Cambridge City F.C.
Cambridge City Football Club is a football club currently based in Impington, Cambridgeshire, England. They are currently members of the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands and play at Bridge Road in nearby Impington.
The club were based at the City Ground, Cambridge, between 1922 and 2013. After a groundshare at Histon’s Bridge Road groundshare at Westwood Road in St Ives (2015–18) and Histon (2018–) while new ground at Sawston being built. Their home colours are white and black, leading to the club’s nickname of The Lilywhites.
The club was founded in 1908 as Cambridge Town F.C., as Cambridge had not been granted city status at that point, and were committed to amateur sport. The club competed in the Southern Amateur League, developing a fierce rivalry with Ipswich Town that was evident both on and off the pitch.[1] In 1936 the club were invited to apply to the Football League, in an attempt to expand the professional game in East Anglia (Norwich City were the only football league club in the region at that time). However, Town declined in order that the club should uphold its amateur nature, though Ipswich took up the offer and were elected in 1938.[1]
The resumption of football after the Second World War saw Cambridge Town joining the Spartan League, winning the competition 3 times between 1945 and 1950, before joining the Athenian League for the 1950–51 season. Cambridge was formally granted city status in 1951. Both Cambridge Town and their neighbours Abbey United applied to change their name to Cambridge City. Cambridge Town’s application was approved because it arrived first and therefore Abbey United changed their name to Cambridge United[1] In 1958, 22 years after turning down the chance to apply to the Football League, Cambridge City joined the Southern League South Eastern zone as a professional club. The club went on to make five applications to join the Football League between 1959 and 1974, all of which were unsuccessful.[2]
In the late 1950s and 1960s Cambridge City commanded the highest attendances in non-league football, regularly attracting average gates in excess of 3,500 (higher than rivals United during that period) and occasionally attracting gates over 10,000.[citation needed] They were Southern League Champions in 1962–63 and stayed in the League’s top division until 1968, when they were relegated and turned semi-professional. They were promoted back to the Premier Division after finishing in the Division One runners-up spot in 1969–70, and finished second in their first season back in the Premier Division.
Cambridge United were elected into the Football League in 1970,[3] and from that point City struggled to attract as many supporters to their games as their cross-city rivals – by the early 1980s, when United were enjoying a prolonged spell in the 2nd Division, City were attracting fewer than 200 supporters to each game.[citation needed] 1975–76 saw the second relegation in the club’s history, into the Southern League’s Division One North. They remained there until 1979–80, when a re-organisation of the league’s structure, in order to become a feeder to the newly formed Football Conference, placed City in the Midland Division. A switch was made to the Southern Division in the 1982–83 season and this seemed to coincide with a turn around in City’s fortunes, and 1985–86 saw City win the division on goal difference and gain promotion back to the Premier Division.
