Sudbury Wanderers was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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

Sudbury, Suffolk Sudbury (, ) is a market town in the south west of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour near the Essex border, north-east of London. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 13,063. It is the largest town in the Babergh local government ...

. Established in 1958, the club merged with Sudbury Town in 1999 to form AFC Sudbury.

History

The club was established in June 1958 following a meeting in the town's Black Horse pub. The founders were former members of Sudbury Youth Club who had been playing in the Halstead & District League, but had been told that they were too old to still be members.Blakeman, M (2010) ''The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume II'' The club also joined the Halstead & District League and played in yellow and blue after their first kit was donated by Sudbury Town. They won the league and league cup double during the first season and were promoted to the Essex & Suffolk Border League. In 1966–67 they were Division One champions, but were denied promotion due to a lack of facilities at their home ground. They were finally promoted to the Premier Division in 1977 after moving to a new ground in 1976 and then winning the Division One title. In 1989–90 they won the Premier Division for the first time. The following season they won the Suffolk Senior Cup and retained the title, earning promotion to Division One of 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 ...

. Their second season in the ECL saw the club win Division One, setting records for the longest unbeaten run at the start of a season (17 matches), most consecutive victories (13) and biggest away win (11–0 at Swaffham Town). In 1997–98 they met neighbours Sudbury Town in the league for the first time after they dropped out of the Southern League, and also won the Suffolk Premier Cup. The following season they won the league cup with a record 7–2 win over Felixstowe Port & Town. On 1 June 1999 the club merged with Sudbury Town to form AFC Sudbury. The new club plays at Wanderers' old ground.

Ground

The club initially played on People's Park, before moving to the Kings Marsh ground on Brundon Lane in 1976. Their record attendance was 892 for an

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

sixth round match on 28 February 1998.

Club honours

**Division One champions 1992–93 **League Cup winners 1998–99 *Essex & Suffolk Border League **Premier Division champions 1989–90, 1990–91 **Division One champions 1966–67, 1976–77 *Halstead & District League **Champions 1958–59 **League Cup winners 1958–59 *Suffolk Premier Cup **Winners 1997–98 *Suffolk Senior Cup *Winners – 1990–91

Club records

*Best league position: Fourth in the Eastern Counties League Premier Division, 1997–98 *Best

performance: Quarter-finals, 1997–98 *Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

performance: Fourth qualifying round 1995–96

References

{{reflist Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in 1958 Association football clubs disestablished in 1999 Defunct football clubs in Suffolk Sudbury, Suffolk 1958 establishments in England 1999 disestablishments in England Essex and Suffolk Border Football League Eastern Counties Football League