The club's first shirt (between 1924–25)2

Cambridge have traditionally worn amber and black home kits in a variety of designs, including plain amber with black trim (e.g. 1979–91), amber and black quarters (1996–98 and halves (e.g. 1924–25), and a variety of stripes (e.g. 1926–36.² Only between 1957–60 and 1970–72 have shirts not been predominantly amber, when the club opted for white with a small amber and black detail on the shirt's sleeves. Away from home, kits have often been white with some amber and/or black detail, although recently shirts have been royal blue at the request of the away shirts sponsors, Kershaw.²¹

A sponsor first appeared on a Cambridge shirt for the 1985–86 season when the shirt was changed mid-season from plain amber to amber and black stripes. Spraymate were the club's first shirt sponsor, and have since been followed by an array of local and national companies: Lynfox, Howlett, Fujitsu, Beaumont Stainless Steels, Premier Travel, C&R Windows, Quicksilver (couriers), Capital Sports, The Global Group and, as from the 2007–08 season, Haart.

The team's kits have been manufactured by a number of companies, with Admiral providing the first strip on which a maker's logo appeared. The club have subsequently worn kits created by, among others, Nike, Patrick, Sporta and, Vandanel with the latter providing the strip for the 2007–08 season.² The current home shirt was unveiled on 29 June 2007,¹² with approval from the fans who welcomed a return to amber and black stripes which had become iconic during the club's success in the late 1970s.²²

The club's current crest, a large football over which the letters 'CU' are emblazoned, with three turrets on top, has been worn on its shirts since the 1986–87 season season, with a brief change to a more 'elaborate' design between 1996 and 1998. Previously, shirts had simply been embroidered with the club's acronym 'CUFC' or a 'Book & Ball' badge used during the late 70's.

Stadia

Main article: Abbey Stadium

The Abbey Stadium’s Main Stand

Cambridge United currently play their home matches at the Abbey Stadium, which has been their home since 1932. Since 2008 the ground has also been known as the Trade Recruitment Stadium through a sponsorship deal.²³ The Abbey currently has a capacity of 9,617, of which 4,376 are seated.²⁴

Before opening the Abbey with a victory over Cambridge University Press in a friendly on 31 August 1932, Cambridge had played matches at a number of venues around the city.²⁵ When playing under the Abbey United name, games were played on Midsummer Common until the outbreak of World War I. When the war ended, the club moved to Stourbridge Common and, after promotion to the Cambridgeshire League Division One in 1923, moved once again to land just off Newmarket Road in Cambridge. This ground, affectionately known as the 'Celery Trenches' due to the poor state of the pitch, was christened with a 1-0 league victory over Histon Institute and became United's home for nearly a decade. While based at the Trenches, the club established its offices at the 'Dog & Pheasant' pub on Newmarket Road, which it used as an away dressing room on matchdays, as well as a store for equipment including the pitch's goalposts.²⁵ However, the Cambridgeshire FA were unhappy with the state of the pitch at this new home, and the club moved to Parker's Piece at the start of the 1930–31 season. Despite the special significance of Parker's Piece in the history of football, it being the first place where the Cambridge Rules were played out, the lack of spectator capacity and disruption caused during games meant this move was not a successful one.²⁶

In January 2006, John Howard announced plans to move out of the Abbey Stadium to a new purpose built stadium in Milton.²⁷ These were criticised by fans as risking the club's identity by moving out of the city and, despite Howard describing them as crucial to the club's future, little else has been heard of them since.^{citation needed}

Supporters

Cambridge United have a number of supporters' groups and associations, some of which are independently run and some are run by the club itself.²⁸ These include:

• Away Travel Club: Officially linked with the club and provides match day travel to every away game, as well as hosting various fundraising events particularly for the youth system and sponsoring senior and youth players.²⁹
• Junior U's: A club initiative to promote active support among younger fans - membership is free and includes benefits such as reduced admission to league games and a free Christmas party.³⁰ The Junior U's fan club is promoted by club mascot Marvin the Moose.³¹
• Cambridge Fans United: An independent supporters group but now a significant shareholder in the club with representation (on the fans' behalf) on the board of directors.³²
• Vice Presidents Club: Club offering match day hospitality including dedicated seats in the stadium and pre-game meals.²⁸
• Cambridge United Supporters Association: Formed in 1996 to give a voice to the fans in communications with the club and the media.²⁸
• Regional Associations: A collection of regional fans' groups aimed at promoting the club to a wider area and offering travel to home and, in some cases, away games - St Ives U's, East Cambs U's, Royston U's, St Neots U's, Bedfordshire U's & Saffron Walden U's.²⁸

In addition to these supporters' groups, the club currently has one independent fanzine, United in Endeavour, which raises funds for Cambridge Fans United and is sold at home games.

