Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, who play in

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, the fourth tier of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

. They play home games at

Gander Green Lane Gander Green Lane, officially known as the VBS Community Stadium, is a football stadium in Sutton, south London, and the home ground of Sutton United. The record attendance for Gander Green Lane is 14,000 when Sutton United lost 6–0 to Leeds ...

in Sutton about 11 miles south-southwest of central London. Sutton started out playing in junior, local leagues, but progressed into the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an English amateur football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football Museum, Preston). but this nam ...

in 1921; the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

in 1964; and the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

in 1986. The team fell back into the Isthmian League in 1991. Sutton won the Athenian League three times (1927–28, 1945–46 and 1957–58) and the Isthmian League five times (1966–67, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1998–99 and 2010–11). They appeared in the Conference for one more season in 1999–2000, and were founding members of the

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

(now known as National League South) in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. Sutton won the National League South in 2015–16 and achieved their very first promotion to the Football League after winning the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

title in the 2020–21 season. The team has played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on four occasions. Firstly, in the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

Final twice, the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

Final in 1980–81 and the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

Final in 2021–22. Sutton won the

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

in 1978–79, but the club is most famous for its

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 ...

"giant killing" exploits, most notably in the 1988–89 season, when they defeated Coventry City 2–1 in the third round. The

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

team was composed mostly of star international players and had won the competition in 1986–87. In the 2016–17 season, Sutton reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, beating three Football League teams (including

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

) before losing to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

History

Formation and the early years

The club was formed on 5 March 1898 when Sutton Guild Rovers F.C. and Sutton Association F.C. (formerly Sutton St Barnabas F.C.) agreed to merge during a meeting at the Robin Hood Hotel. The club gained a reputation locally in junior leagues, including the Clapham League, and in 1910 decided to become a senior side. They joined the Southern Suburban League and won it on their first attempt. During this period the team moved between several grounds, including what was then known as the '' Sutton Adult School Ground''. After the First World War, the team moved in for good and have not left the stadium since.

Athenian League

Sutton gained election into the

in 1921. The team did not challenge at the top of the table and in 1926 finished last, but were re-elected. Only one seasons later, in 1928, the team won its first Athenian League Championship. The thirties were a good time for Sutton, who twice reached the semi-final of the

(in 1929 and 1937). During the Second World War, Sutton kept playing football but on a smaller scale. The Athenian League had been suspended while this happened and so organised competitions were rare and sporadic, but Sutton won a number of honours. This put them in good stead for winning the league again when the war came to an end. With the help of 42 goals from Charlie Vaughan, Sutton ran away with the 1945–46 season. This was also the first time the club won the

Surrey Senior Cup The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...

and got through to the

first round. The 1950s brought little success for Sutton, though the team is said to have progressed off the field. Assets were transferred to a limited company, something which was unusual for the time. In addition, the main stand was constructed, which today holds over 700 spectators. It was not until George Smith became manager that success returned; the Athenian League title was won for the third time in 1958 and the club won the

London Senior Cup The London Senior Cup is the County Senior Cup of the London FA. The London Senior Cup was first won by Upton Park in 1882. Although the leading professional sides in London no longer compete, the Cup has been won in the past by the likes of Ar ...

for the first time. Progress continued into the 60s under

Sid Cann Sydney Thomas Cann (30 October 1911 – 1 November 1996) was an English professional football defender and football manager. He was capped twice by England at Schools level. Playing career Born in Babbacombe, Torquay, Sid Cann joined Torquay U ...

in Sutton's most successful period. In 1963, the club reached Wembley in the

, but lost 4–2 to

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

Isthmian League

The summer after the cup success marked Sutton's election into the

. In 1967, they won the league title. Two seasons later the club was at Wembley again for the Amateur Cup final, but surprisingly lost 2–1 to underdogs

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

. 1970 brought great cup success to the club once more, but this time in the form of the

. Sutton beat Hillingdon Borough in the third round and went on to play

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

's top flight

, one of the best teams in Europe at the time, at

. The match saw 14,000 spectators squeeze into the ground and Leeds, with 11 full internationals in the team, won 6–0. Unfortunately, the next decade proved to be one of little success for the club and Sutton went through a succession of managers, including

Ted Powell Edward W. Powell (1940 – 22 September 2005) was an English amateur footballer who went on to coach the Malawi national team and the England Under-18 side which won the European Championship in 1993. Powell was a teacher at Sutton Grammar Sch ...

and

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi, MBE (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former amateur football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of the ...

