Cambridge City F.C.
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| Full name | Cambridge City Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Lilywhites | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1908 (as Cambridge Town) |
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| Ground | City Ground, Cambridge |
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| Capacity | 3,000 (1,000 seated) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Kevin Satchell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Gary Roberts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Conference South | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | Conference South, 7th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cambridge City Football Club is an English association football club currently playing in the Conference South.
Founded in 1908, they were known as Cambridge Town F.C. until the city of Cambridge was formally granted city status in 1951. Both they and their neighbours Abbey United F.C. then applied to change their name to Cambridge City F.C. Cambridge Town's application was approved because it arrived first and therefore Abbey United changed their name to Cambridge United F.C..
In the 1960s and early 1970s Cambridge City were a dominant force in local football, commanding attendances into the 5,000's. However, since Cambridge United F.C. got elected into the Football League, City have struggled to attract as many supporters to their games. By the early 1980s, the club were attracting fewer than 200 supporters to each game. Gates have improved steadily in recent years and City now average approximately 500 per game. After many years avoiding relegation, the club have recently managed to maintain higher standards; they had a good FA Cup run in 2004-05 and are consistently in the top half of their league. Since United's relegation from the League in 2005, the two Cambridge clubs are now only one division apart.
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[edit] The City Ground
The City Ground (also known as "Milton Road"), has been their home ground since 1922. It is loacted in the Chesterton area of the city, approximately 1km north of the city centre. The ground was one of the largest outside the football league and was estimated to have a capacity in excess of 20,000, although the highest recorded attendance was 12,058 against Leytonstone in 1961. From the early 1970s, the ground was used for greyhound racing, and crowds were often higher than for football matches. However, dwindling gates and crippling debts led to part of the site being sold for development in 1985 and a much smaller but functional ground was built in its place, which the remainder of the site being developed for offices. The club has a bar and lounge which is open on match days, and available for hire to the general public.
The ground itself has a capacity of 3,000. The Main Stand, together with its recent extension (built to house the Cambridgeshire FA) seat approximately 1,000 people. Opposite the Main Stand, a narrow terrace provides covered terracing for approximately 1,000 supporters. The middle section is popularly, though not officially, known as "The Shed" and attracts City's more vocal supporters. At each end of the ground, the School End and the Westbrook End are narrow and have no cover or formal terracing.
The club applied a Unilateral Notice with the HM Land Registry in October 2006 claiming that the ground has been sold for £1.3 million when it was really worth £12 million. This claim has been refuted by the ground's owners, Ross River Ltd and Blue River LP, who have taken the matter to the High Court: they are demanding the notice is removed and are suing for damages of £300,000. They insist that a fair price was paid for the ground considering the various contractual and access restrictions (Cambridge Evening News report). The club are fighting the action (Club statement).
[edit] First-team squad
As of 7 December 2006, according to official website: [1].
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[edit] History
- 1908 - Formed as 'Cambridge Town'
- 1936 - Refused an invitation to join the Football League ( Ipswich Town, were also invited and joined) on account of the club's amateur principles
- 1945-50 - Won Spartan League three times in five seasons
- 1950-51 - Joined Athenian League
- 1958-59 - Joined Southern League South Eastern zone as a professional club
- 1962-63 - Southern League Champions
- 1968 - Relegated to Division One - club goes semi-pro
- 1969-70 - Southern League Division One runner-up; promoted to Premier Division
- 1970-71 - Southern League runner-up (on goal average)
- 1972-73 - Notable friendly result: Cambridge City 3 Borussia Dortmund 0
- 1976 - Relegated to Division One North
- 1979-80 - League re-organised to Southern & Midland Divisions (no Premier); placed in Midland Division
- 1982-83 - Switched to Southern Division
- 1985-86 - Southern League Southern Division Champions (on goal diff.); promoted to Premier Division
- 2004-05 - Joined Conference in newly-formed Southern Division
- 2005-06 - Cambridge City Supporters Trust takes over running of the club.
- Best league position: 1st in Southern League, 1962-63
- Best FA Cup performance: 2nd round, 2004-05
- Best FA Trophy performance: 5th round, 2004-05 & 2005-06
Source: Cambridge City at the Football Club History Database
[edit] Reserve team
Cambridge City Reserves F.C. joined the Eastern Counties Football League in 1959 and won the Division One title in 2004. They were replaced in the league in 2006 by the newly-formed feeder club Cambridge Regional College F.C..
- 1959-60 Joined Eastern Counties League
- 1961-62 Runners-up
- 1963-64 Joined Metropolitan League
- 1965-66 Rejoined Eastern Counties League
- 1966 Left Eastern Counties League
- 1973-74 Rejoined Eastern Counties League
- 1976 Left Eastern Counties League
- 1991-92 Rejoined Eastern Counties League, in Division One
- 1995 Left Eastern Counties League
- 1996-97 Rejoined Eastern Counties League
- 1998 Left Eastern Counties League
- 1999-00 Rejoined Eastern Counties League
- 2003-04 Eastern Counties League Division One Champions; Promoted to Premier Division
- Best league position: 2nd in Eastern Counties League, 1961-62
Source: Cambridge City Reserves at the Football Club History Database
[edit] External links
| Conference South 2006/07 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Basingstoke Town | Bedford Town | Bishop's Stortford | Bognor Regis Town | Braintree Town | Cambridge City | Dorchester Town | Eastbourne Borough | Eastleigh | Farnborough Town | Fisher Athletic | Havant & Waterlooville | Hayes | Histon | Lewes | Newport County | Salisbury City | Sutton United | Thurrock | Welling United | Weston-super-Mare | Yeading edit |
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