Gonville & Caius A.F.C.
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| Gonville & Caius | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Gonville & Caius Association Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | Caius | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | C19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Barton Road, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Captain | Ben Prior | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | CUAFL Division 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CUAFL 2006-2007 | Division 1, 5th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gonville & Caius AFC, more commonly known as Caius, is the representative football club of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. It is one of only a few university teams to have entered the FA Cup 1st round proper.
Caius football club has a long and distinguished history, entering the first Cuppers, the FA Cup 1st round proper in two years of the 19th Century. The club has had numerous Blues, as well as an England international and Test cricket captain, and a Malawian U-21 international. The first golden age of the club was in the post-war era, while the new millennium has seen an upturn in the club's fortunes and great success on the pitch. Caius play their home games at Barton Road sports ground, affectionally know by students as Barty Road. The club enters four men's teams and a women's team into the Cambridge University Association Football League.
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[edit] History
[edit] 19th Century: Cup history
While no one knows exactly when Gonville & Caius College first had an official football club, it is highly likely that members of the college were playing football on Parker's Piece in the mid-19th Century with other members of the university. Caius entered a team in the inaugural Cuppers tournamnent of 1882-1883, however they took their place in history by entering the FA Cup in 1880-1881 and 1881-1882 as the only university team in the competition. The last year that Cambridge and Oxford had entered was 1879-1880, the year in which Oxford finished as runners-up to Clapham Rovers. It was left to Caius to continue the corinthian values of the amateur teams in the face of the impending dominance of professional clubs such as Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End. History records that this challenge by Caius was not to be successful, with the team giving walkovers to Nottingham Forest in 1880 and Dreadnought in 1881. This was to mirror the end of an era for amateur clubs as the last year a university side competed in the 1st round of the FA Cup turned out to be the last year an amateur side would win the competition. The achievement of Caius has only been replicated once, in 2003, by Team Bath.
[edit] 1950s and 1960s: Time in the top flight
The post war era was one of success for the club in the League and internationally, if not in the prestigious Cuppers. The 1st XI was in Division 1 for all but six of 20 years, winning the league in 1953. Relegation to Division 2 was always swiftly followed by a promotion back to the top division.
The best personal achievement by a player from the era is by far that of the 1952 captain Gerry Alexander. A double blue in football and cricket, he played for the England amateur team against Holland in Michaelmas term 1952 and won the FA Amateur Cup with Pegasus in 1953. He also went on to play for the West Indian cricket team, later captaining the side for 18 test matches.
Another notable player from this era was the distinguished broadcaster, Sir David Frost, who was the goalkeeper of the 1958-1959 1st XI team. This team photograph is currently on display at Barton Road.
[edit] Late 20th Century: 30 years of hurt
Further disappointment in Cuppers and league campaigns confined mostly to Divisions 2 and 3 were hallmarks of a decline in the college's footballing status, probably caused by the dominance of rugby and rowing at a college whose main intake is from public schools. Football remained extremely popular at the college and by the late 1990s the club had regular second and third XIs, as well as a successful women's team.
[edit] Start of the 21st Century: The Revival
At the turn of the millennium, the 1st XI were languishing in the Third Division. However, within a few seasons their fortunes dramatically improved. Decent cup runs ended in two Plate Finals (which they won in 2005) and a run to the quarter finals of the Cuppers, and by 2004 they were back in the top flight. A 4th XI was added to the setup in 2001.
2006-2007 started with much promise for the 1st XI, reaching the halfway point of the season having lost just a single match. However, they could not reproduce the elequent passing game after the Christmas break, winning just once and scoring only two goals in their final five games. Captained by Ben Prior with Sohrab Golsorkhi-Ainslie as his deputy. Defensively they maintained a strong record of conceding less than a goal per game in the league - this has been largely thanks to the solid defensive line with Dave "The Rave" Horley and Steve Gosling in the centre, along with Ben Prior at left back and John Reicher at right back. They gave plenty of protection to 'keeper Philip Maton, but on the occasions he has been called into action he has proved himself an adept shotstopper. In central midfield former Junior New Zealand international Kinley Salmon was been superbly partnered by Robert Cox, whilst Sohrab Golsorkhi-Ainslie and incoming captain Nick Williams gave further options down the flanks. Up front Calum Templeton was been a constant threat, whilst Graham Bates proved his credentials with two goals on his debut for the Cambridge University 2nd XI and a Goal of the Season award for his long range lob against Sidney Sussex in January. There were also been good performances for the first team by Adrian McMullan, Dan Shaw, Edward Willis, Aravind Ramesh, Arjun Chandna, Tom Davie and many others.
The 2007-2008 season holds much promise for the side, and whilst the loss of many key players wil be a huge blow to the squad, there are enough players continuing to maintain the structure of the team, although a lack of left-sided players may prove detrimental to the team's aspirations.
[edit] Ground
Caius play their home matches at the Gonville & Caius Sports ground. The pitches are located along Barton Road, which gives the ground its nickname of Barty. The ground is only a five minute walk from Harvey Court, Caius 1st year accommodation block, and 10 minutes from the centre of town. During the football season, which runs in the Michaelmas and Lent terms, there are two pitches which run east-west from goal to goal. The pitch to the south is noticeably larger and is prioritised for the 1st XI.
In Easter term, the football pitches are replaced by a cricket pitch and several lawn tennis courts. There is also an asphalt tennis court and two squash courts. Until 2004 there was also a netball court. The pavilion has three changing rooms, a bar (covered by a University vintner's license), a piano, and a dartboard. The wall are covered in sporting memorabilia, including photographs of past teams and pendants from tours.
Away games can involve much travelling around the city as few college football pitches are located as near to the centre as Caius' pitches. Games are played as far away as Girton College, 5 kilometres to the north of the town centre, and Homerton, 2 kilometres to the south.