, both of whom played for the team and went on to manage at higher levels. It was not until Keith Blunt took charge that success returned to Gander Green Lane. His biggest achievement was to win the

in 1979, after a surprise 2–1 win over

Chieti Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region. ...

. This was the only time an English club won the honour in its semi-professional era. Soon after the continental win, Keith Blunt moved on to manage

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

and Barrie Williams took over. He guided Sutton to Wembley for the 1981

Final, but the side lost to

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

. This was to be the club's last appearance at Wembley until 2021, a place which saw little success for them. During Williams's reign the club finished runners-up in the

twice more, in 1980 and 1982. The club also finished runners-up in the 1981–82 Isthmian League and in 1983 won a treble of the Surrey Senior, London Senior, and Hitachi Cups. The

win was the first of six in as many years, a record that remains unbroken, .

Conference years

The club won the Isthmian League championship for the second time in 1985. After refusing promotion to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

because of issues with the stadium, they retained the championship the following year and this time accepted promotion after supporters helped in a large redevelopment of areas of the ground. Sutton managed to cement their place in the league, often finishing mid-table. The club enjoyed a memorable

run in 1988–89 in which they entered the national consciousness. Entering the competition at the fourth qualifying round, they beat Walton & Hersham,

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

and

Aylesbury United Aylesbury United Football Club is a football club based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. They are currently members of Division One Central of the Southern League and play at Chesham United's Meadow ground, having been evicted from their ...

to set up a third round proper tie with First Division

, who were second in the First Division and had won the

trophy A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, in ...

18 months earlier. In a memorable game against Coventry City, Sutton won 2–1 with goals from Tony Rains and Matthew Hanlan, joining a small number of non-League clubs to beat top-division opponents in the competition. This was a 24-year record before the next

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

side beat a team from the top flight of English football, when

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

of the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

went to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

and won 1–0 on Saturday 26 January 2013.

Back into the Isthmian League

Two seasons later in 1991, the club suffered relegation to the Isthmian League because of a goal drought and a number of injuries. Despite two top-three finishes following the relegation, a quick return to the Conference did not come until Sutton were Isthmian League champions in 1999 under former captain John Rains. During this period, Sutton claimed the scalps of several league clubs in the

, including

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

in 1993 alone. The stay in the Conference lasted just one season as the U's were relegated again in 2000. The early 2000s were quiet times for Sutton, although the club is notable as the first-ever opponent of

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

, defeating the Dons 4–0 in a pre-season friendly in July 2002 in front of 4,657 at

. Sutton won the

in 2003 and the following season saw the team start well and recover from a bad spell over the winter to finish second.

Conference South

For the 2004–05 season,

The FA The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and ...

planned for the introduction of two new divisions: the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

and

. Because of Sutton's high finish in the

Premier Division, they were selected to be a founding member of the Conference South. The next three seasons were unremarkable, with Sutton finishing mid-table each time and no real success in cup competitions. John Rains stepped down as manager in March 2006 and Ian Hazel took over the reins. By October 2008, the team were at the bottom of the

and looking destined for relegation. A string of managers, including Ernie Howe, Stuart Massey and

Jimmy Dack James Dack is an English professional football coach and manager, most recently has become chief scout at Wigan athletic and currently in his 5th season at the club Playing career Dack began his career as a youth at Brentford. After being re ...

failed to save the club, and Paul Doswell came in as manager during the 2008 close-season.

