Fleetwood Town set up teams in Dubai and South Africa as part of international expansion
- Published
Managerless Fleetwood Town are currently 19th in the League One table and two points off the drop zone
Fleetwood Town have set up teams in Dubai and South Africa as part of an international expansion by the League One club.
Fleetwood United FC have been given a place in the United Arab Emirates' Third Division.
Meanwhile, Western Cape Fleetwood FC have begun playing in the South African fourth division.
"It's apparent that we're very good at developing football players," chairman Andy Pilley told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"I spend quite a lot of time out of the country currently. I have a business in Dubai and I have two businesses in South Africa.
"I have a huge fondness of football and almost jokingly I said a few years ago in South Africa, 'wouldn't it be good if we got a football club out here?'"
The Cod Army fielded seven academy graduates in their win against Bolton Wanderers last week with a total of 12 academy players making their way through to the first team so far this season, according to Pilley.
Fleetwood's acquisition of the overseas clubs mimics the model of Premier League side Manchester City, whose City Football Group owns a number of teams across the world.
"South Africa has the world champion rugby union team, they've got a really good cricket team, they're very good at athletics but it's my belief they haven't had the coaching or football facilities they need to develop really good players. We aim to change that," Pilley added.
"The intention [with both clubs] is to go on a Fleetwood-esque journey and climb the football pyramid to get to a good level.
"We want to get those players signed on, registered to the clubs, make them as good as possibly can be and we can use our contacts to perhaps sell them or loan them to Europe and who knows where?
"South Africa is a very diverse country and some of the poverty out there is really quite shocking. If we can I'd like to make some of these people's lives better and give them a chance to inject some pride into their area and community."