Cambridge FC

For the Association football club in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, see Cambridge United F.C..
Cambridge FC
Full name Cambridge Football Club
Nickname(s) The Reds
Founded 1948
Ground John Kerkhof Park, Cambridge
Ground Capacity 1,200
Chairman England Steve Thomas
Manager New Zealand Chrissy Goodin
Coach New Zealand Brett Clark
League WaiBOP Premiership
2015 1st

Cambridge F.C. is a football (soccer) club in Cambridge, New Zealand. They are the 2015 champions[1] of the WaiBOP Premiership, run by the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Football Federation.

Cambridge has eight senior men's teams and three women's teams competing in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions. Men's teams play in the WaiBOP Premiership (formerly Federation One) and WaiBOP Championship (formerly Federation Two), the Waikato A, B (2), C, and D (2) divisions and a Sunday league team known as the Red Devils. The women's teams play in the Waikato A, B and C divisions. The club also fields boys' and girls' youth teams and has about 430 junior team players (under 16).

Club history

The club was founded in 1948 and has played at John Kerkhof Park, Cambridge, New Zealand, since 1967. The teams play in red and white, a legacy of the club's first president Vic Butler's support of Arsenal F.C..[2]

Playing record

The club achieved its first significant success at senior level, winning the Northern League’s 4th Division in 1979 and again in 1986. In 1989, it won the Northern League 3rd division title.

Cambridge reached new heights in 1993, winning the Northern League 2nd division.

After almost 40 years in the Northern League, Cambridge was relegated from the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2 in 2011 after finishing 12th and losing the challenger series playoff vs Manukau City AFC.

The club elected to drop two divisions into the Waikato Bay of Plenty Football Federation Division Two to rebuild under coach Karl Dagnall and won promotion in 2012 to Waikato Bay of Plenty Football Federation Division One.

In 2013, the club's C team won the Soccer Shop Waikato Plate.

In 2014, the club finished runners-up in Waikato Bay of Plenty Football Federation Division One and won the WaiBOP Federation Challenge Shield.

The club's women's first team won the 2014 Waikato Cup[3] while the Youth Team won the U15 WaiBOP Federation Title.

In 2015, the club won the WaiBOP Premiership and qualified for play-offs to win promotion to the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2 but lost the two-match series to Auckland champions Waitemata FC.[4] The club's youth team won the 2015 WaiBOP Federation Title.[5]

In October 2015, the club announced[6] it had re-appointed its coaching team for the WaiBOP Premiership squad, consisting of Brett Clark (coach), Mike Woodlock (assistant coach), Chrissy Goodin (manager) and Kim Brierley (goalkeeper coach).

Current squad

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

No. Position Player
1 New Zealand GK Fraser Nicholls
1 New Zealand GK Rex Fowler
2 New Zealand FW Tom Woutersen
3 New Zealand DF Nathan Claridge
4 New Zealand DF Sam Garmonsway
5 New Zealand MF Glen Carmichael
6 New Zealand MF Kyle Wisnewski
7 England MF Adam Brady
8 England FW Jason Szabo
9 New Zealand MF Henry Stephen
No. Position Player
10 England DF Jason Chewins
11 New Zealand MF Kieran Hill
12 New Zealand DF Adrian Clark
13 New Zealand MF Jordan Silvester
14 New Zealand MF Patrick Woodlock (captain)
15 New Zealand MF Ben Latham
16 New Zealand DF Matt Wheeler
17 New Zealand MF Robbie Greenhalgh
18 South Africa FW Shaun Kipara
19 Solomon Islands MF Elton Leri

Captain Patrick Woodlock was named the WaiBOP Premiership's Player of the Year for 2015 [7] and won the club's Player of the Year trophy for the fourth time in 2015. [8]

Regional and national participation

Every February since 2011, the club has staged the Cambridge Sevens[9] which are one-day tournaments for men's and women's teams drawn from the upper North Island of New Zealand.

In 2013, the club hosted premium events such as the Soccer Shop Waikato Cup Final,[10] the Waikato v Bay of Plenty All Stars game,[11] and the WaiBOP Women's All Stars v WaiBOP National League side.

After successfully hosting these games,[12] the club was appointed as the home ground for five ASB Premiership matches for new franchise WaiBOP United.[13] This meant Cambridge became one of six bases for national league football in New Zealand (the others are Auckland, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin).

The appointment led to the club becoming an all-year operation, with investment in better facilities including upgraded playing surfaces, new changing rooms[14] (scheduled for early-2015) and a new irrigation system. In late 2014, WaiBOP United announced Cambridge would continue to be the team's home base with five more ASB Premiership matches played in early 2015. For the 2015-16 season, WaiBOP United announced they were moving their home games from Cambridge's John Kerkhof Park to Waikato Stadium to enable a television deal to cover ASB Premiership games.[4]

The club staged its first international match on 25 May 2015 when Hungary and Fiji met in a warm-up match[15] for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup being held in New Zealand.