Paul Doswell (2008–19)

Sutton finished fifth in their first season back in the

Premier Division and 2nd the following season, losing in both seasons' play-off semi finals to

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...

and

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

respectively. But the 2010–11 season saw Sutton win the championship with three games to go and secure promotion back into the

. After beating Hastings United on 16 April, nearest rivals Bury Town had to beat

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cr ...

on 17 April 2011 to remain in contention. Cray won 2–1, thus making Sutton champions. Back in the Conference South for the 2011–12 season, Sutton finished 4th but lost to

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

in the play-off semi finals. In the 2013–14 season, they achieved their highest ever Conference South placing (2nd place), but again lost in the play-off semi finals to

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

. In the 2014–15 season they finished 15th. For the 2015–16 season, the Conference South was renamed the

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

. Despite losing their opening game at home to Maidstone United 2–0, Sutton lost only two more games before a 1–0 home defeat to Hayes & Yeading United on 7 November. The U's then put together a remarkable run of 25 league games unbeaten, including a notable 2–0 victory over fellow title contenders

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 from ...

on 16 April 2016 in front of a home crowd of 3,142 (a club record for league match attendance at that time). On 23 April, Sutton defeated

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members o ...

at home 2–0 and were crowned champions of the National League South with a game to spare. After losing their opening home game of the 2016–17 season to

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the National Leag ...

3–1, Sutton bounced back to claim a 1–1 draw with

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

The New Lawn The New Lawn, also known as The Bolt New Lawn for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire. It has been the home stadium of League One club Forest Green Rovers since 2006. During the 2007–08 season the stadium ...

on 9 August 2016 before securing a 3–1 victory over Lincoln City at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since th ...

on 13 August 2016, earning their first win in English football's fifth tier in 16 years. The club's first ever televised league game, broadcast live on

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...

1, was played against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

on 17 September 2016, a game which Sutton won 1–0. Paul Doswell celebrated his 500th game as manager of Sutton United on 8 October 2016 and the club made a special presentation to him before kick off. The game, a

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

derby against

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, ended in a 4–1 victory for Sutton. On 29 January 2017, Sutton, captained by Jamie Collins, a part-time builder, beat

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

, who had lost only three league games in the previous three months, 1–0 in the

, and reached the 5th round of the competition for the first time ever. They became only the 9th non-League side to reach the 5th round since 1945. They hosted

in the last 16 of the competition on 20 February where they lost 2–0. The game sparked a betting controversy surrounding the actions of Sutton's reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw, who ate a 'pastry' on the bench after Sun Bets offered odds of 8–1 against him eating a pie during the match. Shaw offered his resignation over the incident and Sutton were forced to play defender

Simon Downer Simon Downer (born 19 October 1981) is a former English footballer who played as a central defender or right back. Club career Downer's previous clubs include Leyton Orient, Aldershot Town (loan), Weymouth, Grays Athletic, Wivenhoe Town, Rus ...

in goal in their next league game, against

, when first-choice goalkeeper

Ross Worner Ross Nicholas Worner (born 3 October 1989) is an English semi-professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for National League South club Havant & Waterlooville F.C., Havant & Waterlo ...

was injured in the 15th minute. Sutton won the match 3–2. On 4 March 2017, Sutton kept their first away clean sheet back in the non-League top flight at Barrow, a game which ended 0–0, the club's first since a 9–0 victory against

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

on 22 September 1990. Sutton finished the 2016–17 season mid-table in 12th. On 19 August 2017, Sutton beat

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

in a league game to take them top of the

, the highest league position in the club's history. In the penultimate game of the 2017–18 season on 21 April 2018, Sutton recorded their first ever win at Ebbsfleet United's home

Stonebridge Road Stonebridge Road is a multi-purpose stadium in Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent, England, also known as Kuflink Stadium for sponsorship reasons. It is primarily used for football matches. Stonebridge Road was constructed in 1905, and was initial ...

