AFC Fylde: The Most Hated Team In Non-League Football 

They sacked me on Football Manager 5 years ago and ever since I’ve always had a dislike for them, good to see I was justified!

The owner of Fylde sounds like a guy that would ban anyone who's watched this video from being able to attend the club. Another class video Alfie.

The mere mention of OYSTON gave me shivers. Haythornthwaite... sounds like a made up PES master league player.

As a football fan from California, the fact that this video about a non-league team from a town I've never even heard of could capture my interest and attention for 25 minutes says a lot about your quality. Great stuff.

Hey Alfie, there’s a protest planned before the Oldham game on Saturday. Would be a great opportunity for you to speak with fans and understand what’s going on at the club!

A video on Sutton United - a proper grinding historic Non-League club, with an entire history floating between the Isthmian League and the National League, fan-owned, run entirely by volunteers, promoted to the EFL for the first time ever for this season, and currently holding our own well in 16th.

Man, you seriously need your own podcast about various bizarre football story. I also would really like you and irish guy make a video together

A documentary on the oyston family at Blackpool would be extraordinary, the whole family are crooked and the time where they only had 8 first team players a few days before the start of the championship season. There would be so much content could be a 2 part mini series

I get the feeling that Alfie's rant about work-life balance was also a dig at his boss

I love how the captions put "Failed" instead of "Fylde" Quite accurate

My local non League side (3 leagues down from Fylde) went on a particularly good run in the FA trophy not long ago getting to Round 3. They drew 5-5 with Fylde at home and we went down to watch the replay, the atmosphere was surreal, there was more of our fans than theirs in the crowd and we were the only ones making any noise, the stadium was beautiful but being barely full, it really felt like a shell of a club. The only people there seemed to be a bunch of schoolkids and their parents who went on the pitch at half-time to do a crossbar challenge type thing. Very weird going down there, certainly wouldn't go back, felt like a project simply for the owners ego from the start.

A club that rose from absolute obscurity, to relative obscurity, thanks to Alfie 😄

Leicester City is a weird case, their Owner is pretty loaded, but they are one of the cheaper outfits in the Premier League, and it's obvious the Owner actually loves the team, and the city loves the team ownership. Last year when they won the FA Cup, the team called the owner down and he celebrated along side his team, when they gave him the trophy to celebrate. He actually tried to give it back to the captain.

When Salford came to Hartlepool in their promotion season we took great delight in telling them "You can stick your f***ing money up your arse" as we beat them. Just a sideline, our manager now is Dave Challinor, who was manager at Fylde for several of their promotion seasons.

I actually went to an AFC Fylde home game back in what I think was 18/19 when they were whiskers away from promotion. It was a great game! Fylde actually scored a last minute winner, but I now understand the quite aggressive chants from opposition fans singing that Fylde will never get promoted a bit better now! Thanks as always Alfie

This is my local non league team, my step brother is a goalkeeper in the academy lol. Didn't quite realise the full scope of how much theyre hated

As a fan of a team in the same league as Fylde, I can unequivocally concur that they are the most easily detestable outfit outside of the football league.

Once again, Alfie you are educating and entertaining the masses all in one video. Great job bro.

Ever thought of doing a video of Rayo Vallecano? Pretty amazing club from Vallecas in Madrid with a unique identity and left wing ideologies… unfortunately the fans are currently at war with the owner Raul Presa who is the personification of the clubs antithesis - for example, last year he invited representatives of VOX (Spain’s hard right political party) to the stadium and the fans responded by sterilising the ground! Also, Bebe is a hero there and somehow they got promoted to the Primera last year!

