Newport County travel to Highbury Stadium on Saturday afternoon to face Fleetwood Town in their final away fixture of the 2024-25 campaign (3pm).
The Exiles, who have now secured their League Two status for next season, will be looking to build on back-to-back 0-0 draws against MK Dons and Walsall over the Easter weekend.
Opposition Form
Fleetwood come into this weekend’s fixture searching for their first home victory since February 8th, a 2-0 win over Cheltenham Town.
The Fishermen are back in League Two for the first time after ten consecutive years in League One and sit 15th in the table, having won 14 of their 44 games this season, drawing 15 and also losing 15.
While Pete Wild’s side have lost three of their last four matches, they have impressively scored four goals in each of their last three victories (1-4, 2-4, 1-4), which have all come away from home.
Wild took over the reins at Highbury from Charlie Adam in December and has won eight of his 24 games in charge on the Fylde coast.
From the dugout to the pitch, forward Ryan Graydon has been the focal point of Fleetwood’s attacking success in 2024/25. The Irishman, in his second season at the club after joining from Derry City, has 13 goals and seven assists across league and cup this campaign. His tally is closely followed by Matty Virtue, who sits on nine goals for the season.
Another League of Ireland import, Phoenix Patterson, is the key creative spark in the Cod Army’s side. The ex-Waterford man has registered 11 assists across all competitions this season, with eight in the league - more than any other Fleetwood player.
Head to Head
Saturday’s game will be the first meeting between the two sides in Fleetwood since November 2013, when the hosts ran out 4-1 winners in a League Two fixture. The two clubs have met twice since, producing a 0-0 draw on both occasions.
Newport and Fleetwood faced each other for the first time in December 2010, a 1-1 draw at Highbury in the Blue Square Conference Premier. Fleetwood won the return fixture at Rodney Parade 1-3 and have beaten the Exiles twice since, leaving them with three wins to Newport’s one in the history of this fixture.
Memorable Encounter
While County have only defeated Saturday’s opponents on one occasion, it was a victory that will live long in the memory of the County fans who braved the long mid-week trip in October 2011.
A hat-trick from Sam Foley, complimented by a Danny Rose penalty, handed Newport their first win in 13 games and the very first win of Justin Edinburgh’s tenure as manager.
It was a disastrous start for the travelling Amber Army, who fell behind inside the first minute after Gareth Seddon put the hosts 1-0 up. They quickly responded through Foley, who levelled the scores after 15 minutes.
Rose fired County into the lead from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute and Foley secured his brace five minutes later to make it 1-3. Foley wasn’t finished there and his brace became a hattrick on the hour-mark as he made it 1-4 to the Exiles.
Micky Mellon’s side, which included Jamie Vardy, finished the game with ten men after goalscorer Seddon was dismissed with half an hour to play. The Cod Army would go on to clinch the Conference Premier title with a staggering 103 points.
Shared Shirts
Just over a year after his spot kick goal in County’s famous win at Highbury, Danny Rose would swap Newport for Fleetwood, joining them in the midst of their debut League Two season. While the midfielder would only make ten appearances for the north-west side in an 18-month spell, he will always be a popular figure with the County faithful.
Rose, now of Darlington, joined the Exiles from Oxford United in 2008 and was a key member of the club’s 2009-10 title-winning campaign in the National League South. Rose scored 36 goals in 165 appearances for Newport before departing for Fleetwood.
Other players to have pulled on the shirts of both clubs in recent years include John Parkin, Lee Fowler, Ben Davies (pictured) and Jamille Matt.
Key Facts
Newport County have won only three games away from home in League Two this season, the last of those being a 0-3 victory at Crewe Alexandra in February.
February was also the last time that Fleetwood won at home. Since then, they have drawn five and lost once at Highbury.
Fleetwood have scored the second-highest number of goals in the bottom half of League Two this season, (58), while Newport have conceded the most in the division (70).
