"We know that we’ve got a challenge on our hands": AFC Fylde ready to roll up their sleeves
Alex Kenyon believes nobody associated with AFC Fylde can take promotion for granted when they begin the new season on Saturday.
The Coasters welcome Oxford City to Mill Farm on day one of the National League North campaign.
It sees Fylde looking for an immediate return to non-league’s top flight, having finished second-bottom last time around.
Their last campaign at regional level ended with Adam Murray’s class of 2022/23 edging out King’s Lynn Town to win the title by two points.
Having been relegated, Fylde will automatically be considered as one of the promotion favourites; a viewpoint the club’s assistant head coach is playing down.
“This league is tough and there’s a lot of big clubs in it,” said Kenyon.
“I don’t think it’ll be as easy as just going straight back up, we know that we’ve got a challenge on our hands.
“The likes of Kidderminster, Chester and Chorley are all going to be up there, so it’s going to be a battle.
“We’ve started to bring some players in, so hopefully we can get across our way of playing to them.
“If we add to those players we’ve already got, then it’s hopefully going to be a good season.”
Murray, now at Kidderminster, is one of two former Fylde bosses looking to get the better of their old club in 2025/26.
The other is James Rowe, who is the new man in charge at King’s Lynn – with both clubs having finished in the play-offs last season.
If Fylde are unsuccessful in their attempt to win promotion then, according to Kenyon, they can’t use a lack of off-field support as an excuse.
Having trained on public land for part of his eight-year spell with Morecambe, Kenyon described Fylde’s set-up as ‘a different world’.
He said: “It’s a fantastic set-up, it’s easily a League Two facility.
“The stadium is great, we’ve got Kellamergh Park to use as a training base and, honestly, the facilities are better than when I was at Morecambe – and that’s no disrespect to Morecambe.
“I didn’t know it had a five-star hotel either until they showed us around. It’s got the lot and, with what we’re trying to do, we can hopefully progress the club further.”