History of Cambridge United F.C.

The history of Cambridge United F.C. covers over 100 years. Since establishment in 1912 as Abbey United to play friendly games, the club grew quickly and was eventually elected to the Football League, of which it was a member for 35 years before relegation in 2005. The club came close to becoming a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, but currently compete in the Football League Two, following promotion back to the Football League in 2014.

History

From inception to the professional league

The club was founded in 1912 as Abbey United (named after the Abbey district of Cambridge in which they play); although a club called Cambridge United existed in Cambridge from 1909, it was not linked to the club that exists today.[1] The club played in local amateur leagues, with some success, for many of its early years, moving from ground to ground around Cambridge (see Cambridge United § Stadium) before settling at the Abbey Stadium. In 1949 the club turned professional, and changed its name to Cambridge United in 1951.[1] They played in the Eastern Counties League until finishing as runners-up in 1957–58, which saw them elected to the Southern League. Three years later, Cambridge United reached the Premier Division of the Southern League.

The club was elected to the Football League in 1970 to replace Bradford (Park Avenue), after back-to-back titles in the Southern League. Eight years later they reached the Second Division and peaked at 8th place in 1980, but went back down to the Third Division in 1984 after winning just 4 league games all season. A second successive relegation followed in 1985, and a year later Cambridge finished fourth from bottom in the Fourth Division - this was the last season in which the league's bottom four clubs had to apply for re-election. Luckily, Cambridge and the other three teams retained their league status.[2]

Cambridge gradually improved, and as the 1980s drew to a close, they were looking like promotion challengers.

Glory in the early 1990s

Cambridge United's biggest successes came in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They won the Fourth Division playoffs under John Beck in 1990, beating Chesterfield 1–0 at Wembley. The following year United were crowned champions of the Third Division. Their key player of this era was high scoring centre forward Dion Dublin, who had joined the club on a free transfer from Norwich City in 1988. Dublin powered Cambridge to their best-ever league finish in 1992 - they finished 5th in the Second Division and qualified for the promotion playoffs, hoping that they would complete a unique third successive promotion and play in the first season of the new Premier League. After drawing 1–1 at home in the first leg of the semi finals with Leicester City, they were hammered 5–0 in the second leg and their promotion dreams were over. Dublin left soon afterwards, for Manchester United in a £1million deal.

Decline in the mid-1990s

John Beck was sacked in October 1992 with Cambridge battling relegation from the new Division One, and Birmingham midfielder Ian Atkins was named player-manager. Atkins was unable to steer the U's clear of relegation (although he did take them to the quarter-finals of the League Cup) and he was replaced by Beck's former assistant Gary Johnson.

Cambridge finished 10th in the 1993–94 Division Two campaign, but they struggled the following season. They may be considered unlucky to be relegated as league reconstruction that season meant the team finishing 5th from bottom went down, which is where United finished.

Tommy Taylor was appointed manager just before Cambridge's relegation to Division Three, and they were among the pre-season favourites for promotion. A 16th-place finish in 1995–96 was way below expectations, but a promising start to 1996–97 gave supporters hope for promotion success.

1999 promotion glory

Taylor then moved to Leyton Orient and was replaced by Roy McFarland, who delivered promotion back to Division Two in 1999.

Since achieving promotion to Division Two in 1999, United have been plagued by a series of problems on and off the pitch. Historically, United have relied on big player sales to fund wages. When the player market dried up, the directors turned to loans, supporter fund-raising and eventually a ground sale to pay off debts.[3][4]

Relegation in 2002

McFarland left the club in March 2001, with John Beck returning and saving the club from relegation. However this time around Beck was less than successful and was sacked half-way through the 2001–02 season to be replaced by veteran striker John Taylor who was given the role of player-manager. Taylor took Cambridge to the final of the LDV Vans Trophy, where they made their only appearance at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The U's were easily beaten, losing 4–1. Taylor was also unable to prevent relegation to Division Three. He remained in charge until March 2004, with Cambridge struggling in the bottom half of Division Three, when the club's board terminated his contract and named Frenchman Claude Le Roy as his successor. Le Roy won four of the remaining eight matches and kept United in the league by a comfortable margin. The following season he made way for assistant Hervé Renard, who in turn lasted just five months before being sacked and replaced by Steve Thompson. The two brightest prospects, Dave Kitson and John Ruddy were sold in 2004 and 2005 respectively, but the club's debts remained at over £500,000.

Relegation to the Conference

Thompson was unable to save Cambridge from relegation and their demotion to the Football Conference - after 35 years in the Football League - was confirmed on 23 April 2005. This downfall comes just 14 years after the club won the old Third Division title, and just 13 years after they almost gained promotion to the inaugural season of the Premier League. With no prospect of repaying its debts of nearly £1 million, the Club filed for administration on 29 April. As part of a cost-cutting exercise, Thompson and four other backroom staff were sacked by the administrators. Coach Rob Newman took over as team manager.

