Fleetwood's Cod Army still reveling after pulling off major cup upset over Arsenal

Fleetwood Town posed the question: “The biggest cup shock of all time?”

That's what the fourth-tier team asked on social media after knocking Premier League champion Arsenal out of the English League Cup on Tuesday in a penalty shootout.

There was little question about it as Fleetwood fans woke up Wednesday still pinching themselves following one of the biggest upsets in the Cup’s 66-year history.

More than 80 places separate the two teams in the English soccer pyramid. Arsenal’s stellar squad is worth an approximate $1.6 billion, while Fleetwood’s is valued at a relatively paltry $3 million.

Mikel Arteta has steered Arsenal to five trophies, including last season's Premier League title — as well as the Champions League final.

Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor is less than a year into his first senior managerial position, having been given the job on an interim basis in January before his appointment was made permanent in March.

“I was trying to not cry and I didn’t,” said the 38-year-old Lawlor, who hails from nearby Poulton-le-Fylde. “I’ve managed to hold it. My family, my little boy here, we’re all local.

“I was turning around and people were screaming at me in the crowd and people that I knew and grew up with. Obviously that’s really special and really emotional — to do something that special early in my career as well.”

Here’s some more things to know about the latest giant-killers in English soccer:

Cod Army

Fleetwood is a coastal town in the northwest of England, with a population of around 26,000.

It is more famous for being the place where the lozenge Fisherman’s Friend is manufactured than its soccer team.

The team is nicknamed the Fishermen, while its supporters are called the Cod Army, because of the town’s fishing industry history.

Fleetwood and Arsenal share common ground

Almost literally. Fleetwood play at Highbury Stadium, which was the scene of Tuesday’s cup upset.

That is the same name as Arsenal’s storied former stadium from 1913-2006 but the link is pure coincidence and the ground is a world away from what the Premier League team is used to.

Fleetwood’s intimate stadium takes its name from a nearby road and has a capacity of just 5,300. It also has only four parking spaces, which meant Arsenal representatives had to find alternatives on the street, according to British newspaper The Guardian.

The match against Arsenal was Fleetwood’s first sell-out in more than a decade.

Jamie Vardy’s former club

Fleetwood is most famous for being the team where former England and Leicester striker Jamie Vardy made his name.

Vardy was there for just one season and helped Fleetwood gain promotion out of the fifth tier, and into the English Football League, before getting a move to Leicester in 2012.

The sale of Jamie Vardy to the then Championship side for 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) was for a long time the highest fee ever paid for a player in Non-League, before it was broken two months ago.

Former owner in prison

Andy Pilley was the chairman and owner of Fleetwood until he stepped down in 2023, shortly before being handed a 13-year prison sentence for fraud. He lost an appeal in February this year.

Pilley invested more than 10 million pounds ($13 million) into the club, which saw the complete renovation of Highbury Stadium during his tenure.

Pilley was convicted in May 2023 for his part in a multi-million pound fraud which duped firms into expensive energy contracts.

His son, Jamie Pilley, took over Fleetwood in May 2024.

From Non-League to knocking out Arsenal

Andy Pilley's stewardship sparked a remarkable rise: six promotions in 10 seasons, including entry into the Football League for the first time in 2012 and culminating in a place in the third-tier League One in 2014.

Fleetwood's highest-ever finish in the soccer pyramid was fourth place in League One during the 2016–17 season. The team was relegated back to the fourth tier in 2024.

After Tuesday's nights heroics — Arsenal rested some first-team stars but still picked a strong lineup — Fleetwood will have to immediately turn its attention to Saturday's visit of Bristol Rovers.

Fleetwood is 18th in the 24-team League Two, hovering just above the drop zone after winning just one of its past eight league matches.

“Football’s getting a little bit more, I don’t know, clinical and removed,” Lawlor said. “And that to me, there was that feeling that we all get as football fans. That was what you kind of live for, isn’t it?

“I want us to carry the momentum forward. I want that feeling that we’ve created here to be something that we can recreate on a regular basis.”

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