Ahead of the Spireites’ return to the Football League and League Two, we are taking a look at all 23 other teams that make up the division.
We are continuing with Fleetwood Town:
FACT FILE
Team Name: Fleetwood Town Football Club
Nickname: Cod Army
Year Founded: 1908
Stadium: Highbury Stadium
Capacity: 5,327
2023/24 SEASON
Fleetwood Town’s first eight league fixtures of the season ended without a win as they drew twice and lost six times. Part way through this run, Scott Brown was relieved of his duties and Lee Johnson was brought in as his replacement. The former Chesterfield loanee soon made his side difficult to beat at first. However, after the Cod Army went on a run of seven games without a win between mid-November and the end of December, Johnson left the club after a 2-0 home defeat to Bolton Wanderers. Charlie Adam was the third Fleetwood manager of the season and soon found a way to stop the run of defeats. Despite two losses between the end of January and mid-way through March, they could only secure three wins and relegation was a real possibility. Adam’s side won three of their last four but went down by three points.
MANAGER
Charlie Adam had a stellar career, playing for clubs in the top division with the likes of Rangers, Blackpool, Liverpool and Stoke City on his CV. He also played 26 times for Scotland from 2007 until 2015. The midfielder brought his playing career to an end in 2022 with Dundee. After announcing his retirement, Adam joined Burnley as a loans manager. In December 2023, he was appointed as head coach of Fleetwood Town. The club would suffer relegation from League One at the end of the campaign.
KEY PLAYER
Jay Lynch has proven himself to be a very good shot-stopper over the years and that continues to be the case at Fleetwood Town. In his 97 appearances for the club, he has kept an impressive 24 clean sheets.
Last season in numbers:
Appearances – 44
Goals – 0
Clean Sheets – 9
Yellow Cards – 2
Red Cards – 1
Minutes Played – 4,253
Jay Lynch – image courtesy of Adam Gee Photography
PLAYED FOR BOTH
Kabongo Tshimanga joined Chesterfield in the summer of 2021 from National League side Boreham Wood. It didn’t take the striker long to make an impact as he race up the league scoring charts. He scored 25 times in 31 games before his season came to an abrupt end in February. He returned for the start of the next campaign and added another eight goals in 22 games before joining Peterborough United.
Tshimanga made the move to Fleetwood Town on loan from Peterborough in July 2023. The 27-year-old struggled by the seaside as he was recalled in January 2024 before going back to Boreham Wood on loan. He scored twice in 20 games during his spell.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
P 13 W 5 D 3 L 5
The two sides have recorded the same number of wins against each other since the first competitive meeting back in 2012. Despite Chesterfield’s early success in the fixture, Fleetwood are unbeaten in the last four meetings.
PREVIOUS GAME
Fleetwood Town and Chesterfield last met in the Football League Trophy at Highbury Stadium in December 2017. A defensive mistake allowed Jack Sowerby to capitalise and fire a shot beyond Joe Anyon. The goalkeeper kept the away side in the contest but was forced off in the second half with an arm injury. With all three substitutions made, Laurence Maguire assumed goalkeeping responsibilities. With just two minutes to go, Fleetwood secured their passage through to the next round when Alex Reid lashed his effort past Maguire.
