Non-League Paper

Proud to take a United stand

SIR Alex Ferguson sneered. Alan Gowling, the former Manchester United striker, famously said they wouldn’t last until Christmas. Yet 20 years later, FC United of Manchester are still here.

by
The Non-League Football Paper Team
18 May 2025

RED REBELS CELEBRATE 20 YEARS
By CHRIS DUNLAVY

SUCCESS STORY: Karl Marginson and his FC United players celebrate winning the Northern Premier League
PICTURE: Alamy

SIR Alex Ferguson sneered. Alan Gowling, the former Manchester United striker, famously said they wouldn’t last until Christmas.
Yet 20 years later, FC United of Manchester are still here, still thriving, and still proudly sticking two fingers up to the greed and commercialism that inspired their formation.
“I think everyone underestimated us,” says Paul Hurst, who started out selling programmes in 2005 and is now the club’s ...

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