, assuring a National League play-off place. In their final game on 28 April, and in front of a record league attendance of 3,541, Sutton beat

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

at home 2–1 to claim a play-off semi-final place and a best ever league finish of third in the fifth tier. The play-off semi-final took place on 6 May 2018 against

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

in which Sutton lost 3–2. Following a temporary break in mid-March 2019, one month later Paul Doswell resigned after 11 years as manager, as Sutton finished 9th in the league. During that time his achievements included leading the club to two league promotions, a run to the fifth round of the FA Cup, a National League play-off semi-final and a first win for an English team in the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Matt Gray, who had joined the club as head coach in December 2018. This was Gray's first appointment as a full manager. Sutton were ranked 15th when the 2019–20 season was suspended because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In the following

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, Sutton performed strongly throughout and on 23 May 2021 beat

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

at home 3–0, winning the National League with a game to spare and securing promotion to the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

for the first time in the club's 123-year history. In 2021–22, Sutton played their first Football League match in its history, losing 2–1 to

Forest Green At right is displayed the color forest green. ''Forest green'' refers to a green color said to resemble the color of the trees and other plants in a forest. This web color, when written as computer code in HTML for website color display, is w ...

. Sutton booked their place in the

2022 EFL Trophy Final The 2022 EFL Trophy Final (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022 Papa Johns Trophy) was a football match played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 3 April 2022. It decided the winners of the 2021–22 EFL Trophy, the 38th edition of the competi ...

after defeating

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on penalties. In the Final at

, Sutton met

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, losing 4–2 after extra time. In their first season in

, Sutton finished 8th but missed out on the play-offs by one point to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

Club identity

Shirt and crest

The club's crest is derived from the Arms of the London Borough of Sutton, the difference being that United selected only the parts of the crest which represent

and

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, south-west of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to tw ...

, as opposed to the parts of the Borough's crest which signify

Beddington Beddington is a suburban settlement in the London Borough of Sutton on the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became t ...

, Wallington and

Carshalton Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...

. The gold and silver discs on the shield are from the arms of the old Borough of Sutton & Cheam. The keys inside the discs symbolise the ownership of Sutton by the

Chertsey Abbey Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey. It was founded in 666 AD by Saint Erkenwald who was the first abbot, and from 675 AD the Bishop of London. At the same time ...

(as recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

). The popinjay which sits at the top of the badge is from the arms of the Lumleys, former lords of the Manor of Cheam. The crosses (now golden on the club's crest, but black on the borough's crest) represent the

See of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, which held Cheam in the time of

Cnut the Great Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...

. The badge also features a medieval helmet. Sutton United began playing in 1898 wearing

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

and chocolate brown stripes, adopting the colours of Sutton Association F.C., one of the two clubs who amalgamated to form United. The club made a brief experiment with green and white stripes for a season during the 1920s, but the team's form was poor and they soon reverted to amber and chocolate, which became hoops rather than stripes during the early 1930s. By the late 1930s, the home shirt had changed to amber and chocolate halves and this remained so until after the end of the

Second World War 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 ...

. Another experiment was made with amber and chocolate quarters but by the late 1950s, home shirts were amber with chocolate numbers, worn with white shorts and white socks. Socks reverted to amber in the early to mid 1960s but the kit remained otherwise unchanged until 1974–75, when the shorts became chocolate. By the late 1970s, Sutton wore an all amber kit with chocolate trim and it remained virtually unchanged until the club's centenary season in 1998–99, when a special design of amber and chocolate quarters worn with chocolate shorts was used. In the early 21st century, the home shirt became thick amber and chocolate stripes before new manager Paul Doswell ordered a return to an all amber kit for the 2008–09 season. The home shirt was redesigned for the 2016–17 season to be all amber with a single chocolate stripe running down the centre and chocolate trim on the collar and sleeves. It changed again in 2018–19 to amber with chocolate sleeves and trim. The colours have become synonymous with Sutton and fans at home games can often be heard chanting "we're the amber and chocolates" (to the tune of

Seven Nation Army "Seven Nation Army" is a song by American rock duo the White Stripes. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album, ''Elephant'' (2003). V2 Records released the song to American alternative radio on February 17, 2003, as the lead single f ...

