| Full name | Croydon Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Trams | ||
| Founded | 1953 (as Croydon Amateurs) | ||
| Ground | Croydon Arena Croydon (Capacity: 8,000) |
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| Chairman | Dickson Gill | ||
| Manager | John Fowler | ||
| League | Combined Counties League Premier Division | ||
| 2010–11 | Combined Counties League Premier Division, 20th | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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Croydon F.C. is an English semi-professional football club based in Croydon, Greater London, England. Until 2006, they played in the Isthmian League, but lost their place in that league as part of the 2006 re-structuring of non-league football, and now play in the Combined Counties League. They play at Croydon Sports Arena in South Norwood. The club was founded in 1953 as Croydon Amateurs.
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The club was founded in 1953 as Croydon Amateurs FC, the club spent their first 10 years in the Surrey Senior League but failed to win the championship. In 1963-64, they joined the Spartan League, winning the league title in their only season in the competition. 1964 saw them join the Athenian League where they spent the next ten years, winning the Second Division title in 1965-66, being relegated four years later and then gaining two successive promotions to the Premier Division as runners-up to Herne Bay (1970–71) and Harlow Town (1971–72) under Jimmy Rose. 1973 saw the suffix Amateurs dropped due to the impending changes to the status of players and a year later, under the management of Ted Shepherd, election to the expanding Isthmian League.
Two seasons later, after an unbeaten 1975-76 campaign, the club gained promotion to the Isthmian's top division - initially titled Division One but then retitled the Premier Division where they spent twelve seasons before deserved relegation to the First Division in 1989. A further relegation followed in 1994, but following reorganisation, they were promoted back to Division One within two seasons. The club's first Isthmian League title - champions of Division One followed in 2000, before relegation back two years later.
The non-league scene was reorganised at the end of the 2005-06 season and this restructuring saw them placed in the Kent League where following a third place finish in 2006-07, the club has finished in mid-table the last two years. 2008-09 culminated with success in the Kent League Cup after a penalty shootout win over Erith Town.
That turned out to be the club's final Kent League fixture as they have now shuffled sideways into the Combined Counties League (a competition which evolved from the Surrey Senior League) for the 2009-10 season, effectively back where they spent their first ten years.
Squad as of 21 December 2011. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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The club's nickname "The Trams" was adopted around 2000 when the Croydon Tramlink system was installed and runs round the back of the ground, Arena being the closest stop less than five minutes walk from the turnstiles.
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