Unreliable History
Originally playing their football on Parker’s Piece, they had to find a new home when Parker made his piece off limits. Founded in 1919, Abbey United took their name from the Abbey district of Cambridge – a name they retained until they turned professional in 1949, when a national building society stopped sponsoring the club. By this time they had moved on to play in the Celery Trenches, where they established a huge following amongst vegetarians across the city. The club did toy with the idea of changing it’s nickname to “The Dreaming Spireites”, but this had already partly been taken by another club.
The club really came to prominence in 1970 when they were elected to the Football League and then had a rapid rise in fortune winning promotion to Division Three in 1976-77 as Champions, then finishing second in that division in 1979-80 to go up to the old Division Two. Despite a good run in the eighties in Division Two and in 1992 they lost a play-off and a chance to reach the top flight, over the years the club has slipped back down the ladder. In fact in 1983-84, the club lost 31 consecutive games and were, unsurprisingly, relegated. However, more recently, in 1991 they won the Third Division championship and last season they were runners-up in Division Three and won automatic promotion. Back in 1974, Cambridge United were involved in the first Sunday FA Cup tie against Oldham Athletic, which ended in a 2-2 draw. The club’s top crowd was strangely recorded against Chelsea in a friendly, just before the start of their League career. During their days in Division Two, with John Beck at the helm in the 1980’s, the club earned a reputation for bizarre training methods and “dirty tricks” to make their opponents feel ill at ease. These included freezing cold showers for his own players, dirty changing rooms and deflated kick-about balls for the opposition and long grass in the corners of the pitch to slow the long balls into those areas, allowing the U’s forwards to reach them. Beck carried on his dirty tricks even after leaving to take charge of Preston North End – taking nine of the Cambridge United players with him !! He was not the only famous manager at the club, with Ron Atkinson taking the club from Fourth to Second Division and Ex-England and then having Derby County centre-half Roy McFarland sitting in the hot seat. There were seasons in Divisions Three and then Two, before two relegations in four years sent Cambridge out of the League. In the Conference, a number of managers failed to restore them to the Football League until they took a punt on some Money (Richard) and their bet paid dividends with a promotion to League Two in 2014. After just escaping the drop through the League trap-door again in 2019, Mark Bonner had the fortune to lead them out of the bottom division in 2021, as they finished second to gain promotion to League One. A little known story dates from before The U’s entry into the League, a local animal sanctuary had an escapee and it was found grazing on the pitch at the Abbey Stadium. This lead to the moose connection with the club, as in the club shop you can buy a range of moose souvenirs to show your allegiance to the U’s. FAMOUS PLAYERS : – Dion Dublin, Don “The Don” Donn, Steve Spriggs, Tom Finney (no not that one), John Taylor, Charles Clare-College. |
Club Records
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Formed | 1912 |
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Turned Professional | 1949 |
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Became a Limited Company | 1948 |
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Previous names | Abbey United = 1919-1951 |
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Previous grounds | – |
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Nickname | “THE U’s” |
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Motto | “UNITED IN ENDEAVOUR” |
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Club Colours [Images courtesy of the wonderful Colours of Football website] |
HOME :
AWAY : THIRD : |
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Record Football League Win | 7-0 v Morecambe (League Two) (Home) 19.04.2016 |
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Record Football League Defeat | 0-7 v Luton Town (League Two) (Away) 18.11.2017 |
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Record Cup Win | 5-1 v Bristol City (FA Cup Fifth Round Second replay) (Home) 27.02.1990 4-0 v Sheffield Wednesday (FA Cup Fifth Round) 16.02.1991 4-0 v Coventry City (FA Cup Second Round) 04.12.2016 |
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Record Fee Paid | £190,000 to Luton Town for Steve CLARIDGE (November 1992) |
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Record Fee Received | £1.5 million from Leicester City for Trevor BENJAMIN (July 2000) |
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Record Appearances | ?? – ?? (19??-19??) |
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Record League Appearances | 416 – Steve SPRIGGS (1975-1987) |
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Record League goal-scorer | 84 – John TAYLOR (1988-1992 and 1997-2004) |
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Record all-time goal-scorer | ?? – ?? (19??-19??) |
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Record goal-scorer in a League season | 24 – David CROWN (Division 4) 1985-1986 (46 games) |
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Record goal-scorer in a season | 32 – Paul MULLIN (League Two) 1985-1986 (46 games) |
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Most goals scored in a League match | 5 – Steve BUTLER v Exeter City (Division 2) 04.04.1994 |
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Record Home Attendance | 14,000 v Chelsea ?? .05.1970 |
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Record total of goals in a League season | 87 – Division 4 (1976-1977) (46 games) |
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Record League points total | 2 points for a win : 65 – Division 4 (1976-1977) (46 games) 3 points for a win : 86 – Division 3 (1990-1991) (46 games) |
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Most Capped Player while at club | 7 – Tom FINNEY (Northern Ireland) |
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Youngest Player | Ben WORMAN – 16 years and ?? days v Peterborough United (Football League Trophy) (Home) 07.11.2017 |
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Oldest Player | John TAYLOR – 39 years and ?? days v ?? (Division ??) 2003-2004 |
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Stadium details
Address : Abbey Stadium, Newmarket Road, Cambridge CB5 8LN
Telephone : 01223 566500
Ticket Office : 01223 566500 (option 1)
Capacity : 8,127
Away Allocation : Approximately 1,600 (although more if required)
Pitch size : 101m x 68m (110 yards x 74 yards)
Official website : www.cambridge-united.co.uk/
Directions
There are good directions to the Abbey Stadium on the Cambridge United website and more information on the Away Days website.