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...

). Amateur football teams began wearing away or change kits after the end of the

and Sutton initially wore a red and white away kit during the 1950s. Sutton first began wearing an all white away kit by at least the time of the 1963 Amateur Cup semi-final, when their opponents

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

wore red. Light blue and black and then brown kits (both modelled on

's kit at the time) appeared briefly in the late 1970s before the club reverted to all white. The away kit remained all white for the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century, except for the 1998–99 centenary season when green and white quarters were worn, and a brief period using a broad green and white strip. The away shirt was redesigned for the 2016–17 season to be all white with a single red stripe running down the centre and red trim on the collar and sleeves. It changed again slightly in 2018–19 to all white with red trim. Table of kit suppliers and shirt sponsors appear below:

Mascot

Sutton's mascot is ''Jenny the Giraffe''. She attends all home matches and can be seen before kick-off. Jenny wears a Sutton United shirt and has been known to wear a scarf during the winter. On 3 October, Jenny took part in the 2010

Mascot Grand National The Mascot Grand National was an annual race between mascots of various British sports teams as well as corporate mascots. It was contested from 1999 to 2010 at Huntingdon Racecourse and in 2012 and 2013 at Kempton Park Racecourse. Up to 100 mascot ...

Huntingdon Racecourse Huntingdon Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Brampton near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on a Site of Special Scientific Interest of the original Brampton Racecourse. The most notable race held a ...

and finished 5th out of 41 runners.

SUFC Gambia

There is a club in

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

called "Sutton United FC". In July 1999, Young Stars FC was formed by Father Andrew Cole and the team originally consisted of people going to Bible classes. The team was later renamed Sanchaba United, which means "Downtown" in the

Mandinka language The Mandinka language (; Ajami: ) or Mandingo, is a Mande language spoken by the Mandinka people of Guinea, northern Guinea-Bissau, the Casamance region of Senegal, and in The Gambia where it is one of the principal languages. Mandinka belo ...

until an English visitor, known only as Walter, donated equipment to the club and suggested they change their name to Sutton United FC (Gambia). The club, which is located in Lamin Village on the outskirts of

Banjul Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Ba ...

, plays in the third tier of Gambian football known as Nawettan.

Ground

Sutton United play their home games at

, officially the VBS Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons. Sutton United received the seats for the grandstand at Gander Green Lane from the remodelling of Stamford Bridge and were given to them by the Chelsea F.C. Pitch Owners.

Supporters and rivalries

Sutton United's main rivals are

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

, Carshalton Athletic,

and Tooting & Mitcham. Sutton's fiercest rivalry is with Carshalton Athletic, with both sides within the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is a London borough in south-west London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to ...

. Derby matches have been contested in the

and the

, as well as twelve different cup competitions. The teams have generally competed on Boxing Day, New Year's Day and other bank holidays. Sutton have the better record, one of the most famous meetings being a 6–0 win in 2002. In total, the two sides have met 133 times (as of August 2011), with Sutton winning on 72 of those occasions, Carshalton 33 and there have been 28 draws. The two sides last met in July 2011, in a two-legged friendly competition for the "Sutton Advertiser Cup", which Sutton won 3–1 on aggregate having won the home leg 3–0. Until the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, Sutton had never shared a league with

, but due to the geographical proximity the two clubs share a rivalry, which has been dubbed the 'friendly derby'. The clubs first met in the third round of the

2016–17 FA Cup The 2016–17 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 136th edition of the oldest recognised football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates, and known as The Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. 736 clubs were accep ...