Since relegation to the Conference, however, attendances at the Abbey have been amongst the highest in the league. Cambridge's first two seasons in this league saw them post the 4th highest average attendance figures in both years (2,607 in 2005–06 and 2,815 in 2006–07).^{33 34} Traditionally, Cambridge have had Peterborough United as their main rivals rather than closer neighbours Cambridge City, something that was recognised in a survey by the Football Fans Census as a reciprocated feeling.³⁵ Other rivalries include those with Northampton, Stevenage Borough and Rushden & Diamonds (due to geographical proximity), Brentford (due to sporting rivalry during the 1990s) and local team Histon who were promoted to the Conference National for the 2007–08 season after a rapid rise through non-league football.³⁶

Players

As of 11 September 2008.³⁷

Current squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Danny Potter 2 DF Dan Gleeson 3 DF Anthony Tonkin 4 MF Daniel Brown 5 DF Phil Bolland 6 DF Wayne Hatswell 7 FW Mark Beesley 8 MF Andy Parkinson 9 FW Lee McEvilly 10 MF Jon Challinor 11 MF Courtney Pitt 12 DF Josh Coulson 14 MF Mark Convery 15 MF Paul Carden

No. Position Player 16 MF Ben Farrell 17 DF Gavin Hoyte 18 MF Robbie Willmott 20 MF Felino Jardim 21 FW Chris Holroyd 22 MF Craig Bussens 23 MF Darren Quinton 24 DF Jordan Collins 26 DF Rory McAuley 27 FW Scott Rendell (on loan from Peterborough) 28 FW Danny Crow 30 GK Steven Drench (on loan from Southport)

Technical staff

Job title	Name38
Manager	Gary Brabin
Assistant Manager	Paul Carden
First Team Coach	Stuart Bimson
Head of Youth Development	Jez George
Physiotherapist	Greg Reid
Chief Scout	Vacant
Medical Officer	Dr. M. Wharton

Reserves and Centre of Excellence

Before relegation from the Football League in 2005, Cambridge United entered a reserve team in the Football Combination. However, this ceased following financial difficulties which meant the club could not guarantee being able to put out a team for every game. In 2006, United announced they would enter a team in the Eastern Counties League Premier Division under the banner of Cambridge Regional College which would serve as their reserve team.³⁹

Cambridge's Centre of Excellence is widely regarded throughout professional football circles as one of the best in England.⁴⁰ Many players have come through the youth team to establish themselves as first team players at Cambridge (for example Dan Gleeson and Daniel Chillingworth) and go on to player at a higher level (recent examples include John Ruddy and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake).

The youth team won their division of the Football League Youth Alliance in both 2003–04 and 2004–05⁴¹, showing the strength of the club's Centre of Excellence. The club's success in the FA Youth Cup in recent years has also far surpassed its expectation given the level of the main team - in 2006–07 the team was the highest placed non-league team reaching the Fourth Round after seven games (including qualifying games).⁴² The current captain of the youth team is Lewis Carr.

Ladies

Cambridge United Women's Football Club is affiliated with Cambridge United, and is currently managed by Kate Turney. There is also a Girl's Centre of Excellence, which is currently under the control of Franco Nacca; former Cambridge United player.³⁸

Notable Former Players

Cambridge United have a reputation for developing and discovering excellent young footballers.⁴³ Since 1992, they have made close to £7,000,000 by selling players.⁴⁴ Some of the players who have passed through the Abbey and on to greater recognition include:

