AFC Fylde have been making waves in non-league football for a number of years. The club, which ply their trade in the National League, recently secured a place in the second round of the FA Cup after a comfortable win against Kidderminster Harriers.
Their prize for the historic victory, which saw them progress to this stage for the first time, is a home game against Wigan Athletic.
Adding to the occasion, the BBC have decided to televise the match between the two north-west teams.
This game is exactly the kind of match the club’s chairman David Haythornwaite, who joined the Coasters back in 2007, wanted to be involved in on a regular basis.
After amassing a vast personal fortune amounting to millions of pounds from his dealings in the animal feed business, Haythornwaite had grand ambitions for the then West Lancashire League side.
Within 15 years the aim was to see Fylde earn the necessary seven promotions to secure a place in the Football League.
Well ahead of schedule the club are currently one step away from achieving that vision.
The progress they have made in such a short space of time is quite remarkable.
Under former manager Mick Fuller the Lancashire team had enjoyed a steady ascent up to the Northern Premier League (NPL) Division One North.
However during 2010-11 they suffered a minor setback as new boss Kelham O’Hanlon guided them all the way to the play-off final only to suffer a narrow 2-1 defeat against Chorley.
The next season they turned to former Colwyn Bay manager Dave Challinor in a bid to earn promotion to Premier Division of the NPL.
Many wondered how long the Chester-born coach would take to impose his style on the club after arriving a quarter of the way into the campaign but he settled in seamlessly guiding the club to promotion that same season.
Attracting someone like Challinor, who was previously managing a club two divisions above, was a hugely significant move to enable the club to continue their progression.
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The way in which he came in when the club were 16 points off the league leaders and managed to transform AFC Fylde into a title-winning team in just six months was a hugely impressive feat.
Although they narrowly missed out on back-to-back promotions being edged by eventual play-off final winners Hednesford Town in the semis the Coasters booked their place in the Conference North (now National League North) the very next season.
The Coasters made sure they were ready for the step up, bringing in some hugely significant signings on the pitch, the likes of Danny Rowe, Richie Allen and Danny Lloyd all proving a serious threat in front of goal.
Although the trio amassed over 70 goals between them it was not enough to see move to within a stone’s of realizing their dream.
A wealth of experience was added the following season in the form of Dominic Collins and Matty Hughes from Southport and Fleetwood respectively but they still came up short, losing to North Ferriby United in the play-off final.
Determined to make the next step Fylde looked imperious last season, losing just six games and scoring 109 goals on the way to comfortably being crowned as National League North champions.
During that memorable campaign there were also a wave of significant changes off the field, as the club went full-time and also moved into their 6,000 seater stadium Mill Farm.
Just one final promotion within the next five years is all the club needs to achieve their target of becoming a permanent fixture in the Football League.
When Wigan come to their place in the FA Cup they will be striving to make another bold statement with both eyes firmly fixed on potentially welcoming a Premier league side to Mill Farm in the third round.
