FC United’s first ever competitive European home match v AKS Zly - Saturday 5th March

FC United will make full use of a rare Saturday off from domestic commitments to welcome our friends from Warsaw over to Manchester for our first home Fenix Trophy match which will see the tournament resume after a winter break.

The 120 or so FC United fans who made the trip over to Warsaw in October saw FC United run out 6-1 victors at the Bemowski Center Football, thanks to a hat trick from Bradley Holmes and goals from Charlie Ennis, Sam Burns and Adam Dodd. Off the pitch we were treated to a wonderful welcome by a special set of raucous fans who made it a memorable Euro away and we will pull out the stops to repay that welcome at Broadhurst Park in what will be our first ever competitive European home tie.

You can read FC supporter Will Evan’s account of our trip to Warsaw for Mancunian Matters by clicking  here

Our Opponents – AKS Zly 
Like FC United, our opponents are a supporter-owned, democratic football club and also play at level seven of their national football pyramid in the Klasa A Warszawa II division where they sit in 5^th place in the 15 team league which is currently in its winter break.

The literal translation of the club’s name is Alternative Sports Club Zly – they also have basketball and frisbee teams! – and Zly is the name of a character who fought against hooligans in the novel Zly by renowned Warsaw writer Leopold Tyrmand. 

Karolina Szumska, President of AKS Zly told us how much they are looking forward to the trip.

“We’re all super excited to go and play FC United of Manchester away in March. It’s been a dream come true for our club, the players and our fans, as FCUM is our role model in today’s football world. We want to follow in their footsteps in the fan-owned community model of managing the club. The Fenix Trophy tournament gives us a lifetime opportunity to travel all over Europe and play games we would never would have done otherwise. We’re forever grateful for that and ready to take on this new adventure. Against modern football in full effect!”

Reno’s thoughts:

“Saturday 5th March will be a special day for everyone connected to FC United. To be hosting our first ever Fenix Trophy game gives me so much excitement and pride. When we travelled to Poland the atmosphere was incredible from both sets of fans, and the football we played in the evening was really special. I’d love nothing more than to see a packed Broadhurst Park and to hear our fans in full voice. It’s a game that we can’t wait for and I’d like to thank everyone involved for making it happen.”

Get yourself to that football ground on Saturday 5^th March