, Sutton were drawn at home and in front of a sell-out crowd on 7 January 2017, the game ended 0–0. The replay took place at

Kingsmeadow Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2, ...

in front of another capacity crowd, including 809 Sutton supporters, on 17 January. Goals from Roarie Deacon, Maxime Biamou and Dan Fitchett saw the U's complete a historic comeback and win the match 3–1, putting Sutton through to the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1989. Sutton relaid the pitch at

in August 2015 with 3G

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

and since then the club have contested matches with Maidstone United, who use a 3G pitch at the

Gallagher Stadium Gallagher Stadium is a football stadium built for the National League club Maidstone United. The stadium opened in 2012 when the club hosted Brighton & Hove Albion in a friendly. The stadium 3G artificial pitch Rather than the traditional cho ...

, in what has been named by fans ''El Plastico'' (a reference to

El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...

). Bromley also laid a 3G pitch at

Hayes Lane Hayes Lane is a football stadium in Bromley, Greater London, England. Located between Bromley town centre and Hayes, it is the home of Bromley F.C., and also used by Cray Wanderers and Crystal Palace Women. The current capacity of the groun ...

in 2017.

Records and statistics

*Best

performance: Fifth round, 2016–17Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2020) ''Non-League Club Directory 2021'', p510 *Best

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

performance: First round, 2021–22,

*Best

performance: Runners-up, 2021–22 *Best

performance: Runners-up, 1980–81 *Highest League Finish: 8th in

, equivalent to 76th in the

, 2021–22 *Record attendance: 14,000 vs

, FA Cup fourth round, 24 January 1970 *Biggest victory: 11–1 vs Clapton, 1966; 11–1 vs

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

, 1982–83, both

*Heaviest defeat: 13–0 vs

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

, 1925–26 *Most appearances: Larry Pritchard, 781 *Most goals: Paul McKinnon, 279

Notable cup matches

Sutton United have had several memorable runs in the

, most notably in 1988–89 and 2016–17. In 2016–17, Sutton reached the FA Cup fifth round for the first time, becoming only the eighth non-League side to reach the fifth round since 1945. The club's record run in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

is the first round. The club has also reached the final of the

. In 1988–89, Sutton completed one of the biggest FA Cup shocks in the competition's history, defeating First Division side

(who had won the competition in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

) 2–1 in the third round. On 28 January 1989 Sutton lost to

of the First Division 8–0 in the fourth round. The 2016–17 FA Cup run started with a 2–1 win over

in the

fourth qualifying round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

, setting up a first round tie at

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

which was won 6–3. In the second round, Sutton defeated

side

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

2–1. In the third round, Sutton were drawn at home to local rivals

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

, attracting a crowd of 5,013. A 0–0 draw set up a third round replay at

which Sutton won 3–1 after coming from behind. In the fourth round, the U's were drawn at home to

team

, a team 83 places higher in the football pyramid and won 1–0 thanks to a penalty by Jamie Collins. On 20 February 2017, Sutton played at home to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

team

in the fifth round but lost 2–0 in front of 5,013 spectators. Sutton have reached the third round on two other occasions, in 1969–70 and 1987–88. On 24 January 1970 Sutton lost in the

1969–70 FA Cup The 1969–70 FA Cup was the 89th season of the world's oldest association football, football single-elimination tournament, cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Football League First Division, Fi ...

to Leeds of the First Division, managed by

. This match also featured the record attendance for

of 14,000.Ground history
Sutton United F.C. On 9 January 1988, Sutton drew with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

of the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, in the

1987–88 FA Cup The 1987–88 FA Cup was the 107th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short. The competition was won by Wimbledon F.C.'s Crazy Gang who defeated league champions Live ...

, before going on to lose the replay 1–0 at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...

