AFC Fylde boss wants to watch the beautiful game

The Coasters’ relegation from the National League was confirmed last week when play-off finals in its North and South leagues took place.

The upshot is that play-off winners Altrincham and Weymouth will replace Fylde and Ebbsfleet United in non-league’s elite competition for 2020-21.

Fylde will join the National League’s bottom club Chorley in dropping down to National League North, but Haythornthwaite insists this setback will not see his club abandon the beliefs which took them within one game of promotion to the Football League the previous season.

He said: “Some owners might say the most important thing is to get out of this league no matter how you do it. They might say, ‘If it’s ugly football, I don’t care.’

“Other people are football purists and want to see the beautiful game played in a certain way.

“I’m sure it wasn’t any great consolation to Fleetwood, but I read that Wycombe said they played some amazing football in the second leg of their play-off, attacking, pressing and moving the ball quickly. That’s what people want to see and I believe football does win in the end.

“If we want to bring people to this ground, we want them to be excited when they come here and say, ‘That was a great game of football.’

“We aren’t going to win them all but how you play is what brings people back. That’s my philosophy of football.

“I want to be proud of my team and of the way we play. Yes, getting promotion is really critical to me but it isn’t at any cost.”

And that style of football remains integral to Haythornthwaite’s vision of building a Fylde “brand” at Mill Farm.

He explained: “Trying to build a fanbase at a club from nothing is so difficult when we are competing with so many other clubs, but we have to try to keep the identity of what we are.

“We are trying to build a Fylde brand here that isn’t just about football, though that’s the driving force.

“Everyone uses buzz words like ‘family’ and ‘community’ but we are trying to get as many people who live on the Fylde coast to be proud of this facility and this team, and to come to support us.”