Non-league football boss fired over 'go f*** yourself' email in pitch battle with FC United of Manchester

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 10 Apr 2026 09:09 CDT
• 6 min read

News

Northern Premier League chairman Mark Harris has been sacked after sending an abuse email to an FC United of Manchester supporter.

Since October, the club - formed by disgruntled Manchester United fans after the Glazer takeover in 2005 - have been involved in an ongoing spat with the Northern Premier League and Stockton FC over a series of match postponements.

Drainage issues at the club's Broadhurst Park ground have meant that the scheduled fixture versus Stockton, which was due to take place in October, has been postponed several times.

FC United of Manchester have acknowledged the issues with the pitch, but insists nothing could have been done at the time as the country was impacted by extreme weather, including Storm Claudia and Storm Chandra. Several other fixtures in the Greater Manchester area were postponed at the same time.

On one occasion, FC United of Manchester paid Stockton £950 in travel expenses after the game was called off closer to kick-off as rain showers defied a morning weather report to render the pitch unplayable.

To date, the fixture still hasn't been played and the Northern Premier League, along with Stockton, have now scheduled the fixture for the middle of April at a neutral venue - without consulting FC United of Manchester.

This led to a back-and-forth email chain in which FC United disputed the change of venue. Remarkably, the club is allowed to play another match at Broadhurst Park just a few days before they are forced to move away from their home for the rearranged fixture.

Supporter Aled Duckfield then got involved and sent an email to Northern Premier League chairman Harris in which he described the decision to move the fixture as "diabolical" and accused the league organisers are being incompetent and lacking governance.

Harris replied to the email:

"Thank you for your lovely email. Now go f**k yourself. Mark Harris."

It was confirmed on Friday that Harris had been relieved of his duties as the fallout continues.

The NPL said in a statement: Following a meeting of the board, the Northern Premier League can confirm that chairman Mark Harris has been relieved of his duties with immediate effect, pending a full disciplinary investigation.

Harris was appointed NPL chairman in 2009 and also serves on the FA's National Leagues Pyramid Board.

FC United of Manchester questions decision

Even though Harris has been dismissed, FC United of Manchester still feel aggrieved at the decision to move the match for a number of reasons.

The club claims the sporting integrity of the league has now been called into question as FC will not play their allocated number of home and away matches. They are in the middle of a title race, currently in third place behind Hednesford Town and Hebburn Town, two points adrift of the top two.

Stockton meanwhile are hoping to secure a playoff spot and the change of venue could be perceived as giving them an advantage as their home pitch is artificial 3G and the new venue is 3G, while FC United of Manchester play on grass.

It's a small factor, but one that certainly could give an edge to Stockton. That's angered other teams battling to reach the playoffs including Gainsborough Trinity FC & Warrington Rylands FC who released a joint statement about the decision to move the game:

"Gainsborough Trinity FC & Warrington Rylands FC have today co signed a letter to the Northern Premier League to express our serious concerns regarding the recent decision affecting the fixture between FC United of Manchester and Stockton Town FC.

"Both clubs believe it is important to stand up for the principles of fairness, consistency, and sporting integrity, particularly at this critical point in the season.

"We will update supporters once we receive a response from the league. Thank you for your continued support."

FC United of Manchester responds

Speaking exclusively to FootballTransfers, a spokesperson for FC United of Manchester outlined explained the current state of affairs:

"We got notice last Wednesday, off the league, out of the blue, that Stockton had requested the game be moved. The initial request was that they asked the game to be moved to their ground, which the league said wasn't permitted.

"Then, the request was to move it to a neutral ground.

"The first we heard was when the league confirmed on Wednesday that they had ordered that. We queried that and asked why they didn't seek our input on that decision.

"We submitted a counter-proposal saying that we would secure Curzon Ashton's ground as a backup and then on the Monday prior to the game we would have a joint decision between ourselves and the league based on the pitch report and the referee's report and looking at weather forecasts to determine if the game could go ahead at Broadhurst Park.

"If not, we would move it to Curzon Ashton.

"That was supposedly considered over the bank holiday weekend, then we received notice on Tuesday morning that the league had rejected that proposal, but they would allow it to go ahead at Curzon Ashton because their original order was that it had to be played on a 3G surface, which was impossible to source in Greater Manchester. There are only two suitable grounds in Greater Manchester to hold this level of football and neither of those were available

"There was all sorts of concerns over that as Stockton's home pitch is 3G so it also raised questions over sporting integrity not just from us but from other teams who are vying for playoff positions."

The spokesperson confirmed that, up until recently, FC United of Manchester's relationship with the NPL had been largely positive but that the two organisations had butted heads over some issues.

"We've always got on well with Mark Harris. We have had, for some time, concerns over governance generally, at the league. How the league operates and how the league makes decisions," they explained.

"You can't put all that on Mark Harris' door but ultimately he's the leader of the organisation.

"We've worked hard to cooperate and collaborate with the league on various matters but there are some things we just don't see eye-to-eye on.

"There's a perception from us and other clubs that when you challenge the league it is not necessarily welcomed."

When asked by FootballTransfers if the club believes the sporting integrity of the championship race and playoff battle has been compromised, the FC United spokesperson replied:

"I think there are concerns over that. Gainsborough Trinity & Warrington Rylands, two of the teams competing for a playoff position, they released a statement and I understand they have complained to the league over this.

"It's clear that this is a decision that doesn't just impact FC United and Stockton Town. There are concerns from clubs across the league, one over the impact of the decision but more the evidence that has come to light over the decision has been made and the consistency of decision-making from the league."

At the moment, the match between FC United of Manchester and Stockton is scheduled to take place on April 21 at Curzon Ashton's stadium.

FC United believe that any weather concerns over Broadhurst Park would surely need to be raised over the Curzon Ashton venue as well. They are less than 7 miles apart.