Community Stadium
West Way
Sawston
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB22 3FG
Ground Number: 1377
Tuesday 3rd December 2024
Tuesday 3rd December 2024
Cambridge City 0-1 Waltham Abbey
Isthmian D1 North
Isthmian D1 North
CAMBRIDGE CITY FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was established in 1908 as Cambridge Town, changing the suffix to 'City' in 1951 when Cambridge was awarded that status. Initially playing football in the Southern Amateur League, which they won five times, they switched to the Spartan League which they won three times. Around this time, they were the biggest club in Cambridge, getting bigger crowds than the club that was to become Cambridge United. Indeed, they won the race to become known as Cambridge City after they got their application in before United to be known under that name. They applied to join the Football League on five occasions but were unsuccessful on each occasion, unlike their rivals. In 1950, the club joined the Athenian League. where they didn't pull up any trees.
In 1958, they joined the Southern League and were champions by 1963, probably the highlight of their history. By 1968 they had been relegated to the second tier but bounced back as runners-up behind Bedford Town in 1970. The following year, they were in a couple of points of their second title but lost out to Yeovil Town. Relegated again in 1976, it would take Cambridge City a decade to return to the Premier Division as champions as champions of the Southern Division. The club remained here until 2004, retaining their step 2 status when they made the cut for the newly-established Conference South. In 2008, the club failed ground grading owing to a lack of terracing behind both goals and inadequate turnstile facilities. and were demoted to the Southern Premier. After some decent finishes and three playoff failures in the next three years, Cambridge City were relegated to step 4 in 2017. Due to their geographical position, they have played in the Southern League, Isthmian League and Northern League in recent times although their exile from Cambridge has contributed to a downturn in results. Last season's placing of 17th was the worst since the pyramid was established.
Pictures below: As close as I got to visiting the old ground, pictures were taken on the way to Histon v Barrow on Saturday 14th August 2010.
Local cup wins include the Southern League Cup in 2010, two Eastern Professional Floodlit Cups, two Hunts Premier Cups, two AFA Senior Cups, four Addenbrookes Hospital Cups, sixteen Cambridgeshire Invitational Cups, the Cambridgeshire Professional Cups, five Amateur Football Alliance Senior Cups, the Thetford Hospital Cup in 1934 and the Suffolk Senior Cup in 2010. After a nomadic start to their history, the club found residence at the City Ground, Milton Road in 1922. They stayed there until 2013 when tenancy issues forced them to leave. The club was in a legal dispute with their landlords over the ground, which was sold by a previous board of directors for less than its market value. The High Court ruled that the club had been fraudulently misrepresented, and the club would receive 50% of the development profits on the site. Over the next eleven years, they ground shared at St Ives Town & Histon before moving into their new home on Saturday.
MY VISIT
I'd always earmarked this day for a new ground, either Cambridge City or Hartpury University. I always favoured the former as it was nearer and with a work alarm at 4 am the next morning, I was keen to stay as close to home as possible. When I earmarked these choices a few weeks ago, I wasn't even sure if the new ground would be ready, but it successfully hosted its opening match on Saturday. Shirehampton was a late add as another potential game, but the weather could dictate things as ever at this time of year. Typically, last week when Wycombe were at home with the benefit of undersoil heating, the weather was mild. But the previous Tuesday, and indeed this one, was going to be a cold one. I decided that if a place was significantly 'warmer' than the others then I'd go for that. However, when I checked on Monday afternoon, it was all pretty much the same. With games having taken place at Penn & Harpury a fortnight ago with the mercury at zero, I thought it was worth taking the risk with it three degrees at kickoff. It would just be a matter of keeping an eye on Twitter for any news.
As ever with Saturday, it was a late night as I really didn't fancy going to sleep until after midnight. As a result, I only got 3.5 hours of sleep and was knackered on Sunday. Thankfully, I was able to avoid most of the zombie apocalypse and get out at 11. Monday was a lot calmer in the main but I was looking forward to a day off. It was on Monday afternoon that I decided where I would be going, though sadly there were few backups in terms of 3G pitches. There were many grounds that I missed out on before I started properly hopping but Cambridge City's old Milton Road was the one that I was frustrated to miss out on since I started the hobby. It was only around for a couple of seasons after I started the hobby, but I don't think it ever came up as a midweek option. Nowadays, I'd have set aside a Saturday to visit it but I was not as organised or logical back then. The city of Cambridge was one I'd also really enjoyed on my brief visit on the way to Downham on the train and I was keen to explore it more. However, the train fares were not the most attractive to Cambridge itself which has put me off visiting the city's third club, Cambridge University Press who play in the Cambridgeshire County League.
The day of the game came and as ever for a Monday night, I got a good night of sleep. I awoke around 8 and discovered that one of my options for tonight, Shirehampton, had been struck off the list as their floodlights were not yet ready. It was a mild day as I walked to town and back, picking up some nice pork and cranberry chipolatas amongst other things. I came back and had some of them for lunch. I spent the afternoon at home and left at 4.20. Endless phone calls to Colin went unanswered so I had to go and wake him up. After he'd got ready, we left 30 minutes later than planned but had time to spare. It was a standard midweek journey, the bulk of the delay on the north circular. We were there at 7 and everything was well organised with parking. It was £10 to get in, very reasonable. Food was sought, me being greedy, I went for the City Stack which was a treble cheeseburger and fries on top of that. It was delicious but I should have made do with the burger. It was a real hopper fest. We bumped into Oxford fan Laurence who was very complimentary about Wycombe's start to the season. He must have had a wry smile as a couple of minutes later, we were losing at Exeter City. Overall, it was a very impressive setup and we took a seat in the main stand.
Cambridge City were 16th in the table having won six, drawn one and lost nine of their games so far. On Saturday they had lost 2-1 to Tilbury in the opening game at their new stadium. Visitors Waltham Abbey were in 6th place having won eight, drawn four and lost five so far. On Saturday, they had won 2-1 at Gorleston. The game kicked off around five minutes late. Cambridge City shaded the first half but neither side looked especially competent in the final third. The second half kicked off at 8.55. Again Cambridge started brightly but didn't test the keeper. Waltham Abbey took the lead on 80 minutes, Jason Hallett netting after the keeper could only parry the ball.
The attendance was a decent 442. Elsewhere, Wycombe had fought back from 2-0 to draw 2-2. It was a credible result against a decent side but it ended our eleven-game winning run. We left at 9.50 and had a good journey home with me dropping Colin off at 11.10. I was back home 15 minutes later. It took me ages to get to sleep, not great when I was up at 4 for work. I got through the day and completed this blog the following afternoon before I looked ahead to potential games for this Friday.
THE GROUND
As new builds go, the Sawston Community Stadium is an excellent venue. Pride of place goes to the main seated stand which is elevated, a rarity in new builds, is elevated. It is of a similar design to the one at their old ground which held 700. There is cover on the other three sides, probably around 1000 undercover. The overall capacity is 3000. The catering is also decent, a choice of two vans with burgers and fries. The lacking parts are the bar and toilet facilities but these are a work in progress. A decent range of merchandise is available on a table by the turnstile. Parking is well-organised and plentiful although the ground is quite isolated and I saw no obvious signs of public transport.
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