Financial plight

On 22 July 2005 the club came out of administration with a deal being struck with HM Revenue and Customs at the eleventh hour, after the intervention of then sports minister Richard Caborn, and had no worries about starting the 2005–06 Conference National campaign.[5][6] Rob Newman was unable to bring anything greater than a 12th-place finish in the 2005–06 Conference National final table.

Financial troubles remained, although with the burden of huge debts now lifted, and in December 2005 it was revealed that the club were in talks with their city neighbours Cambridge City F.C. about a possible merger.[7] It was suggested by both parties that Cambridge, with a population of only 110,000, was not big enough to support two professional football clubs and a merger would be beneficial for both teams and guarantee the future of at least one team in the city. However, both sets of fans reacted badly to the news citing their club's individual identities as obstacles, with City fans particularly anxious that it would be a takeover by United rather than a merger.

Long standing Club Chairman Reg Smart resigned from his role in early 2002 after 12 years in charge. Following brief stints from Gary Harwood (2002–5) and Roger Hunt (2005–6), Terry Baker took over the reins in February 2006. However, Baker's tenure ended suddenly at a Board meeting on 5 June 2006 citing unworkable relationships within the board as his reason for resignation, which led to the appointment of Brian Attmore (Fans' Director) as Acting Chairman on 6 June.[8] The fallout from this event led major shareholder Paul Barry to claim there are "deep divisions within the club at staff and board level" and that a new board had to be put in place to ensure stability at the club so that it could achieve the aim of promotion back to the Football League. Any new board would have to continue to deal with financial troubles which were reaffirmed with the news in late June 2006 that fans group Cambridge Fans United had loaned the club £20,000 to pay wages.[9]

Revival and return to Football League
Cambridge playing Exeter City at Wembley Stadium

On the eve of the 2006–07 season, it was announced that former Norwich City striker Lee Power would be the club's new chairman taking over from Brian Attmore's interim reign. Jonny Hon was also to rejoin the board as vice-chairman after John Howard's resignation on conflict of interests grounds (owing to his ownership of Bideawhile 445 Ltd, United's landlords).[10] Director Paul Barry also confirmed on 6 August 2006 that the club would breakeven for the forthcoming season after a fresh injection of funds following Howard's resignation. The team made an appalling start to the season, and Newman was sacked immediately after a 3–1 defeat by Exeter City. After speculation that Chris Wilder was leaving Halifax to take up the post, on 15 September 2006 the club announced Jimmy Quinn as the new manager, with Steve Castle as his assistant. In December 2006, the team suffered a humiliating 5–0 defeat to local rivals Histon F.C. in the FA Trophy, and subsequently suffered a run of six consecutive league defeats, which many supporters found unacceptable and led to calls for the manager's dismissal. A seven match unbeaten run gave renewed optimism, and although this was ended with two consecutive 5–0 defeats (against Altrincham and York City), the 7–0 demolition of Weymouth F.C. and the 4–2 victory over champions elect Dagenham & Redbridge, led to an atmosphere of positivity around the club. The U's ensured conference safety by winning five of their last seven conference games. A 1–0 away win at Aldershot on the penultimate Saturday of the 2006–07 season was followed up with another 1–0 win at home on the final day against Tamworth, ensuring the U's status for the 2007–08 season.

A strong start to 2007–08 saw Cambridge United establish themselves as one of the favourites for the Conference National title and promotion back to football league. Unfortunately Cambridge missed out on the title to Aldershot Town who won the league and the sole automatic promotion place. Despite making it to the Conference play-off final, the U's were beaten 1–0 by Exeter City who subsequently took the second promotion place. The following season, United again finished runners-up, this time to Burton Albion and by only two points. Once again they made it to the play-off final, only to be beaten for the second year in succession - Torquay United running out 2–0 winners.[11]

This came on the back of positive news off the field as a 26 March EGM allowed fresh investment in the club from current board members and American businessman Adrian Hanauer.[12]

Four seasons of mid table mediocrity followed, before Cambridge re-emerged as promotion contenders in the 2013–14 season, their second season under the management of Richard Money. They finished second in the Conference National and triumphed 2–1 over Gateshead in the playoff final to end their nine-year exile from the Football League. Money stayed for one more season at the Abbey Stadium, seeing Cambridge take Manchester United to a replay in the third round of the FA Cup, before being succeeded as manager by Shaun Derry.

Seasons since 1970

Cambridge United were elected to the Football League in 1970, since when they have celebrated seven promotions and suffered seven relegations. The following table shows each season since 1970 and includes seasons since they were relegated back to non-league football in 2005. Unless otherwise stated, all information is from the following source.[2]

