FC United

Formation

The club was founded in 2005 by disaffected supporters of Manchester United. Although there were varying reasons for their dissatisfaction, the catalyst for F.C. United's formation was the 12 May 2005 takeover of Manchester United by American businessman Malcolm Glazer. Supporters first considered forming a breakaway club in 1998 during an attempted takeover of Manchester United by BSkyB. The creation of F.C. United in the event of a Glazer buyout was first proposed in February 2005 by Manchester United fanzine Red Issue.

Public meetings for fans were held on 19 May 2005 at the Central Methodist Hall in Manchester's Northern Quarter and on 30 May at the Apollo Theatre. Subsequently, a steering group was created to set up the new club. After the name "F.C. United" was rejected by The Football Association for being too generic, those who had pledged money to the club were asked to vote on a name. On 14 June 2005, it was announced that "F.C. United of Manchester" had been chosen, beating "A.F.C. Manchester 1878", "Manchester Central", and "Newton Heath United", and F.C. United were officially registered with the Manchester County Football Association on the same day.

Karl Marginson was appointed as the club's manager on 22 June, and the club held trials for players four days later. Around 900 players applied to take part in the trials, of whom 200 were chosen to take part and 17 selected to play for F.C. United. Jonathan Mitten, great-nephew of Manchester United forward Charlie Mitten, was the club's first signing.

F.C. United's inaugural members' meeting was held on 5 July 2005 at the Methodist Central Hall. Members voted on the club's constitution, badge, and core principles and elected the 11-member board. By 6 July, over 4,000 people had pledged money to F.C. United and the club had over £100,000 in the bank. During F.C. United's formation, the owners of Leigh RMI offered to merge the two clubs, but the parties decided against the idea. F.C. United later arranged to play their first ever game against Leigh RMI on 16 July 2005; the match ended 0–0.

North West Counties years (2005–07)

For the 2005–06 season, F.C. United played in the Second Division of the North West Counties Football League (NWCFL), which is level ten of the English football league system and nine levels below the Premier League. The club played its home matches at Bury's Gigg Lane. F.C. United were ineligible to play in the FA Vase for their first season because the club was formed after the deadline to enter the competition. They were, however, able to play in the North West Counties League Challenge Cup.

F.C. United's first competitive match was a 5–2 away victory against Leek County School Old Boys on 13 August 2005. 2,590 people attended the game. In its home debut on 20 August, the club defeated Padiham 3–2 with two goals from Rory Patterson. During their first season, F.C. United consistently broke NWCFL attendance records. A crowd of 6,032 watched the team during their final home league match of the season against Great Harwood Town, which remains an NWCFL record as of 2016. Despite losing that game 0–1, the team were promoted to Division One.

F.C. United's successful 2006/07 season in Division One of the NWCFL earned the club a promotion to Division One North of the Northern Premier League. They secured their second successive league title with a 7–1 win over Atherton Laburnum Rovers on 18 April 2007. They then won their second cup of the season by beating Curzon Ashton 2–1 in the NWCFL's Challenge Cup final. In the third round of the FA Vase competition, the club was eliminated when it lost 2–3 in the last minute of extra-time to Quorn.

Northern Premier League years (2007–15)

In 2007–08, F.C. United played in the inaugural season of the Northern Premier League (NPL) Division One North. They made their debut in the FA Cup that season, but lost 1–2 to Fleetwood Town in the first qualifying round. They advanced to the final of the 2007–08 NPL President's Cup, in which they beat Radcliffe Borough 2–0 to pick up their fourth trophy in the three years following the club's formation. The club finished the season second in the league, trailing champions Bradford Park Avenue by one point, and entered the play-offs for the other promotion place. After beating Bamber Bridge 3–2 in the semi-finals, F.C. United faced Skelmersdale United in the promotion play-off final, coming back from a goal down to win 4–1 and earn their third successive promotion to play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.