In recognition of the club's 20th anniversary, we're honoured to have had a poem - Our Club Our Rules - written for us by local poet Louise Machen. Louise has been kind enough not only to write the poem, but to also provide us with a recording of her reciting it, which has been put alongside the video showing some of the club's most special moments over the last twenty years.
Louise is a published poet who has been nominated for multiple awards, including this year's Forward Prize - ‘the Oscars of poetry’. Louise performed at Course You Can Malcolm last season, and it is following that performance and talking with the CYCM volunteers that she wrote Our Club Our Rules.
We think Louise's words capture perfectly what makes FC United what it is, on and off the pitch, and we are honoured that someone of Louise's stature and reputation has taken the time to write such a remarkable piece.
We're also pleased to announce that Louise will again be appearing at Course You Can Malcolm before the Guiseley match on August 23rd, where she will do a live performance of Our Club Our Rules.
FC United of Manchester – Our Club, Our Rules
At Broadhurst Park, we’ve sown roots of grass into the northern earth:
it’s Our Club, Our Rules, our game, our turf –
built on the backs of volunteers, a place where pride is earned
and fed week in, week out with the joy of fan-owned football.
Hear our heavy footfall, through the turnstiles to the terraces –
a Manchester undivided.
Our pitch red and melodious where each blade stands united.
A harmony of home support resting on shoulders of protest
where every voice gets a vote from the youngest to the oldest.
Community grounds where we stand our ground
and there’s nowhere in this ground without poetry:
‘We’re makin’ friends, not millionaires’
investing in people not corporate shares and the people are our art –
meet the owners in the stands, on the field, behind the bar.
This collage of grafters, for twenty years, running with the ball
greased by elbows, by wisdom and effort, creating space for all.
Mitten’s boot held aloft is symbolic of this victory,
a tinfoil cup to celebrate these building blocks of history –
that goalie can say whatever he likes, we make stands shake
with a vibrant vision that ascends our division whether home or away.
So, join us at Broadhurst Park on Saturday afternoons;
belong to a sea of red where it’s Our Club, Our Rules.
Louise Machen – August 2025