F.C. Clacton
The original Clacton Town were established on 27 October 1892 and joined the North Essex League in 1895.[2] They won Division Two in 1898–99 and 1899–1900, as well as the Essex Junior Cup in 1900. They were then promoted to Division One, but folded at the end of the 1900–01 season. A group of former players formed Old Clactonians, who joined the Harwich & District League in 1902. They remained in the league until 1905, when they were renamed Clacton Town and joined the Clacton & District League, winning it in their first season. The club then returned to the Harwich & District League, and also joined the South East Anglian League in 1907, winning Division Two in 1907–08.
In 1908 Clacton also began playing Colchester & District League and were Division Two champions and the Division Two Cup winners in 1909–10,[3] also winning Division Two of the (now renamed) East Anglian League the following season. In 1912 the club folded for a second time, but were re-established the following year. They rejoined the Essex & Suffolk Border League (as the Colchester & District League was now known), remaining in it until 1934. During this period the club also played in the Ipswich & District League from 1921 until 1924, and again in 1927–28. In 1934 they left the Border League to join the Ipswich & District League. In 1935 they were founder members of the Eastern Counties League, finishing as runners up in 1936–37. The following season they switched to the newly established Essex County League, finishing bottom in its only season before returning to the ECL in 1938. In 1948 the club turned professional and in 1952–53 finished as runners-up for a second time.[4]
In 1956–57 Clacton won the East Anglian Cup and reached the fourth and final qualifying round of the FA Cup, but lost 3–2 at home to Yiewsley. After finishing fifth in 1957–58 the club moved up to the South-East Division of the Southern League. Although they finished second from bottom in their first season, the following year they won the newly renamed Division One, and were promoted to the Premier Division. In their first season in the Premier Division they reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first, and to date only time, but lost 3–1 at home to Southend United. However, after finishing twenty-first out of 22 clubs in 1962–63, they were relegated back to Division One, and after a mid-table finish in 1963–64, returned to the Eastern Counties League.
Clacton finished as runners-up in their first season back in the league, a feat repeated in 1974–75, a season in which they again reached the final qualifying round of the FA Cup. They also won the League Cup in 1973–74. The club remained in the Premier Division until the end of the 1991–92 season, in which they finished second from bottom, and were relegated to Division One. They returned to the Premier Division as Division One champions in 1994–95, and won the Eastern Floodlit Cup the following season. They were relegated again in 1997–98, but won the Division One Cup and Division One at the first attempt to make an immediate return. In 1999–2000 they won the East Anglian Cup for a second time, and in 2001–02 won the League Cup.