SeasonDivisionWonDrawnLostPointsLeague PosFA CupLeague CupNotes
1970–71Division Four 1513184320th2nd Round1st RoundFirst League season
1971–72Division Four1714154810th2nd Round1st Round
1972–73Division Four20179573rd1st Round1st RoundPromoted: 3rd of 24
1973–74Division Three 139243521st3rd Round2nd RoundRelegated: 21st of 24
1974–75Division Four211412546th3rd Round1st Round
1975–76Division Four1415174313th1st Round1st Round
1976–77Division Four26137651st1st Round2nd RoundPromoted: Champions
1977–78Division Three231211582nd2nd Round1st RoundPromoted: Runners-up
1978–79Division Two 1216144012th1st Round1st Round
1979–80Division Two141612448th4th Round2nd Round
1980–81Division Two176194013th3rd Round4th Round
1981–82Division Two139204814th3rd Round2nd RoundNew points system - 3 for a win
1982–83Division Two1312175112th5th Round2nd Round
1983–84Division Two412262422nd3rd Round2nd RoundRelegated: 22nd of 22
1984–85Division Three49262124th1st Round1st RoundRelegated: 24th of 24
1985–86Division Four159225422nd1st Round1st RoundSuccessful application for re-election
1986–87Division Four1711106211th2nd Round4th Round
1987–88Division Four1613176115th2nd Round2nd Round
1988–89Division Four181214688th3rd Round1st Round
1989–90Division Four211015736thQF2nd RoundPromoted: Playoffs
1990–91Division Three251110861stQF1st RoundPromoted: Champions
1991–92Division Two191710745th4th Round2nd RoundLost Playoffs v. Leicester
1993–94Division Two199186610th2nd Round2nd Round
1994–95Division Two1115204820th3rd Round1st RoundRelegated: 20th of 24
1995–96Division Three1412205416th1st Round1st Round
1996–97Division Three1811176510th2nd Round1st Round
1997–98Division Three1418146016th2nd Round1st Round
1998–99Division Three231211812nd2nd Round3rd RoundPromoted: Runners-up
1999–2000Division Two1212224819th5th Round1st Round
2000–01Division Two1411215319th2nd Round1st Round
2001–02[13]Division Two713263424th1st Round1st RoundRelegated: 24th of 24
2002–03[14]Division Three1613176112th3rd Round2nd Round
2003–04[15]Division Three1414185613th2nd Round1st Round
2004–05[16]League Two8162230[17]24th2nd Round1st RoundRelegated: 24th of 24
2005–06[18]Conference1510175512th4th QRIneligible
2006–07[19]Conference1510215517th4th QRIneligible
2007–08[20]Conference251110862nd3rd RoundIneligibleLost play-off final v. Exeter
2008–09[21]Conference24148862nd1st RoundIneligibleLost play-off final v. Torquay
2009–10[22]Conference1514155910th2nd RoundIneligible
2010–11[23]Conference1117185017th1st RoundIneligible
2011–12[24]Conference191413719th1st RoundIneligible
2012–13[25]Conference1514175914th4th QRIneligible
2013–14[26]Conference231310822nd2nd RoundIneligiblePromoted: Won play-off final v. Gateshead[27]

Updated to 4 May 2014

Football League attendances

Cambridge played their home games for their entire period in the Football League at the Abbey Stadium in Cambridge. The table below shows the high, low and average attendance for each season between inception in 1970 and relegation in 2005. Where the high attendance is above the capacity of the ground, this was possible due to terracing at the ground which meant the capacity was previously higher than the current figure of 9,617.

Data gathered from Soccerbase,[2] and Official Website.[1]

Notes

See also

References
  1. Cambridge United Potted History Archived 8 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
  2. Palmer, Kevin (2000). Cambridge United The League Era - A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 978-1-874287-32-2.
  3. "Fans United". Cambridge United Official Website. 22 March 2005. Archived from the original on 13 October 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  4. "Abbey sale keeps Cambridge afloat". BBC. 1 December 2004. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  5. "U's future to be decided". Cambridge Evening News Online. 27 June 2005. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  6. "Cambridge to exit administration". BBC. 20 July 2005. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  7. "United will we stand?". Cambridge Evening News Online. 20 December 2005. Archived from the original on 1 June 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  8. "'Deep divisions' at Abbey Stadium". BBC. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  9. "Cambridge fans pay players' wages". BBC. 30 June 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  10. "Board changes at Cambridge United". BBC. 4 August 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  11. "Cambridge Utd 0-2 Torquay". BBC. 17 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  12. "Cambridge chairman keen to spend". BBC. 29 March 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  13. 2001–02 Cambridge United Match League Table cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
  14. 2002–03 Cambridge United Match League Table cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
  15. 2003–04 Cambridge United Match League Table cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
  16. League Two Final Table 2005/05 Archived 9 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine soccerstats.com. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
  17. Deducted 10 points for entering administration
  18. 2005–06 Cambridge United Match League Table cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
  19. 2006–07 Cambridge United Match League Table cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
  20. 2007–08 Cambridge United Match League Table Archived 11 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  21. 2008–09 Cambridge United Match League Table cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  22. 2009–10 Cambridge United Match League Table cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  23. 2010–11 Cambridge United Match League Table cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  24. 2011–12 Cambridge United Match League Table Archived 5 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  25. 2012–13 Cambridge United Match League Table Archived 5 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  26. 2013–14 Cambridge United Match League Table Archived 5 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  27. Cambridge United 2 - 1 Gateshead bbc.com. Retrieved 19 May 2014
  28. Club Rivalries Uncovered Archived 4 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Football Fans Census. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
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