First time I heard of AFC Fylde was looking for a nice hotel to stay in in the area. Was a really nice stadium and hotel for the price, never realised how hated the actual club were

Fun fact, my stepdads father was their first ever season ticket holder

Once again I'm plugging for a "What on Earth is Going on at Sunderland? I saw you sneak Ricky Alvarez and Jack Rodwell into the intro of the "Restrictive Transfer Policy" video. I love these type of videos you do and I think we are definitely worth a deep dive given the ineptitude on show over the years. Sunderland til I die showed our relegation to league one and failed attempt to get promoted back to the Championship, but a detailed look at the Premier League years before our relegation would be great, also looking at how things went after STID. The amount of bad luck and awful decisions and from board level down to the pitch is staggering. In the Ellis Short era, and then the Stewart Donald era. And now we are owned by a 24 year old heir to a billionaires fortune whose father owned Marseille. -England losing against Iceland essentially resulting in us losing Allardyce, a great manager for us at the time, only for him to be sacked by England after 1 game. -At one point having the 6th highest wage bill in the Premier League with nothing really to show for it. -The purchase of Ricky Alvarez, not playing him, trying to back out of signing him, losing a lawsuit to Inter Milan and still suffering financial implications to this day. -Signing the appalling Jack Rodwell and being financially crippled for years again -Playing Adam Johnson when the execs knew he was under investigation for sexual activity with a child. -Signing Emmanuel Eboue, announcing him, then terminating his contract 3 weeks later as he was banned for all football activities for failing to pay an agent. -Well known drinking culture among players, general poor professionalism. -Darron Gibson getting arrested for drink driving after a car crash. Gibson also filmed on social media off his tits bad mouthing the team and manager whilst still a player. -Didier Ndong being our record signing, flopping and literally disappearing in the off season after we were relegated -Losing our top scorer in League 1 in January -Buying Will Grigg for 3 million pounds in League 1 because the owner at the time wanted to look like a big shot and then going on to be a Rodwellesque flop. -Losing twice at Wembley in League 1 including in the playoff final in the 95th minute. -Missing out on the playoffs after the season was cancelled due to COVID -Losing again in the playoffs last season. -Losing our top scorer last season to Wigan for nothing -Losing our club captain last season to Wigan for nothing

Lost in the National League North play offs at the weekend. Highlight of the day was the tannoy announcer telling fans to ‘get off the f*cking pitch’ at full volume.

The rise of AFC Wimbledon pls A video on how they lost their club The rise of AFC Wimbledon Nine promotions in eleven years And how they have a stadium in plough lane again.

A video on VFL Wolfsburg, the most inconsistent team in the Bundesliga.

I imagined what if AFC Flyde hired a Japanese manager? Their work schedule in Japan is more insane than the British.

They beat Salford when we were fighting for the league title with one game to spare. They were complimentary when they beat us in the FA Trophy final. They were very kind when Justin Edinburgh died; and sent a lot of nice messages and gained a lot of respect. I might be in the minority - but I have a soft spot for AFC Fylde for these reasons

I went camping nearby mill farm and I must say it is quite the development. I had never heard of them until that point. Now I know all about them, cheers Alfie

I used to be based at nearby Weeton barracks, I recall Fylde coming in and offering us all free season tickets around that time. Had no idea they were so disliked

Great video! I live down the road from the Flidds and have to say, you're spot on with your research. I think the Flidds may still reach the football league as long as Haythornthwaites ego keeps an interest in being a football club owner (pretty sure that's what its all about for him) but they won't get the crowds that they want. Like you say in the video, when Fylde saw a big increase in crowd numbers, it was mostly just Blackpool fans who were staying away from BFC due to the NAPM protest against the Oystons. Now that the Oystons are history, these fans are back at Bloomfield road and with Preston and Fleetwood also being close (and even Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley being not far away) I can't see them ever pulling big crowds.

That was an interesting video! The lad in charge does seem like a bit of a nut job lol will you be doing a video on the rise and demise of Gretna FC?

You mentioned my club, Stockport County, and showed Stockport fans trudging across a water-logged pitch while talking about how these more established league clubs have less money to spend, but we have our own multi-millionaire owner now, who has invested a lot of money into the club, refurbishing the stadium, training ground in Carrington, etc. It's been a mixed bag, I'll be honest, but there is hope we can get back into the EFL soon and back into the Championship eventually.

Super interesting, love these videos. So much better than just listing players

Hahaha yes!!!! Love it, I’m a Barrow fan from Fylde coast and we beat them 1-0 on Boxing Day couple years back! Football league by 2022 😂😂😂😂

Didn't think I'd be into this at all. But that opening monologue got me hooked. And I'm surprised how intersted and intersting it is. Good job.

at our game vs Bradford PA at 3:30 some of our fans had a banner saying "off to get the kids"

Good to have a non league video Alfie :-)

14:47 i understand some don’t like Wrexham, for wales it will be good if Wrexham can get into football league and stay there. Salford city want more promotions but they seem stuck in league two.

