Our Story

Our story began in late 2023, when 10–15 of the original players were part of a separate mental health and wellbeing team in Warton. Over time, that team began to move away from the values the players wanted to uphold. As a result, Matt and Nigel branched away and founded Atletico Warton, running their own five-a-side sessions for the Fylde community.

At the start, two five-a-side pitches were booked on Fridays, but as numbers grew from around 15 to 20–30 regular players, a Wednesday session was added.

In March 2024, we formed our first 11-a-side team and began competing against other like-minded clubs.

By September 2024, Matt stepped down from his role, with Rick taking over leadership. The start of 2025 saw massive growth for the club, and with more players attending, Rick and Nigel introduced a third weekly session on Monday evenings. By June 2025, we had between 70–80 regular attendees.

In September 2025, the club moved into brand-new facilities, leaving The Lightning Club and relocating to the 3G pitches at Bridges Playing Fields, right next to our 11-a-side pitches.