Cromer Town Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. Established in 1997 by a merger of Cromer Town and Madra United, they are currently members of the and play at Cabbell Park.

History

Cromer Town

Cromer F.C. were first recorded during the 1898–99 season, when they were runners-up in the Norfolk Junior Cup. They won the competition in 1903 and entered the

Norfolk & Suffolk League The Norfolk & Suffolk League was a football league covering the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk in England. History The league was established in 1897, starting with six clubs, Beccles Caxton, Great Yarmouth Town, Kirkley, Lowestoft Town, Lynn ...

in the same year. They were runners-up in 1906–07,Norfolk & Suffolk League 1897–1939
Non-League Matters and in 1908–09 they won the league on

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

. They were runners-up again in 1910–11 and 1912–13, a season that also saw them win the

Norfolk Senior Cup The Norfolk Senior Cup (currently known as the Ashtons Legal Senior Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football cup competition for clubs in the county of Norfolk, England, who compete between steps three and seven of the non-League pyramid. The fi ...

. They retained the Senior Cup the following season and won it again in 1920–21.Blakeman, M (2010) ''The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume II'' After finishing as Norfolk & Suffolk League runners-up in 1936–37, the club joined the

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

. However, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

they returned to the Norfolk & Suffolk League, and were runners-up in 1948–49. In 1964 they were renamed Cromer Town and joined the

Anglian Combination The Anglian Combination (known as the Hadley & Ottaway Anglian Combination under the terms of a sponsorship deal) is an English football league that operates in the East Anglia area. The league specifically covers Norfolk and northern Suffolk ...

, which had been formed by a merger of the N&SL and the

East Anglian League The East Anglian League was a football league in the East Anglia region of England. History The league was established in 1903 as the South East Anglian League. The founder member clubs were Chelmsford City, Colchester Crown, Colchester Town, ...

. After a transitional season, Cromer were placed in Division One. They were relegated to Division Two in 1970 and Division Three in 1978.

Madra United

Overstrand F.C. originally played in the Norfolk & Suffolk League before joining the Anglian Combination on its formation. They won Division Three in 1969–70. They were promoted to Division One in 1971 and to the Premier Division in 1985. They won the title in 1991–92. In 1994 the club moved from

Overstrand Overstrand is a village (population 1,030) on the north coast of Norfolk in England, two miles east of Cromer. It was once a modest fishing station, with all or part of the fishing station being known as Beck Hythe. In the latter part of the 19t ...

Knapton Knapton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is southeast of Cromer, northeast of Norwich and northeast of London. The Village is located alongside the B1145 a route which runs between King's Lynn and ...

and were renamed Madra United (Madra being an acronym for

Mundesley Mundesley /ˈmʌndz.li/ is a coastal village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is north-north east of Norwich, south east of Cromer and north east of London. The village lies north-north east of the town of Nort ...

and District Recreation Association, who owned the club's playing facilities).

Merged club

In 1997 the two clubs merged, creating Cromer United, which took Madra's place in the Premier Division of the Anglian Combination but played at Town's Cabbell Park. They were renamed Cromer Town in 2003 and won the Combination in 2003–04, 2005–06, 2010–11 and 2011–12, The Mummery Cup in 2002–03 and 2005–06 completing the league and cup double and also the Don Frost Cup in 2003, 2004, 2011 and 2012.

Ground

Cromer Town moved to Cabbell Park in 1922 after leaving Beef Meadow on Hall Road. The ground was named after Mrs Benjamin Bond-Cabbell, who donated the land to the town in remembrance of Cromer residents who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and was opened on 6 September 1922. However, in 2009 the club learned that the bequest was a lease rather than a gift, and was set to expire 21 years after the death of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's last great-grandchild. That was King

Olav V of Norway Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Nor ...

, who died in 1991, meaning that the lease expired in 2012.King's death brings eviction fear
BBC News

Honours

Cromer Town

*Anglian Combination **Premier Division ***Champions 2003–04, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2011-12 **Mummery Cup ***Winners 2002–03, 2005–06 **Don Frost Cup ***Winners 2003, 2004, 2011, 2012 *Norfolk Senior Cup **Winners 1912–13, 1913–14, 1920–21 *Norfolk & Suffolk League **Champions 1908–09 *Norfolk Junior Cup **Winners 1902–03 *Sailor Brown Trophy **Winners 2011, 2012

Overstrand F.C

*Anglian Combination **Premier Division champions 1991–92 **Division Three champions 1969–70

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 52, 55, 25.93, N, 1, 18, 26.11, E, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Football clubs in England Football clubs in Norfolk Association football clubs established in 1997 Cromer 1997 establishments in England Norfolk & Suffolk League Anglian Combination Eastern Counties Football League