Great video (dont worry about the run time, it was informative and your dry humour is entertaining) I had no idea about the Fylde story. Thanks for the unscripted infor at the end 😅

This reminds me a lot of Lewes who did something similar, then dropped just as quick when the money was taken away

Excellent video, I didn't mind the length at all.

Now my football knowledge has went up by a notch

Another masterclass from Alfie! Didn't know the story AFC Fylde, here in Brazil, Salford is the only popular club in non-league because of the owners, so always good to know more about the things going on outside of the top four leagues.

This was good!! Can you please make a video on the most successful non league clubs? The ones to look out for in the future. Non league football is booming these days and lots of fans supporting a second team, usually there local non league side.

There should be a 3 up, 3 down promotion and relegation system between league 2 and the National league in my opinion. The top 2 in the National league replace the bottom 2 in League 2 and the 3rd place team in the National league play off against the 3rd from bottom team in league 2. That doesn’t sound too bad actually. Pretty fair.

Brilliant investigative stuff. Thank you !!

A video on what happened to 1. FC Nurnberg please. Apparently domestic league wise, they are the 2nd most successful club in Germany

Great video, please keep up with these kind of videos

Has a video along the lines of "top 7 fictional football teams" been done yet?

Nice one Alifie! Highly enjoyable! 👍🏻

Need a video about Worcester city 😉. beating Coventry in the fa cup and Liverpool many moons ago, to having no home ground (pretty sure it was one of the oldest in the country) sharing with Kidderminster, a dodgy court case involving their sponsors for many years (drug and sexual assault) and are now finally back in Worcester as a support owned club with a capacity of 1000 for a city of 100,000+ our football team sits in the bottom tiers of football whilst our cricket, basketball and rugby teams play premiership its all very weird haha.

Ive got to say what FC Fylde said is pretty much the case in football just they won’t sell it to you like that 😂 After working in football you realise working hours are a piss take and nobody can complain

shown this to my colleges. no-one has a problem with it. honest and straight.

Brilliant documentary, if you ever get chance you should do a documentary on Billericay town

New soccer fan from America. I’m learning a lot already, and I was just introduced to this channel. I’m trying to get into soccer, so this is teaching me a lot.

Best football channel on RU-vid hands down

I’m from Liverpool and a Liverpool supporter. I moved to Wesham just over 6 years ago almost opposite to Fylde’s ground at Mill Farm. I never knew they were a hated team. Need to sort parking out I know that much.

This was such a great story and video really love hearing the crazy stuff in Non league football these guys are essentially trying to be the RB Leipzig of England it seems

Money has always had a big influence on professional football. It goes back to the formation of the Football League in 1889. More so these days, without the restrictions of the maximum wage, and shared gate receipts, which survived (if I remember correctly) until the 1960s and 1980s respectively. And the formation of the Premier League in 1992.

And Salford are the most hated in league 2... (Port Vale fan here)

Nice video, Alfie. I was vaguely familiar with AFC Fylde, but didn't see the job posting. That is literally a parody of a terrible job posting... Well done, Haythornthwaite!

Amazing video pal.

Went watching Bolton at Fylde in a preseason game a few years ago, probably the weirdest ground I’ve been to

Great video, love it.

Brilliant documentary thanks enjoyed it thank you

After years of watching Stephen Dobbie (we have a ever so slightly odd wooden statue of him at Palmy), i was amazed he signed for Fylde (Lancashire's answer to Gretna). But i guess he's just playing out the last of his career until he goes into coaching and his kid plays for Blackpool so i suppose its all just geography

Could you do a video on Fc Vaduz and how it's basically impossible for them to qualify for the champions league (and Europa league)?

As someone who is friends with several former employees of AFC Fylde, the story about the job advert really surprised me. They’ve always come across as a very family friendly, community based club.