Achievements

The club's first significant off-field achievement was winning Waipa District's Sports Club of the Year award in 2001, an award it won again in 2014 and 2015.[16]

The club's success at hosting regional and national matches led to it winning the Supreme Award at the 2014 Trustpower Waipa District Community Awards,[17] and the club represented Waipa at the national community awards[18] in Wellington in March 2015.

The club had previously won the Trustpower Waipa District Community Awards (Sports) award in 2010.[19]

In June 2014, the club was named Club of the Year for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty,[20] winning WaiBOP Football's Colin Bell/Ron White Memorial Trophy.

In November 2014, the club was named Sports Club of the Year at the Waipa Networks District Sports Awards[21] and in January 2015 was a finalist for the Waikato Sports Club of the Year.[22] Former club chairman Greg Zeuren was named Sports Administrator of the Year at the Waipa awards[23] and won the Waikato Sports Administrator of the Year title in 2015.[24]

In 2014, the club won two WaiBOP Football Best Practice Awards, for its sponsorship practices and for the participation of women in the club.[25]

The club won the New Zealand Match Programme of the Year Award for 2011,[26] and the publication was highly commended in the awards for 2012 and 2013.

In August 2015, the club was awarded New Zealand Football's Quality Club Mark (QCM), Level 1 Star, which is a quality assurance standard used to measure the proficiency of clubs. Cambridge became one of the first clubs in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region to attain the QCM.[27]

In November 2015, the club won the Waipa Sports Club of the Year award for the second year in a row.[28]

International players

Probably the club's best known past player is New Zealand international striker Chris Wood who joined English Championship club Leeds United in July 2015 from Leicester City.[29]

Two New Zealand international women's players, Maria Anderton and Andrea Rogers played for the club with Anderton receiving a Special Achievement Award when retiring from competitive football in 2014 after more than 800 matches.[30]

Player/coach Robbie Greenhalgh is a former New Zealand Under 17 player, while one of the club's former junior players, Jamie Woodlock, represented New Zealand at the Oceania Under 17 Championships in January 2015.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Reports". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  2. ↑ "History of Cambridge Football Club". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  3. ↑ "Waikato and Bay of Plenty: News Single". Waibopfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  4. 1 2 "News and Activities". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. 2015-09-12. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  5. ↑ "News and Activities". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  6. ↑ "Coaches appointed for 2016". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. 2015-10-28. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  7. ↑ "Trio land top regional awards". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  8. ↑ "Woodlock achieves hat-trick". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  9. ↑ "Waikato and Bay of Plenty: News Single". Waibopfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  10. ↑ "Waikato: News Single". Waibopfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  11. ↑ "» WaiBOP United v WaiBOP All Stars – Preview". Waibopunited.co.nz. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  12. ↑ "» Thank you Cambridge FC". Waibopunited.co.nz. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  13. ↑ "» WaiBOP United move to John Kerkhof Park". Waibopunited.co.nz. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  14. ↑ "» Cambridge FC to get new facilities". Waibopunited.co.nz. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  15. ↑ "Waikato and Bay of Plenty: News Single". Waibopfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  16. ↑ "History of Cambridge Football Club". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  17. ↑ "Cambridge Soccer Club score top award". Voxy.co.nz. 2014-05-19. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  18. ↑ "Trustpower Community Connect - Community Awards - National Community Awards". Communityconnect.co.nz. 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  19. ↑ "History of Cambridge Football Club". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  20. ↑ "Waikato and Bay of Plenty: News Single". Waibopfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  21. ↑ "Cambridge FC win club honour | New Zealand Football". Nzfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  22. ↑ "News and Activities". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. 2015-01-19. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  23. ↑ "Cambridge wins top sports club award | Scoop News". Scoop.co.nz. 2014-11-19. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  24. ↑ "2014 Brian Perry Regional Sports Award winners". Fitness Journal. 2015-02-05. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  25. ↑ "News and Activities". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  26. ↑ "Cambridge FC Match Programme". Hurricane-press.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  27. ↑ "Waikato and Bay of Plenty: News Single". Waibopfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  28. ↑ "Club wins back-to-back awards". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  29. ↑ "Chris Wood | Football Stats | Leeds United | Age 23". Soccer Base. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  30. ↑ "News and Activities". Cambridgesoccer.co.nz. 2014-10-11. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  31. ↑ "Shootout sends U-17s to Chile | New Zealand Football". Nzfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-24.

External links

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