[edit] Club honours
[edit] 1st XI
| Date | Honour |
|---|---|
| 2005 | CUAFL Plate winners |
| CUAFL Plate runners-up | |
| 1953 | First Division: champions |
| 1973 | Second Division: champions |
| 1951,1967,1981,1991,2004 | Second Division: promoted |
| 2003 | Third Division: champions |
| Third Division: promoted |
[edit] 2nd XI
| Date | Honour |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Fourth Division: promoted |
[edit] 3rd XI
| Date | Honour |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Sixth Division: champions |
| 2001 | Division 5B: champions |
[edit] 4th XI
| Date | Honour |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Seventh Division: promoted |
[edit] Committees
| Year | 1st XI Captain | 2nd XI Captain | 3rd XI Captain | 4th XI Captain | Secretary | Treasurer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969-1970 | Colin Schindler | |||||
| 1997-1998 | Richard Austin | Stephen Folwell | Andrew Berks | Jamie Goldsmith | ||
| 1998-1999 | Ian Connatty | Arin Saha | Chris Mitchell | Ben Sulaiman | ||
| 1999-2000 | Ben Sulaiman | Matt Arena | Daniel Green | |||
| 2000-2001 | Daniel Green | Andy Kordowicz | Jamie Russell | Ben Tanner | Miles Copeland | |
| 2001-2002 | Miles Copeland | Dave Bell | Tim Cadman | Ben Tanner | Peter Wood | |
| 2002-2003 | Pete Wood | Stephen Feeney | Dominic Saunders | Rich McGregor | James Thimont | |
| 2003-2004 | Noel Eves | Joseph Ferm | Barnaby Cooke | Martyn Race | Adrian Pegg | Stephen Catton |
| 2004-2005 | Nicholas Greenwood | Dominik Ceglowski | Adrian McMullan | Giora Moss | Martyn Race | Stephen Catton |
| 2005-2006 | Charlie Manning | Ben Prior | Henry Hobson | Dave Walker | Jamie Corby | Adrian McMullan |
| 2006-2007 | Ben Prior | Aravind Ramesh | Will Brandler | Adam Burrell | Dave Horley | John Reicher |
| 2007-2008 | Nick Williams | Niall Rafferty | Yi Wang | Ivan Yip | Aravind Ramesh | Arjun Chandna |
[edit] 1st XI Performance
| Year | Division | Position | Cup result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880-1881 | FA Cup 1st Round Proper | ||
| 1881-1882 | FA Cup 1st Round Proper | ||
| 1950-1951 | Division 2 | ||
| 1951-1952 | Division 1 | ||
| 1952-1953 | Division 1 | 1st | |
| 1953-1954 | Division 1 | ||
| 1954-1955 | Division 1 | ||
| 1955-1956 | Division 1 | ||
| 1956-1957 | Division 2 | ||
| 1957-1958 | Division 2 | ||
| 1958-1959 | Division 2 | ||
| 1959-1960 | Division 2 | ||
| 1960-1961 | Division ? | ||
| 1961-1962 | Division ? | ||
| 1962-1963 | Division 1 | ||
| 1963-1964 | Division 1 | ||
| 1964-1965 | Division 1 | ||
| 1965-1966 | Division 2 | ||
| 1966-1967 | Division 2 | ||
| 1967-1968 | Division 1 | ||
| 1968-1969 | Division 1 | Cuppers 2nd Round | |
| 1969-1970 | Division 1 | ||
| 1970-1971 | Division 2 | ||
| 1971-1972 | Division 2 | ||
| 1972-1973 | Division 2 | 1st | |
| 1973-1974 | Division 1 | ||
| 1974-1975 | Division 2 | ||
| 1975-1976 | Division 2 | ||
| 1976-1977 | Division 3 | ||
| 1977-1978 | Division 2 | ||
| 1978-1979 | Division 2 | ||
| 1979-1980 | Division 3 | ||
| 1980-1981 | Division 2 | ||
| 1981-1982 | Division 1 | ||
| 1982-1983 | Division ? | ||
| 1983-1984 | Division ? | ||
| 1984-1985 | Division ? | ||
| 1985-1986 | Division ? | ||
| 1986-1987 | Division ? | ||
| 1987-1988 | Division ? | ||
| 1988-1989 | Division 2 | ||
| 1989-1990 | Division 2 | ||
| 1990-1991 | Division 2 | ||
| 1991-1992 | Division 1 | ||
| 1992-1993 | Division 2? | ||
| 1993-1994 | Division 3? | ||
| 1994-1995 | Division ? | ||
| 1995-1996 | Division ? | ||
| 1996-1997 | Division 2 | ||
| 1997-1998 | Division 3 | ||
| 1998-1999 | Division 3 | ||
| 1999-2000 | Division 3 | ||
| 2000-2001 | Division 2 | ||
| 2001-2002 | Division 2 | ||
| 2002-2003 | Division 3 | 1st | Cuppers QF |
| 2003-2004 | Division 2 | 2nd | Plate runners-up |
| 2004-2005 | Division 1 | 8th | Plate winners |
| 2005-2006 | Division 1 | ||
| 2006-2007 | Division 1 | 5th | Cuppers 2nd Round |
[edit] Contact details
- Address
- Gonville & Caius Association Football Club
Gonville & Caius College
Trinity Street
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB2 1TA - Phone Numbers
- Gonville & Caius College: 01223-332400
[edit] See also
- Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge
- Cambridge University Association Football League
- University of Cambridge
[edit] References
- Schindler, C. (1998). Manchester United ruined my life, Headline, ISBN 074722174X
- An article in Varsity about college football, by Colin Schindler
