Club History

In June 2022, just  a month after Nun was founded, board members chose AFC Crewe as the club they’d like to take over. The rest, as they say, is history.

After agreeing a deal with former chairman Matty Quirke, AFC Crewe became 100% community owned with every single paying board member owning one equal share each in the club. That’s when the hard work began.

AFC Crewe finished bottom of the 14th level of English football in the 21/22 season. Some say you could have described us as the worst club in England with just one win all season. A major squad overhaul was needed for the club to challenge for a title in its second campaign in the Crewe & District League.

The board voted to allocate a significant budget to improving the playing squad and Manager/Chairman Matty got straight to work, bringing in 23 new players. Of which, the vast majority were of the quality truly needed to bring winning football to AFC Crewe.

Within just a week or two, the board, comprised of members from all over the world, also voted to purchase state of the art filming and streaming equipment from VEO so every single AFC Crewe game could be streamed online for fans to watch from wherever on planet Earth they support the club.

The Nufan board members began planning for every aspect of the new season, and we got off to a flying start and sitting top of the league and scoring goals for fun after just a few games. However, manager Matty Quirke decided to step aside to focus on his role as Co-Chairman, alongside the Nufan community’s elected Co-Chairman, Liam Bond.

The board voted unanimously on appointing young, ambitious manager Billy Murphy as his successor, who had been assisting Matty up until his resignation and had a vast knowledge of the local grassroots football scene. It was a no brainer.

The newly assembled team got off to an unbeaten start in our league and cup campaigns in the 2022/2023 season. Despite the winning football, board members kept noticing something felt like it was missing and it later became apparent just after the Christmas break that the board would need to make yet another change in the dugout. Billy Murphy was relieved of his duties and none other than Premier League and Blackpool legend Gary Taylor-Fletcher was brought in to replace him.

Standards immediately rose and AFC Crewe went on to comfortably win the Crewe & District Premier League with an impressive 49 points, 12 clear of closest challengers Bollington Health & Leisure. In the background, club leadership had been working hard to get AFC Crewe inducted into the actual English Football League pyramid to build off the back of the club’s first ever title win.

After being rejected by the Cheshire FA, on what the board felt was a minor technicality, we were welcomed with open arms by the Staffordshire FA, and were immediately awarded a double promotion into Staffordshire Senior Division 1, where AFC Crewe will be plying our trade in the 23/24 season.

Despite numerous hurdles to overcome to get into the pyramid, the board managed to jump each and every one, including securing a partnership and ground-share with our neighbours at Alsager Town. The lads will play their home games at the amazing Wood Park Stadium in Alsager for the 23/24 season and beyond and allow board members from near and far to watch their team play in a professional set-up and meet other board members and players and staff at a home hub.

Gary’s coaching career will have taken him to Bangor City, Llandudno, Nantwich Town, the King George’s playing field and now Wood Park in Alsager leading the mighty AFC Crewe into the football pyramid. He’s excited and inspired by the Nufan set-up, the thousands of board members who contribute to the club’s success and to be involved so early in the club’s unique and historic journey.The club has also managed to negotiate major sponsorship deals with Mystery Away Days, who will be front of shirt sponsor for the next two seasons. The kits are manufactured by Hope & Glory who we hope to have a long and prosperous partnership with, and were designed by a board member himself before being voted through as the kit design of choice by the wider community. The club has also made donations to local food banks.

AFC Crewe is only going one way and the boardroom is open to all, so if you or a friend are interested in joining and contributing to this wonderful project, feel free to come and join us. We really are just getting started.