| Full name | Norwich CEYMS Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Church |
| Founded | 22 August 1988 |
| Ground | Hilltops Sports Ground, Swardeston |
| League | Anglian Combination Division One |
| 2010–11 | Anglian Combination Division Two, 1st (promoted) |
Norwich CEYMS F.C. (CEYMS being an acroynm for Church of England Young Men's Society) is an English football club based in Swardeston, near Norwich, in Norfolk. They currently play in Division One of the Anglian Combination, having previously played in the Eastern Counties League. It has been suggested that the world's oldest football song, On The Ball, City, was used for CEYMS before being adopted by Norwich City.[1]
The club is affiliated to the Norfolk County FA.
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Formed by the local branch of the Church of England Young Men's Society on 22 August 1988,[2] the club was known locally as "Churches". They won the Norfolk Senior Cup in 1891–92 and 1896–97. In 1897 they were founder members of the Norfolk & Suffolk League, winning it in 1899–1900, losing only a single match.[3] They then won the Senior Cup three times in a row between 1900 and 1902. Frustrated by a perceived lack of ambition,[2] in 1902 the team's captain (Robert Webster) and vice-captain (Joseph Cowper Nutchey) left to form a new club, Norwich City, which also joined the Norfolk & Suffolk League. City finished above CEYMS in their first season,[4] and although CEYMS won the league again in 1906–07 and 1910–11, Norwich City went on to become the dominant team in Norwich.
The club entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1906. However, they lost their fourth round qualifying tie with Leytonstone 6–2. They won the Norfolk & Suffolk League again in 1935–36 and joined the Eastern Counties League in 1937 and finished eighth in 1937–38 and twelfth in 1938–39. The 1939–40 season was abandoned due to the outbreak of World War II, and due to the high travelling costs the club left the league before it resumed in 1946, rejoining the Norfolk & Suffolk League.[2] They were invited to rejoin the Eastern Counties League in 1963, but after initially accepting the offer, it was later turned down. When the league merged into the Anglian Combination in 1964 they were placed in the Premier Division, but were relegated to Division One at the end of the 1969–70 season, and to Division Two at the end of 1973–74. They were promoted back to Division One in 1984–85, but wre relegated at the end of the following season.
In 2005–05 CEYMS finished as runners-up in Division Three. However, they were relegated the following season. In 2007–08 they won Division Three to make an immediate return to Division Two.
The club initially played at "The Rec" on Earlham Road, a ground which also reportedly included the best cycle track in England.[2] After World War II they moved to Norwich City's old Newmarket Road ground, now owned by the Town Close House Preparatory & Pre-Preparatory School. They remained at the site until the school required the ground for its own use, at which point they moved to another ground on Newmarket Road known as the Civil Service Ground. In 1988 they relocated to their current site in Swardeston.
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