Lowestoft Town F.C.

Lowestoft Town
Full name Lowestoft Town Football Club
Nickname(s) Trawler Boys
Founded 1887
Ground Crown Meadow, Lowestoft
(Capacity: 2,250 (466 seated))
Chairman Gary Keyzor
Manager Micky Chapman
Ady Gallagher
League Isthmian League Premier Division
2010–11 Isthmian League Premier Division, 4th
Home colours
Away colours

Lowestoft Town F.C. is an English football club based in Lowestoft, Suffolk. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at Crown Meadow.

Contents

History

The club was established in 1887 as Lowestoft F.C. by a merger of East Suffolk and the original Kirkley, and were renamed Lowestoft Town in 1890. They joined the Norfolk & Suffolk League as founder members in 1897, and won six of the first seven championships, also playing in the North Suffolk League, where they also won six championships in seven seasons. They reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup in 1900, losing the final 5–1 to Bishop Auckland, and also reached the semi-finals in 1902–03, losing in a replay to Oxford City. They won the Norfolk & Suffolk League again in 1928–29 and 1930–31.

In 1935 the club merged with another incarnation of Kirkley, and joined the new Eastern Counties League. They shared the first championship with Harwich & Parkeston, before winning it outright in 1937–38. The following season they won the League Cup with a 4–1 win over Colchester Town reserves, and also reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 6–0 at Swindon Town.

They won the League Cup again in 1955, and after turning semi-professional in 1962, dominated the league during the 1960s, winning the championship in 1962–63 and finishing runners-up in 1963–64. They then won four successive championships, before finishing second in 1968–69 and going on to win two more titles in the following seasons, as well as winning the League Cup in 1966, 1967 and 1969. They also reached the first round of the FA Cup in 1966–67, losing 2–1 at home to Orient, and again the following season, when they lost 1–0 at home to Watford.

However, the club's fortunes then went into decline, although they won the League Cup in 1976, and a league and cup double in 1977–78, a season in which they reached the FA Cup first round again, losing 2–0 at home to Cambridge United.

They won the league again in 2005–06, and in 2008 reached the final of the FA Vase, where they lost 2–1 to Kirkham & Wesham.[1] The following season they won the Premier Division of the Eastern Counties League again, together with the Suffolk Premier Cup, and were promoted to Division One North of the Isthmian League. They won the league at the first attempt to earn promotion to the Premier Division, also reaching the first round of the FA Cup, losing 1–0 at Wrexham. In their first season in the Premier Division they finished fourth and reached the play-off final, where they lost 4–3 at Tonbridge Angels.

Stadium

Lowestoft originally played at the Crown Meadow Athletics Ground, which shared part of the same site as the modern Crown Meadow. In 1889 they moved to a ground in North Denes, but returned to the new Crown Meadow in 1894. It was opened with a match against Lowestoft Harriers on 22 September 1894. In 1922 the club bought the ground from the council for £3,150 after it looked as though the site may be sold for housing.[2] Floodlights were installed in 1964 and a social club built in the same year. The record crowd of 5,000 was set for the FA Cup match against Watford 1967.

In 1988, the pavilion (which was built in 1885) was demolished and part of the site was sold to a developer, with the proceeds funding the building of a new changing room and hospitality block.[2] Today the ground consists of a 466-seat stand with standing areas around the rest of the pitch.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
— GK Andy Reynolds
— DF Greg Crane
— DF Jack Marsden
— DF Carl Poppy
— DF Adam Smith
— DF Sam Gaughran
— DF Andrew Cave-Brown
— MF Craig Bussens
— MF Dale Cockrill
— MF Andrew Fisk
No. Position Player
— MF Adrian Forbes
— MF Jamie Godbold (captain)
— MF Jamie Forshaw
— DF Matthew Halliday
— MF Richard Woodrow
— MF Scott Mitchell
— FW Joe Francis
— FW Michael Frew
— FW Matt Nolan
— FW Russell Stock
- FW Lubomir Guentchev

Honours

References

  1. ^ Bradbury, Jamie (2008-05-11). "Matt's magic for Kirkham". www.thefa.com. http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFAVase/NewsAndFeatures/TheFAVaseFinal.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-12. 
  2. ^ a b Blakeman, M (2010) The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume II ISBN 9781908037022

External links

Premier Division
Division One North
Division One South
Seasons
  • 1905–06
  • 1906–07
  • 1907–08
  • 1908–09
  • 1909–10
  • 1910–11
  • 1911–12
  • 1912–13
  • 1913–14
  • 1914–15
  • 1915–16
  • 1916–17
  • 1917–18
  • 1919
  • 1919–20
  • 1920–21
  • 1921–22
  • 1922–23
  • 1923–24
  • 1924–25
  • 1925–26
  • 1926–27
  • 1927–28
  • 1928–29
  • 1929–30
  • 1930–31
  • 1931–32
  • 1932–33
  • 1933–34
  • 1934–35
  • 1935–36
  • 1936–37
  • 1937–38
  • 1938–39
  • 1939–40
  • 1940–41
  • 1941–42
  • 1942–43
  • 1943–44
  • 1944–45
  • 1945–46
  • 1946–47
  • 1947–48
  • 1948–49
  • 1949–50
  • 1950–51
  • 1951–52
  • 1952–53
  • 1953–54
  • 1954–55
  • 1955–56
  • 1956–57
  • 1957–58
  • 1958–59
  • 1959–60
  • 1960–61
  • 1961–62
  • 1962–63
  • 1963–64
  • 1964–65
  • 1965–66
  • 1966–67
  • 1967–68
  • 1968–69
  • 1969–70
  • 1970–71
  • 1971–72
  • 1972–73
  • 1973–74
  • 1974–75
  • 1975–76
  • 1976–77
  • 1977–78
  • 1978–79
  • 1979–80
  • 1980–81
  • 1981–82
  • 1982–83
  • 1983–84
  • 1984–85
  • 1985–86
  • 1986–87
  • 1987–88
  • 1988–89
  • 1989–90
  • 1990–91
  • 1991–92
  • 1992–93
  • 1993–94
  • 1994–95
  • 1995–96
  • 1996–97
  • 1997–98
  • 1998–99
  • 1999–2000
  • 2000–01
  • 2001–02
  • 2002–03
  • 2003–04
  • 2004–05
  • 2005–06
  • 2006–07
  • 2007–08
  • 2008–09
  • 2009–10
  • 2010–11
  • 2011–12