Gothic F.C. was an English

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 ...

club based in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

. They were members of the Eastern Counties League between 1963 and 1978.

History

The club was established in 1898 as the

works team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

of Laurence, Scott and Electromotors and initially played at Hall Road in Norwich city centre, a site which is now the Hewett Academy.Blakeman, M (2010) ''The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume II'' The company's main factory was located next 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 ...

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

ground and was known as the Gothic Works, from which the team took its name. Between 1911 and 1913 they played in the Norwich & District League, and the 1938–39 season was spent in 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, ...

. In 1946 the club joined 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 ...

and also started entering the

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 compet ...

, almost reaching the first round in their first season, losing their fourth qualifying round tie to

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 ...

. However, they did 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 ...

, beating

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, nor ...

6–2 in the final. They won the Senior Cup again in 1949–50, also winning the Norfolk & Suffolk League. They retained the title the following season, and won it again in 1955–56, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1961–62.Norfolk & Suffolk League 1946–1964
Non-League Matters In the early 1960s they moved to Heartsease Lane. After finishing as Norfolk & Suffolk League runners-up in 1962–63, Gothic joined the Eastern Counties League. However, the club remained amateur and frequently lost their better players. After finishing bottom in 1974–75 the club offered its resignation to the league due to financial restrictions, but after

Gorleston Gorleston-on-Sea (), known colloquially as Gorleston, is a town in the Borough of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England, to the south of Great Yarmouth. Situated at the mouth of the River Yare it was a port town at the time of the Domesday Bo ...

initiated a "Save Gothic" fund, they were able to continue. However, they withdrew from the league at the end of the 1977–78 season. The club had hoped to continue playing in 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 wi ...

, but after the firm stated that only employees could play for the club, they were forced to drop down to the Norwich Business House League and folded a few seasons later. Their Heartsease Lane ground was taken over by Norwich United in 1985, who later moved to Plantation Park.

Honours

*Norfolk & Suffolk League **Champions 1949–50, 1950–51, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1961–62 *Norfolk Senior Cup **Winners 1946–47, 1949–50, 1960–61, 1962–63

References

External links

*{{fchd, id=GOTHIC, name=Gothic Defunct football clubs in England Sport in Norwich Association football clubs established in 1898 1898 establishments in England Norwich and District Saturday Football League Norfolk & Suffolk League Eastern Counties Football League Anglian Combination Defunct football clubs in Norfolk Works association football teams in England