After an encouraging result over the weekend, where our boys fought back to claim a point against promotion candidates Tamworth FC, league play keeps moving right along as we next hit the road for an away match against Chorley FC. The game kicks off at 7:45PM on Tuesday night.

Much like the match against Gloucester City on the first day of the season, this is the type of match that our boys need to win if they envision any sort of top half finish or push towards a promotion spot in the table. This, in our humble opinion, is a very winnable game against a team that we are certainly very familiar with. The goal has to be walking out of the game on Tuesday with three points in hand and continue to build off of the momentum from Saturday’s massive effort against Tamworth. Can that be done? Let’s learn more about Chorley FC and figure that out, shall we?

The Magpies, as they are known, were originally founded as a rugby union club in 1875 before switching to football in 1883. Other than that interesting beginning, Chorley are noted for having reached the FA Cup second round twice in 1986-1987 and again in 1990-1991 while reaching the semifinal of the FA Trophy in 1995-1996.

In 2013-2014, Chorley won the North Premier League Premier Division and earned promotion to Conference North. That 2013-2014 season also produced quite the result when they drubbed Droylsden FC by a final score of 13-1.

Last year, in Conference North, they finished a strong 4th place though they were nipped in the Play Off Final at home by Guiseley by a final score of 3-2.

So how’s the stadium? Have we ever played there before? Victory Park, as the stadium is known, opened in 1920 and has been the home of Chorley FC since. The stadium holds 4,100 spectators and has not changed much since it was built, except for the rebuilding of the main stand after it was destroyed by a fire in 1947. The main stand has a capacity for 900 seated fans.

FC United have also played at Victory Park numerous times and have quite the successful record at the ground, with seven wins, one draw, and one loss. Against Chorley, our boys have a record of five wins, one draw, and one loss at Victory Park.

So how is Chorley FC looking this year? Certainly, they have been disappointing so far, with only one point from three games and a massive 4-0 loss away to North Ferriby United. For all of their success last year, the Magpies have yet to find their stride this year which presents a massive opportunity for our boys who are coming off of a strong performance on Saturday.

So what should happen on Tuesday? As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this is the type of game that our boys need to win if they want to make a run for the top half of the league and any sort of promotion efforts. While Chorley was certainly a strong team last year, narrowly missing out on promotion by losing in the Play Off Final, they have not been the same team so far this year.

This is a team, in our humble opinion, which is ripe for the picking, especially with our boys coming off of such a strong performance on Saturday. This is a game that our boys can win and it would be a massive three points on the road to really get some momentum going this year.

Chorley is a familiar opponent for FC United and the moment, as we have shown this year, will not be too big for our boys. We here at Broadhurst Blog are certainly optimistic for Tuesday and hopeful that our boys can nab their first win in the Conference and get this season really headed in the right direction.