Fleetwood Town

For many newcomers to English football, Fleetwood Town may be best known as the temporary home of a very famous footballer during his magical rise to fame and glory. We’ll get to him later, but my history with Fleetwood Town started with an offhand remark from a football scout I happened to sit next to at some long-forgotten game. “They have some top-notch facilities there,” he had said, which inspired the thought, “At Fleetwood Town?”

The reason for that, and probably for the fact that you are reading about the club right now, is one and the same: Andy Pilley, who made a fortune in energy distribution after Enron fell apart and the UK deregulated the electricity industry.

Pilley got involved with the club in 2004, before which they had spent 90 seasons in leagues you’ve never heard of, gone out of business and been re-founded in 1997, then made it as far as the North West Counties League at tier 9 of the English football pyramid. He has put millions into the organization, rebuilt the stadium and training facility, and got them to where they are now: a solid Football League outfit.

As for why you may have heard of them, it’s probably because in 2011 they purchased, from seventh-tier Halifax Town, a 24-year-old striker named Jamie Vardy. He had just scored 26 goals in 37 games in one season after playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels. In the 2011–12 season, Vardy played in 36 Fleetwood Town games and scored 31 goals, while the club made the FA Cup Third Round, went 29 games unbeaten, and won the league at a canter, putting them in the Football League for the first time.

Leicester City, famously, came in with £1 million for Vardy—the largest transfer fee in non-league history at the time—and you probably know the rest of that story. He returned last season with 183 goals and a league title in 440 Leicester games.

Fleetwood Town, meanwhile, marched onwards and upwards, winning the League Two Playoff Final at Wembley in 2014. They were in League One and even made the playoffs a couple of times, until 2024 when they were relegated to League Two after finishing 22nd.  

In 2023 Pilley was found jailed for multiple counts of fraud. His son is now chairman. The team also just got relegated back to League Two for this season.

2024–25 SEASON: 14th in League Two, 1st Round FA Cup, 3rd Round League Cup

2025–26 SEASON: League Two (relegated in 2025)

As you might assume, Blackpool, just a few miles away, are a rival, but the two have met fewer than 20 times, as they have historically lived in different worlds. Traditionally, it’s more about Morecambe and (for some reason) Accrington Stanley.

Known as the Wrens Ladies, they play in the North West Regional Women’s League at tier 5 of the pyramid. Home games are at Poolfoot Farm, the club’s training facility, in the Blackpool area.

None that we noticed

First, if you’re wondering, it’s named for Highbury Avenue, which runs alongside it – no connection to the old Arsenal stadium of the same name.

While this 5,000-seater is basically a brand new stadium tucked in between houses and a park, it still has some of the old touches that make non-league grounds charming and goofy. Among those are the roof of the old Main Stand, still visible behind the current Highbury Stand. Why was it back there? Because in the 1950s this place hosted race car driving, so when the track was removed and the current stand was built, they left parts of the old stand’s roof where it was.

The main thing you’ll notice is the 2,000-seat, £4-million Parkside Stand with its hospitality lounges. Home fans will be behind a goal in the Memorial Stand, while the away lot will be in the opposite Percy Ronson Stand, which itself only stretches two-thirds across the pitch. For bigger followings, they will also get a section of the Parkside.

All things considered, skip the comforts of the Parkside and go stand in the Memorial End with the drum bangers and flag wavers.

TOURS: None

GETTING THERE: It’s simple: take the tram up from the Blackpool seafront and get off at the Stanley Road stop. It’s a short walk from there. A taxi from the main Blackpool North Station will be at least £20. This trip is particularly fun when the Christmas lights are up.

PUBS: There are actually two at the stadium: The Highbury Club next door, and Jim’s just behind the Memorial Stand. Otherwise, the nearby choices are up in the town center, about a 15-minute walk from the ground, including the Queens Hotel, the Thomas Drummond, the Mount and the Strawberry Gardens, owned by a local brewery.

GRUB: There’s a good traditional chippy nearby called the Highbury Chippy; everything else, including several other fish and chips places, are up in the town center. Of course, there’s a lot more going on in Blackpool

AROUND TOWN: It’s not a tourist thing, but we think it’s cool that Fleetwood is the home of the Fisherman’s Friend lozenge company. We always dreamed it was from a wet, windswept fishing village on the coast somewhere, and it is! Otherwise, the town is best known for the Mount, a park looking out over Morecambe Bay and the town’s promenade. The 1902 Mount Pavilion is a landmark of the area.