to take a year out travelling, all of the squad that finished last season will be re-signing for the new season. Daniels, aged 23, has been with us for 4 seasons in which he’s played 168 times, scoring 28 goals, most notably his header that secured promotion to the National League North in 2015.

Other notable departures from last season’s squad are Dean Stott, Craig Lindfield and Liam Brownhill.

Stott, who last appeared for FC United in our 4-0 defeat away at Brackley in January has now signed for Ramsbottom. Former Club captain, Stott played 221 times for FC United between 2011 and 2016.

Craig Lindfield who played in 67 games for FC, scoring 19 goals has signed for Marine; and Liam Brownhill who was at FC for 3 seasons has signed for Ashton United following a successful period on-loan at Ashton at the end of last season.



With regards to new signings we are delighted to announce the signing of promising 20 year old, Zac Corbett (pictured above). The midfielder who can also play in defence has had short spells with Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and Witton Albion. He was also with Crewe and Stoke City as a YTS youngster.

Marginson was told about Corbett, by the same contact who introduced Charlie Raglan to the club in 2013, and by all accounts Zac is in a similar mould to Raglan.

Like Corbett, Raglan was also 20 years old when he joined FC United where he formed a formidable partnership with 21 year old Tom Davies. By the end of the 2013/14 season both Raglan and Davies had signed professional terms with league clubs Chesterfield and Fleetwood respectively. Since joining Chesterfield, Raglan has been a regular in first team, and Davies has recently signed for Portsmouth.

Margy is also looking to promote players who have impressed in the Reserves. In Saturday’s away friendly at Rhyl, both Dean Hope and Chris Hill came on as second half substitutes.



Midfielder Dean Hope has been a regular in the FC United Reserves for the past two seasons. Here’s Hope scoring a header against RIASA South last season. (4.55 mins in)



Chris Hill captained FC’s Youth Team in their 6-2 win over Southport in the FA Youth Cup last season, and spent most of his time last season playing for the Reserves. Hill scored a hat trick in FCs Reserves 9-4 defeat at home against Stockport at the end of last season.

Other trialists who featured in Saturday’s team at Rhyl were James Doyle, who played for Blackpool Youth Team last season; and striker Jamie Frost (19) who left Burnley at the end of the season having previously signed professionally with them in 2014.

For FCs more senior players, both Tom Greaves (aged 31) and Matty Wolfenden (28) will be targeting 17 goals this season to become FCs all-time top goalscorer.

31 year old Jerome Wright begins his 10th season with FC this season and holds the record for the number of appearances by some distance having played 364 times for the Club.

Dave Carnell (31) starts his 4th season with FC and will be hoping for an injury free season. Last year Carnell missed 9 matches through injury.

25 year old midfielder Rory Fallon is hoping for a full recovery from injury this season. Fallon featured in almost every match before getting injured against Gloucester in December, which saw him miss the rest of the season.

With 8 pre-season friendlies planned before the start of the new season, there will be ample opportunity for new players to impress, and for Karl to choose his desired first team squad to hit the ground running for our first league match of the season away at Chorley on 6th August.



First Posted ~ 12:40 Mon 11 Jul 2016
News ID ~ 6913
Last Updated ~ 16:00 Fri 19 Feb 2021