History
Ely City was established in 1885 by members of Ely St.Etheldreda Football and Cricket Club, and are the oldest senior football club in Cambridgeshire.
The club won both Cambridgeshire Senior Cups in 1948. In 1951 they left the Cambridgeshire League to join the Peterborough & District League. In 1955–56 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup after winning six qualifying rounds. They were drawn at home to Torquay United, but lost 6–2 in front of a crowd of 4,223.
In 1958 the club moved to the Central Alliance, and two years later were elected to the Eastern Counties League. In 1967 former Northern Irish international Hugh Barr was appointed player-manager, leading the club to runners-up position in the league in 1968–69. They won the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup in 1970 and the Eastern Counties League Cup in 1980, beating Lowestoft Town 4–2 on aggregate.
In 1986 the club left the Paradise Ground and moved to the Unwin Sports Ground, named after Doug Unwin, who was involved with the club from 1924 until his death in 1990, his father also having been associated with the club for 60 years. Three years later the club was relegated to Division One of the Eastern Counties League. They returned to the Premier Division as Division One champions in 1996–97, and the following season finished runners-up. However, they were relegated again at the end of the 1998–99 season.
They made an immediate return to the Premier Division as runners-up, also winning the Division One Cup. In 2002 they won the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup, beating Histon 1–0 at the Abbey Stadium in Cambridge. At the end of the 2002–03 season they were relegated again after finishing bottom of the league.
In 2007–08 the club won the Division One Cup and finished runners-up in Division One, returning to the Premier Division again. In 2011–12 the club finished as runners-up in the Premier Division and won the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup for a third time.
Read more about this topic: Ely City F.C.
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