Name	Nationality	When	Bought From	For	Sold To	For	Largest Fee	Paid
Sinton, AndyAndy Sinton45	England	1983 – 1985	Trainee	-	Brentford	£25,000	Sheff Wed	£2,750,000
Kimble, AlanAlan Kimble46	England	1986 – 1993	Charlton	£0	Wimbledon	£175,000	Wimbledon	£175,000
Dublin, DionDion Dublin47	England	1988 – 1992	Norwich City	Free	Man Utd	£1,000,000	Aston Villa	£5,750,000
Chapple, PhilPhil Chapple48	England	1988 – 1993	Norwich City	Free	Charlton	£100,000	Charlton	£100,000
Daish, LiamLiam Daish49	Ireland	1989 – 1992	Portsmouth	Free	Birmingham	£50,000	Coventry City	£1,500,000
Philpott, LeeLee Philpott50	England	1989 – 1992	Peterborough	Free	Leicester City	£350,000	Leicester City	£350,000
Claridge, SteveSteve Claridge51	England	1990 – 1992	Aldershot	£75,000	Luton	£160,000	Leicester City	£1,200,000
Rowett, GaryGary Rowett52	England	1991 – 1994	Trainee	-	Everton	£200,000	Leicester City	£3,000,000
Sheffield, JonJon Sheffield53	England	1991 – 1995	Norwich	Free	Peterborough	£150,000	Peterborough	£150,000
Claridge, SteveSteve Claridge51	England	1992 – 1994	Luton	£190,000	Birmingham	£350,000	Leicester City	£1,200,000
Filan, JohnJohn Filan54	Australia	1993 – 1995	Budapest	£40,000	Coventry	£300,000	Blackburn	£700,000
Corazzin, CarloCarlo Corazzin55	Canada	1993 – 1996	Vancouver 86ers	£20,000	Plymouth	£150,000	Plymouth	£150,000
Craddock, JodyJody Craddock56	England	1993 – 1997	Christchurch	Free	Sunderland	£300,000	Wolves	£1,750,000
Granville, DannyDanny Granville57	England	1993 – 1997	Trainee	-	Chelsea	£300,000	Leeds	£1,600,000
Hyde, MicahMicah Hyde58	Jamaica	1993 – 1997	Trainee	-	Watford	£250,000	Watford	£250,000
Benjamin, TrevorTrevor Benjamin59	Jamaica	1995 – 2000	Trainee	-	Leicester City	£1,500,000	Leicester City	£1,500,000
Butler, MartinMartin Butler60	England	1997 – 2000	Walsall	£22,500	Reading	£750,000	Reading	£750,000
Abbey, ZemaZema Abbey61	England	2000	Hitchin	Free	Norwich	£350,000	Norwich	£350,000
Fleming, TerryTerry Fleming62	England	2001 – 2004	Plymouth	Nominal	Grimsby	Nominal	Lincoln City F.C.	Nominal
Kitson, DaveDave Kitson63	England	2001 – 2003	Arlesey	Nominal	Reading	£150,000	Stoke	£5,500,000
Ruddy, JohnJohn Ruddy64	England	2004 – 2005	Trainee	-	Everton	£250,000	Everton	£250,000
Simpson, RobbieRobbie Simpson65	England	2006 – 2007	Cambridge City	Undisclosed Fee	Coventry	£40,000	Coventry	£40,000

Other notable players include Wilf Mannion, the only former Cambridge player to be inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame,⁶⁶ former Charlton Athletic manager Les Reed and Lindsey Smith, voted Cambridge United's all-time cult hero in a poll for BBC Sport's Football Focus in August 2004.⁶⁷

Notable Managers

Main article: List of Cambridge United F.C. managers

Since 1970, Cambridge United has had eighteen full-time managers and a host of caretakers and player-managers. The incumbent manager is Jimmy Quinn who took over from caretaker manager Lee Power on 15 September 2006, and whose first match in charge was a 2-1 loss away at Burton Albion.⁶⁸

Honours and achievements

• Football League - Highest Placing:
  • Football League Division Two - 5th place: 1991–92

• Football League Division Three (third tier)
  • Winners (1): 1990–91
  • Runners-up (1): 1977–78

• Football League Division Three (fourth tier):
  • Runners-up (1): 1998–99

• Football League Division Four:
  • Winners (1): 1976–77
  • Play off winners: 1989–90

• Conference Premier:
  • Runners-up/Play Off finalists (1): 2007–08

• Southern League Premier Division:
  • Winners (2): 1968–69, 1969–70

• FA Cup:
  • Quarter-finals (2): 1990, 1991

• Football League Cup:
  • Quarter-finals (1): 1993

• Southern League Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1969

Records

Scorelines

• Biggest League Win: 7 - 0 (v Weymouth, Conference National, March 2007)⁷⁰
• Biggest Cup Win: 5 - 1 (v Bristol City, FA Cup 5th Round Second Replay, 1990)⁷¹
• Biggest League Defeat:⁷¹
  • 0 - 6 (v Aldershot Town, Division Three, 1974)
  • 0 - 6 (v Darlington, Division Four, 1974)
  • 0 - 6 (v Chelsea, Division Two, 1983)
• Biggest Cup Defeat: 0 - 7 (v Sunderland, League Cup Second Round, 2002)⁷¹

Players

• Most Goals in One Game: 5 - Steve Butler (v Exeter City, April 1994)⁷¹
• Most League Appearances: 416 - Steve Spriggs (1975 - 1987)⁷¹
• Youngest Player: Andy Sinton - 16 years and 228 days (v Wolverhampton Wanderers, November 1982)⁷¹
• Oldest Player: John Taylor - 39 years (during 2003–04 season)⁷¹
• Highest Transfer Fee Paid: £190,000 - Steve Claridge (from Luton Town, November 1992)⁷¹
• Highest Transfer Fee Received:⁷¹
  • £1,000,000 - Dion Dublin (to Manchester United, August 1992)
  • £1,500,000 - Trevor Benjamin (to Leicester City, July 2000)

Club

• Most League Points in a Season: 86 (Conference National), (2007-2008) in English football
• Most League Goals in a Season: 87 (Division Four, 1976–77)⁷¹
• Record Attendance: 14,000 (v Chelsea, May 1970⁷²
• Record Gate Receipts: £86,308 (League Cup Second Round Second Leg, October 1992)⁷²

Footnotes