Curzon Ashton Boycott - message from the FC United Board

After the team’s excellent 2-0 win at the Tameside Stadium secured by goals from Simon Carden and Robert Nugent, the board would like to make the following statement:

’The board of FC United wishes to congratulate fans for the stand they took in boycotting the Curzon Ashton game on Saturday 29th December. The decision to boycott the game was not one taken lightly and followed the enforced change to the kick off time.

Whilst supporters showed their overwhelming support for the stand taken by the board and the team won on the pitch the reality is that all parties suffered; Curzon Ashton lost potential match day revenue, a large number of FC United supporters stayed away from the game and as such were denied the chance to see their team play, and the league and Invision’s relationship with two member clubs has become unnecessarily strained.

FC United came into existence in direct response to the disregard shown for football supporters by those who put profit before the fans who support the game week in week out. As a democratically elected board we endeavour to represent the interests and will of FC United fans and we hope that the strength of feeling shown by supporters prompts greater consideration for their concerns in the future.

To avoid this situation arising again we are seeking a greater dialogue between the league, its sponsors and member clubs. We recognise that sponsorship and television bring much needed revenue into football but that money should not buy the right to bypass the interests of football supporters who are the biggest financial backers of the game.

There may be financial, policing or logistical reasons why a game should take place at a time other than 3pm on a Saturday. Indeed it is inevitable that FC United’s games will become the subject of TV interest in the future. The board would therefore like to stress that it is not opposed to the re-arrangement of any fixture date and / or time, provided that it meets with the approval of and benefits the respective clubs and their supporters.

We hope that the team’s fantastic performance goes some way to compensate those United fans who stayed away from the game and thank everyone for their continued support during this difficult and sensitive period.

Finally a big thank you to all those who volunteered to steward and help out at the reserve game; almost £2000 was raised for club funds and Abbey Hey also benefited from a financial windfall, selling out of pies and beer. The 500 people who made the journey to Abbey Hey were treated to a terrific display by our young reserve side. The atrocious weather made playing conditions difficult but the players responded to the noisy support from the sidelines beating promotion rivals Club AZ 3-1 in the Cheshire League fixture, FC’s goals were scored by Ant O’Neill, Danny Allen and Kyle Harrop.