Can't wait for the extended cut where they talk about appointing the current manager and the accusations against him. Plus earlier in the seasons "If you want to pick the kids up twice a week, don't bother applying"...

The content I live for

I support fylde because they're my local team but I have to admit that our chairman is a giant knob

As a Sutton United supporter I do find it funny that whilst Fylde with all their money, grandiose ambition and ridiculous ego are back in regional Football, my club are in the Football League. No five or ten year plans. No stupid banners saying watch us go. Just a club that tries to be the best they can. Sutton are proof that you don’t need millions to achieve great things. We’re a club run by volunteers, like pretty much every club in non-league Football.

There is a lot of great stories to tell in league 2, or not so good in the case of oldham. Some videos from the clubs down there would be good

They also supported fracking in the local area, used to be sponsored by a company that wanted to start fracking

I'd love a video on my club, South Shields. They're a non-league team backed by a rich owner, but are doing things the "right" way. They've invested in infrastructure and youth rather than bankrolling the first team and would be a really interesting subject for a video, especially considering the team was nearly bankrupt 10 years ago and now look set on getting into the Football League.

Oyston is a great example of why fan ownership should be enforced throughout all of Europe

This was good stuff. Thank you.

Excellent video. 👍🏻😀

So glad I volunteer for one of the best nonleague clubs in THE WORLD! 😎

Love how people who were abused by bad bosses and never stood up to them just normalize and repeat the cycle afterwards with new employees. One would think they would want to avoid making people suffer in excess like they did.

Went to Kirkham and Weshem in the late 00's as my own team, Leamington, lost to them in a cup game. That was just before the big boys came in but it was a nice day spoiled by the Halifax lads.

This hits me right in the FM save 😂😂😂

I love these videos bro

Brilliant video. I don’t hate Fylde, in fact I wish them well, the only clubs I do hate are the ones that tried to form Super League. We’d all like an owner who has money, and will put some of that money into the club. We, Scunthorpe, are struggling this year, with a parsimonious owner who is trying the Premier League grift of taking assets out of the club (that parcel out parts of the club to himself, to be sold on for a profit). Interestingly, Swindon Town’s new owner seems a curious fellow.

It's weird seeing something about a very local club to me. Not for the club itself, but for all the streets, businesses and schools I know, have been to and played football against when I was in school

Great vid Alfie, as usual

2022 expires on the 1st of Janaury and its absolute brilliant. Nobody knows where Kirkham & Wesham is either. I think people would know where Cleveleys or Squires Gate is more than them...

Lmao, I live 2 minutes away from AFC Fylde’s home ground. Glad to see some local content on the channel

Title should really be AFC Fylde's owner isn't very nice. When my team was in the National League, the supporters and staff of this club were most welcoming. The playing surface was conducive to a good game of football and the facilities were excellent. Personally, I would be happy if this club did make it to the football league so I could visit again.

You’re right, we’ve got Deadpool running the show, here at Wrexham 😎 Doing an amazing job too, bringing in world recognised sponsors allowing players to be bought purely with that money.

Why are football club owners so weird?? Great watch as always!!

Great vid , ta.

I want to see if you can find 7 football families, where grandfather, father, and grandson have played for the same team. Like the Berg family in Norway.

Always great to hear Southend United being deemed in a good light

HIPSTER CONTENT BACK WITH A BANG BABEEE 💃🕺🏽

The owner doesn’t come off the best in the video, with the examples given, however in terms of getting Fylde up the leagues by spending money, there’s no problem at all with that. Generally you can only success in football by spending money and if the owner wants to do that, good luck to him. It certainly seems to be working so far for them, albeit have had a couple of setbacks due to Covid. I reckon they’ll be in League Two by the end of this decade.

You should do a story on Hornchurch FC's FA trophy win last season! Unbelievable story!

I remember watching Flixton FC vs AFC Flyde down in valley road back in 2008. I was 14 at the time …. Their fans may have presumed I was 34 the way they conducted themselves that day in the stadium.

It will end up with a dozen super rich clubs that will buy all the best players, unless some sort of change is implemented, the wages are just absurd, look at Barcelona, I'm very concerned for the future of the game.

I remember watching them when they played on a field behind a pub 10 years ago with Chester. Their antics now are awful!