Opposition view: What Doncaster Rovers can expect from FC United of Manchester and what the FA Cup clash means to the club

FC United of Manchester grew out of a protest movement led by Manchester United supporters opposed to the ownership of the Glazer family.

With thousands of members, the club quickly became a non-league powerhouse and certainly has some of the finest facilities outside the EFL.

To get the lowdown on what this FA Cup tie means to the Northern Premier League club and what sort of test they will pose to Rovers, we spoke to FC United chairman Adrian Seddon.

Q: What does this weekend mean to the club?

AS: “It’s going to be a very strange occasion because getting to the first round of the FA Cup is huge for us. It’s the third time we’ve done it in our 15 year history.

“But it’s the first time we’ll have done it without the fans.

“At our level, we’ve been able to have fans in. Other than a behind-closed-doors game at Curzon Ashton in an earlier round, we’ve had fans at every game this season.

“We had 600 fans in the ground on Tuesday night, shouting and screaming, and it’s going to be strange to have an eerie quiet stadium.

“Financially, it’s going to be huge. Grassroots has really been left behind.

“There is an assumption that because we’ve been allowed fans in we’ll be okay.

“But we released a statement along with South Shields and Scarborough to say there’s a group of clubs at grassroots level that aren’t okay.

“We’ve got 1,100 fans locked out every game because we’re only allowed 600 in. We had 1,700 in the ground last season on average. That’s 1,100 fans worth of revenue lost in ticket money, money spent around the ground.

“We’re not all right. There’s an assumption we can make do with 600 fans in and we can’t.

“We’ve been shouting about it for a while now and it seems to be falling on deaf ears.

“We played Guiseley in the last round who have 700 fans locked out because they have to play behind-closed-doors at their level but they’re getting £30,000 per month.

“We get nothing with 1,100 locked out.

“Financially it’s been a god-send. In other years it would have set us up whereas this year it’s plugging holes in our budget.”

Q: For a club built by the fans, how difficult is it for them to be locked out now?

AS: “For the fans, it’s been a very difficult year and a bit.

“Our season was curtailed and with six games to go we were looking really good in second place and on a roll for the play-offs. Then it all came crashing to an end.

“Again now, we’re going into another lockdown. Once Saturday is over, if we win we can carry on but if we lose we go into lockdown with the rest of lockdown.

“For the fans it’s been a bit of a release to get this far in the FA Cup but it’s tempered by the fact they can’t come in.

“The last few days have been hard. This club is built on volunteers, in the office through the week, the matchday staff, there’s so many volunteers and they would all want to be in the ground.

“It’s been hard looking people in the eyes and telling people they can’t come in.

“We’re really excited. The BBC are here and we’re potentially showcasing ourselves to two million people.

“We’ve done our best to make the ground look as good as possible. Fans have been bringing flags in over the last couple of days and they’re all over the ground.

“It’s a mixture of pride we’ve got this far, excitement of what’s ahead but deep regret that we can’t share it with our fans.

“People on message boards have been saying surely the club owners can get in, that’s what every other club is doing.

“Well, we’ve got 2,600 club owners so that would be an interesting one.

“This club is all about supporters.

“The manager did a little speech to the supporters at the end of Tuesday’s game. It was like the end of the season. He thanked them for their support and said they’re going to do it for the fans on Saturday.”

Q: Has the game taken on a new dimension with the league campaign being halted due to the lockdown?

AS: “If you lose in the FA Cup it’s usually back to the league. For us if we lose, we’ve got nothing for at least a month.

“We’ll be able to carry on training if win but we effectively shut down for a month if not.

“It’s into the unknown.

“The league has said we can’t play until after lockdown. It might go on longer.

“Lose on Saturday and the players will say goodbye to each other for a few weeks.

“Win and they will be in training three days a week for the match in three week’s time, wherever that may be.”

Q: What can we expect from the team themselves?

AS: “In the old days a non-league team would have had players that came up from the Dog and Duck.

“But non-league at our level has moved on since then.

“The majority of our squad were in pretty decent academies as youngsters. Some were in Premier League academies like Michael Donohue who was at Everton.

“They’ve got a good grounding. For some reason some players make it and others don’t. It’s a fine line between those that end up pretty well off EFL players and those that play part time for us.

“We’ve got a team of talented players.

“We’re at home and while the fans might not be here, it’s our ground, our dressing room, our pitch.

“We’ll have a lot of confidence.

“We played a team above us in the FA Trophy last season, Barrow. And we were on a real winning run in the league.

“We went there with a lot of confidence and got thumped 7-0. That was a real reality check last year. I think some of them were a bit cocky, things were going well and they found out how tough it can be against a team several levels above.

“I think we’ll be better for that experience because I don’t think they’d been through anything like that as a group.

“They know what it’s like to play in those circumstances. Obviously Doncaster are two levels above what Barrow were so it’s another step up.

“But I don’t think it’ll come as quite a shock as that Barrow game.

“There’s always at least one team that causes an upset so why not us?

“We won our last game against Warrington so we’re coming in on a high. We’re getting a few injured players back.

“We know we have to on our top game from one to 11 and the bench if we’re going to have any chance. But we can be.

“The players will want to put on a show and come off with their heads held high regardless.

“I think we play the right way, attacking football. We concede a few too many goals but we always try to score more than the opposition.”

Q: Who are the players to watch out for?

AS: “Our goalkeeper Dan Lavercombe, was the reserve keeper at Fylde last year and played a few times for them at Conference level.

“Michael Donohue came through the academy at Everton. He dropped to Fleetwood and they put him out on loan to us. They didn’t renew his contract so he stuck with us.

“Jordan Simpson is a new signing for us, a very good quality midfielder. His father is Fitzroy Simpson who played for Man City and he comes to watch him play.

“Michael Potts the captain, is a stalwart for the team, in the engine of the midfield.

“Up front we’ve got a young lad called Michael Fowler who is on loan from Fleetwood.

“We’ve got some quality players and we hope we can perform.”

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In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.