Fleetwood Town Manager Lee Johnson has flown over to Dubai this week to share his training philosophies with another team in our footballing group, Fleetwood United.
The side in Dubai, who are currently top of the Second Division League after seven games, have seen nothing but success since forming back in 2021 as they earned promotion from the fourth tier in their first season, beating Sport Support in the play-offs, and have now progressed to the top of the division above.
Fleetwood United aren’t the only club away from British shores to be part of the FFG (Fleetwood Football Group) as we boast a global network of clubs, including Waterford FC (League of Ireland Premier Division), and Hout Bay Community (Second Tier of South African Football).
With the links they have to the Fylde Coast, this has allowed Johnson to head over to the UAE to see how the squad prepare for a game at the luxurious JA Resorts and Hotels in the UAE, which is famous for hosting a multitude of Premier League sides, due to Fleetwood having six players out on international duty this week.
As a recap, Town has five players - Stephen McMullan, Carl Johnston, Barry Baggley, Sam Glenfield, and Jack Doherty - all with Northern Ireland in various age groups, whilst Bosun Lawal has joined up with the Republic of Ireland Under-21s camp ahead of their qualifiers.
The manager took charge of a training session on Wednesday evening, alongside the coaching staff over there, which was well-received by all the players – including FTIFA Pathway to Pro graduates Keito Lipovschek, Nathaneal Murphy, and Jared Walker – as they did Fleetwood-style drills under the lights and even shared a few ideas that have been working for the Cods here in England.
The three players mentioned came through our International Academy’s Pathway to Pro scheme, which allows players to train, eat and live like full-time professional footballers - with the best being registered for our UAE FA league club Fleetwood United FC.
With four and six-month programmes available, there are options for everyone - including the chance to spend a month training alongside the EFL League One side Fleetwood Town's professional players in England with the rest of the time spent living in a luxurious 4* hotel in global in the paradise which is Dubai.
The best players will also have the opportunity to play professionally for our club Fleetwood United FC which plays in the Second Division of the UAE Football League as well as offering pathways to our other partner clubs around the globe.
Johnson, on the experience over in Dubai, said: "I've really enjoyed the trip so far, the multi-club model Fleetwood has created is fantastic and it's been great to get an insight into the great work they are doing over here in Dubai with Fleetwood United.
"The players are coaches over here have shown great interest in how we play at Fleetwood Town and it's been a pleasure to share some of that knowledge.
"It's also been great to see the quality of players we have in our group of clubs and explore how we can create pathways for them all around the world.
"I'm really looking forward to watching their game on Friday night and hopefully Fleetwood United can continue their push for promotion."
It’s brilliant to see multiple clubs in the Fleetwood Football Group join together to share their ideas and move forward as one – here’s to doing this again in the near future!