Cromer Town Football Club is a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club based in
Cromer
Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline.
The local ...
,
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
. 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 or objective 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 ...
. They were runners-up again in 1910–11 and 1912–13,
[ a season that also saw them win the Norfolk Senior Cup. 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. However, after ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
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 (currently known as the Fosters Solicitors Anglian Combination for sponsorship reasons) is an English association football, football league that operates in East Anglia. The league specifically covers Norfolk and northern ...
, which had been formed by a merger of the N&SL and the East Anglian League. 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 to Knapton and were renamed Madra United (Madra being an acronym for Mundesley 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, 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 January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
'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 King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.
Olav was born at Sandringham House in England, the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of ...
, 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
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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