. Notable FA Cup second round victories include wins in 1987–88 and 1992–93. On 5 December 1987 Sutton defeated Peterborough of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

3–1 away from home. On 4 December 1993, Sutton beat Torquay of the Third Division. Notable first round fixtures have come in 1987–88 and 1993–94. On 14 November 1987, Sutton defeated

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

of the Third Division by 3–0. On 13 November 1993, Sutton defeated

of the Third Division 4–3 away from home. Sutton have played at the

Old Wembley The original Wembley Stadium (; originally known as the Empire Stadium) was a stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important association football, football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its Wembley Stadium, su ...

or new

on four occasions. The first two were FA Amateur Cup Final defeats in 1963 and 1969 - 4–2 to

and 2–1 to

. The third occasion was the 1981 FA Trophy Final which they lost 1–0 to

. The first visit to the New Wembley was for the

against

which was a 4–2 defeat. Another notable match saw Sutton defeat

4–0 on 10 July 2002 during a pre-season friendly which was AFC Wimledon's first ever match. In 2018, Sutton were invited to participate in the

2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup The 2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup due to sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the competition. The tournament took on a similar format from the previous season with the addition of two teams from England's Nati ...

after the competition had decided to include two

clubs. On 8 September 2018, Sutton defeated

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

by 1–0 in the second round of the tournament.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable former players

* Paul McKinnon, Sutton's all-time leading goalscorer with 279 goals. *Larry Pritchard, Sutton's all-time leading appearance maker with 786 appearances. * Hamidou Tangara, former

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

international. *

Nassim Akrour Nassim Akrour ( ar, نسيم أكرور; born July 10, 1974) is an Algerian footballer and coach who currently plays for Chambéry and coaches the youth team at Annecy, whom he represented as a player between 2016 and 2019. At international level ...

, who went on to represent

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

as an international. * Maxime Biamou sold to

, currently without a club.

Club management and support staff

Notable former managers

* George Smith 1956–58. *

, 1962–74, during which period the club reached two

finals. *

, 1976–77. * Barrie Williams, defeated the 1986–87 winners of the

in 1989. *

Alan Gane Alan Gane (born 11 June 1950) is an English former amateur footballer and manager. He is notable for promoting Wycombe Wanderers from the non-League Isthmian League into the Conference National in 1986. Playing career Gane played football bet ...

, 1991–96. *John Rains, 1997–2006, won the Isthmian League title 1998–99. *Paul Doswell, 2008–19, won the Isthmian League title 2010–11, National League South title 2015–16 and took the side to the fifth round of the

, beating league sides

, and

, before losing to

. He also took the club to their previous highest ever finish of 3rd place in the National League in 2018. * Matt Gray, 2019–present, won the National League title in 2020–21 to see the club promoted to the Football League for the first time in their history.

Honours

League

(5th tier) **Champions (1):

(6th tier) **Champions (1): 2015–16 *

Premier Division **Champions (5): 1966–67, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1998–99,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

**Champions (3): 1927–28, 1945–46, 1957–58

Cup

**Runners-up (1): 2021–22 *

**Runners-up (1): 1980–81 *

**Runners-up (2): 1962–63, 1968–69 *

**Winners (1): 1978–79 *Athenian League Challenge Cup **Winners (4): 1945–46, 1955–56, 1961–62, 1962–63 * Bob Lord Trophy **Winners (1): 1990–91 *

Isthmian League Cup The Alan Turvey Trophy, formerly the Isthmian League Cup is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England. History Isthmian League Chairman and President Alan Turvey was among the FA's "150 Grassroots Heroes" ...

**Winners (4): 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1997–98 *Isthmian League Full Members' Cup **Winners (2): 1991–92, 1995–96 *

**Winners (2): 1957–58, 1982–83 *South Thames Cup **Winners (3): 1954–55, 1966–67, 1967–68 *

**Winners (15): 1945–46, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1998–99, 2002–03 *President's Trophy **Winners (2): 2009–10 (shared), 2010–11 (shared) : ^Source:

References

External links

*
From the Lane – unofficial club websiteGandermonium – blog from a group of Sutton United supportersSutton United fans forum page
{{Football in London Association football clubs established in 1898 1898 establishments in England Sutton, London Sport in the London Borough of Sutton Football clubs in England Football clubs in London Athenian League Isthmian League Former National League (English football) clubs English Football League clubs