Honours
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Division Three Champions (Third Tier) | 1990-1991 |
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Division Three Runners-up (Third Tier) | 1977-1978 |
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Division Four Champions (Fourth Tier) | 1976-1977 |
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Division Three Runners-up (Fourth Tier) | 1998-1999 |
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League Two Runners-up (Fourth Tier) | 2020-2021 |
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Conference Runners-up (Fifth Tier) | 2007-2008, 2008-2009 |
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Football League Trophy Finalists | 2001-2002 |
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Managers
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Bill WHITTAKER | 1949 – 1955 |
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Gerald WILLIAMS | 1955 |
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Bert JOHNSON | 1955 – 1959 |
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Bill CRAIG | 1959 – 1960 |
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Alan MOORE | 1960 – 1963 |
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Roy KIRK | 1964 – 1966 |
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Bill LEIVERS | 1967 – 1974 |
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Ron ATKINSON | 1974 – 1978 |
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John DOCHERTY | 1978 – 1983 |
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John COZENS (Caretaker) | 1983 – 1984 |
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John RYAN | 1984 – 1985 |
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Ken SHELLITO | 1985 |
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Chris TURNER | 1986 – 1990 |
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John BECK | 1990 – 1992 |
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Gary JOHNSON (Caretaker) | 1992 |
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Ian ATKINS | 1992 – 1993 |
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Gary JOHNSON | 1993 – 1995 |
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Tommy TAYLOR | 1995 – 1996 |
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Roy McFARLAND | 1996 – 2001 |
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John BECK | 2001 |
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John TAYLOR | 2001 – 2004 |
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Dale BROOKS (Caretaker) | 2004 |
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Claude Le ROY | 2004 |
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Herve RENARD | 2004 |
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Ricky DUNCAN (Caretaker) | 2004 |
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Steve THOMPSON | 2004 – 2005 |
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Rob NEWMAN | 2005 – 2006 |
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Lee POWER (Caretaker) | 2006 |
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Jimmy QUINN | 2006 – 2008 |
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Gary BRABIN | 2008 – 2009 |
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Paul CARDEN (Caretaker) | 2009 |
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Martin LING | 2009 – 2011 |
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Jez GEORGE | 2011 – 2012 |
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Richard MONEY | 2012 – 2015 |
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Joe DUNNE (Caretaker) | 2015 |
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Shaun DERRY | 2015 – 2018 |
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Colin CALDERWOOD | 2018 – 2020 |
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Mark BONNER | 2020 – |
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League Record
The Football League structure has historically been as follows …
1888-1892 | 1892-1920 | 1920-1921 | 1921-1958 | 1958-1992 | 1992-2004 | 2004 to date | |
First tier | Football League | Division One | Division One | Division One | Division One | Premiership | Premier League |
Second tier | Division Two | Division Two | Division Two | Division Two | Division One | Championship | |
Third tier | Division Three | Division Three (North) and (South) |
Division Three | Division Two | League One | ||
Fourth tier | Division Four | Division Three | League Two | ||||
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Elected to Division Four (Fourth Tier) | 1970 |
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Division Four (Fourth Tier) | 1970-1973 |
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Division Three (Third Tier) | 1973-1974 |
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Division Four (Fourth Tier) | 1974-1977 |
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Division Three (Third Tier) | 1977-1978 |
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Division Two (Second Tier) | 1978-1984 |
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Division Three (Third Tier) | 1984-1985 |
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Division Four (Fourth Tier) | 1985-1990 |
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Division Three (Third Tier) | 1990-1991 |
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Division Two (Second Tier) | 1991-1992 |
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Division One (Second Tier) | 1992-1993 |
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Division Two (Third Tier) | 1993-1995 |
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Division Three (Fourth Tier) | 1995-1999 |
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Division Two (Third Tier) | 1999-2002 |
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Division Three (Fourth Tier) | 2002-2004 |
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League Two (Fourth Tier) | 2004-2005 |
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Conference (Fifth Tier) | 2005-2014 |
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League Two (Fourth Tier) | 2014-2021 |
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League One (Third Tier) | 2021- |
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