I wonder how many can remember the last time we played Fleetwood Town, I would imagine all those that made the effort to get up to the West Coast that day will never forget it, but for the rest it will probably not have crossed your minds, well you should remember it as it proved to be just about the final nail in Paul Tisdale’s coffin.
A good travelling MK Army as usual made the trip in what is a popular day out, after all what’s not to like, a long but a reasonably easy trip, a donkey ride from Blackpool and all the fun and games that place has to offer. Although a newish ground it still has an old school feel about it having to stand on a small terrace but extremely close to the action, as I’ve said a good day out, and historically we have had some good results up there.
At the time, the Dons were on a terrible run, they couldn’t score never mind get a point anywhere, Tisdale was under pressure, but Dons fans decided to make light of the situation and had printed a few hundred arrows to show the faltering Dons attack where the goal is. What we didn’t know at the time was Tisdale had a masterplan to try and defend for 90 minutes to earn a point…… strange how many MK Dons managers hatch plans when on a road trip to Fleetwood.
Well as hard as the game was to watch, we defended resolutely without offering a single shot on target, but the plan all came undone when Lee Nicholls dropped a regulation cross in the final few minutes at the feet of Ched Evans and he fired it home.
At the time I felt absolutely disgusted that we had been subjected to such a lack of ambition after making the commitment to go, I honestly felt he should have reimbursed everyone out of his own pocket.
On the journey home I think we all agreed we were done with him, and it was hard to find anyone willing to fight his corner. As it happened, we didn’t have to wait too long as just a week later and a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Tranmere and he was out of the door, and before many of us had got home after the match we had a new manager in Russell Martin ……let’s hope no other managers has a plan, especially when we play Fleetwood, and we are spared such awful times again.
A few things have been going on lately in this sleepy fishing town, Joey Barton who had been the gaffer since April 2018 and had 128 games under his belt was relieved of his duties, and in mid-December Ched Evans the troubled but prolific scorer had his contract terminated for what were described as “multiple Infractions”. So, who knows their state of mind right now, but one thing for sure we can’t take them for granted.
FLEETWOOD TOWN – THE STORY SO FAR – Fleetwood are currently sitting in 11th place in the League 1 table and going ok with a record of PLAYED 21, WON 8, DRAWN 5, LOST 8, GF 28 & GA 19 and 29 POINTS.
LEAGUE FORM AT A GLANCE – LWDDDL
AWAY LEAGUE RESULTS 2020/21
Crewe 1 Fleetwood 1
Portsmouth 0 Fleetwood 0
Swindon 0 Fleetwood 1
Northampton 1 Fleetwood 0
Bristol Rovers 1 Fleetwood 4
Charlton 3 Fleetwood 2
Gillingham 1 Fleetwood 0
Accrington 1 Fleetwood 0
Rochdale 2 Fleetwood 1
Peterborough 2 Fleetwood 1
YEAR OF FORMATION – 1908
CLUB NICKNAME – The Fishermen, The Trawlermen, Cod Army.
AVAERAGE ATTENDANCE – Highbury (3,165)
THE MANAGER – Well it was Mr Personality Joey Barton, but he parted company with the club a few days ago, along with the Director of Football at Fleetwood and two coaches. It all feels a bit strange, a possible bust up probably, but it was all made to look amicable and the Club Chairman thanked Joey as the door hit him in the arse as he walked out. Simon Wiles the Youth Team Manager was put in charge and I confess I know nothing about the guy other than that he is the Interim Manager. This is his first role at Senior level and his record as a player is nothing too glowing either. As a midfielder he played 96 games that I could find scoring about 7 goals…sorry records are sketchy on the guy…. anyway he played for Blackpool, Macclesfield Town, Dunfermline Athletic, Barrow, Chorley, Salford City and Bamber Bridge
FORMER MANAGERS – Joey Barton, Micky Mellon, Steven Presley, and Graham Alexander.
FORMER PLAYERS – Frank Swift the England goalkeeper who died in the Munich Air Disaster, Adrian Alston who captained Australia in the 1974 World Cup, and Peter Ollerton who also played for Australia at the same World Cup, and of course Jamie Vardy.
PLAYED FOR BOTH – Adam Chicksen, Tom Hitchcock, Craig Morgan, Devante Cole, Chris Long and John Miles are the only ones that I can find that have played for both the Dons and the Cod Army.
FLEETWOOD MASCOT – Captain Cod.
FAMOUS FANS – Captain Birdseye, Captain Hook, Blackbeard.
SHOOTERS BOOTS – Callum Camps with 9 goals, and Paddy Madden who regularly scores against the Dons lurking in the wings.
CURRENT INTERNET MATCH ODDS
MK Dons 31/21 Draw 5/2 Fleetwood 21/10
LAST TIME ROUND
Saturday 26th October 2019 – Fleetwood 1 MK Dons 0
Team – Nicholls, Moore-Taylor, Williams, Walsh, Lewington (Cargill), Brittain (Bowery), Houghton, Poole, Boateng (McGrandles), Gilbey, Agard.
Unused Subs – Dickenson, Martin, Moore, Harley
Goal – Evans 85’
Referee – Marc Edwards (3 Yellows)
Attendance – 2,722
HEAD 2 HEAD
2019/20 – NO GAME (Covid)
2019/20 – Fleetwood 1 MK Dons 0
2017/18 – Fleetwood 1 MK Dons 1 (Muirhead)
2017/18 – MK Dons 1 Fleetwood 0 (Aneke)
2016/17 – MK Dons 0 Fleetwood 1
2016/17 – Fleetwood 1 MK Dons 4 (Colclough 3, Bowditch)
2014/15 – Fleetwood 0 MK Dons 3 (L Baker, Grigg, Alli)
2014/15 – MK Dons 2 Fleetwood 1 (McFadzean, Afobe)
