Cambridge United Football Club are a professional football club from Cambridge, England. They will play in the Conference National for the 2005–06 season. Often known just as Cambridge (ignoring their lesser-known neighbours Cambridge City), they are nicknamed the U's.

The club was founded in 1912 as Abbey United (named after the Abbey district of Cambridge in which they play). They played in local amateur leagues with some success. In 1949 the club turned professional and took the name Cambridge United in 1951. They played in various non-league divisions.

The club was elected to the league in 1970 to replace Bradford (Park Avenue), after success in the Southern League.

In the past the U's have produced such players as Dion Dublin and Steve Claridge as well as many other well known Footballing names.

In recent years, the fortunes of the club have fluctuated, and in 2004, the club found itself in serious financial trouble. The fans dug deep into their own pockets to help the club out through a number of schemes, and arguably their finest player, Dave Kitson, was sold for a reported £250,000 to help raise funds. The club was thus able to pay off their debts and stay afloat, until they were relegated out of the league at the end of the season and forced into administration.

At the beginning of the 2004/2005 season, United's best players included Luke Guttridge and the ever reliable Andy Duncan. The latter – a fans' favourite – was captain of the CUFC side, and his fans hope he ultimately will lead England. Other players of note included Justin Walker, Adam Tann and young striker John Turner.

The Golden Era of Cambridge United

Cambridge United have never been a particularly successful club, but their golden era – if it could be called that – was the late 1980's and early 1990's. They won the Fourth Division playoffs under John Beck in 1990, and the following year 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 fifth in the Second Division and qualified for the promotion playoffs, full of hope 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 shattered. Dublin left soon afterwards, for Manchester United (he has since turned out for Coventry City, Millwall, Aston Villa and now Leicester City) in a £1million deal.

The post-Dublin era

John Beck left Cambridge United at the end of the 1992–93 season when they really felt the loss of Dion Dublin and were relegated from the league's new Division One. Cambridge were relegated again in 1994–95, this time to Division Three, and most of their time since then has been spent in the basement division of the Football League, although they were in Division Two from 1999 to 2002 after Roy McFarland delivered them promotion as Division Three runners-up in 1998–99.

McFarland left the club after relegation to Division Three at the end of the 2001–02 season, and was replaced by veteran striker John Taylor who was given the role of player-manager. 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 remained in charge for just six months before making way for assistant Claude Renard, who in turn lasted just four months before being sacked and replaced by Steve Thompson.

Thompson was unable to save Cambridge from relegation and their demotion to the Conference – after 35 years in the Football League – was confirmed on 23rd April 2005. This downfall comes just 14 years after the club won the old Third Divison title, and just 13 years after they almost gained promotion to the new Premier League. With no prospect of repaying its debts of nearly £1 million, the Club filed for administration on 29th April.

League History

Honours

• FA Cup best sixth round: 1989–90 (lost 1–0 to Crystal Palace), 1990–91 (lost 2–1 to Arsenal)
• Football League Division 3 (old) champions: 1990–91
• Football League Division 4 (old) champions: 1976–77
• Football League Division 4 (old) play off winners: 1985–86
• Highest league placing: Football League Division 2 (old) 5th: 1991–92

Records

• Biggest win: 6–0 v Darlington, 18 September 1971; 6–0 v Hartlepool United, February 1989
• Biggest defeat: 0–7 v Sunderland, October 2002 (League Cup second round)

External links

• The Cambridge United Website: the official website of the club
• AmberArmy.co.uk: the most popular Cambridge United fan site
• Ooo Terry Fleming: Popular Terry Fleming fan site