Sutton United F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Sutton United


fullname = Sutton United Football Club
nickname = The Us
founded = 1898
ground = Borough Sports Ground,
Sutton
capacity = 7,000
chairman = Bruce Elliott
manager = Paul Doswell [ [http://www.suttonunited.net/managerscolumn.html Official website] ]
league = Isthmian League Premier Division
season = 2007-08
position = Conference South, 22nd (relegated)
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pattern_la2=_shouldersonwhite|pattern_b2=_thickwhitestripes2|pattern_ra2=_shouldersonwhite
leftarm2=008000|body2=008000|rightarm2=008000|shorts2=ffffff|socks2=ffffff

Sutton United Football Club is an English football team currently playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division. They are based in Sutton, England, and play their home games at the Borough Sports Ground in Gander Green Lane. This has been the club's home since 1911.

History

The club was formed on 5 March 1898 when Sutton Guild Rovers FC and Sutton Association FC (formerly Sutton St Barnabas FC) agreed to merge during a meeting at the Robin Hood Hotel (which still stands today). Sutton adopted their unique club colours of amber & chocolate after it was discovered that purchasing club caps in the planned claret & gold (similar to that now worn by Bradford City) was too expensive.

The club was a member of the Athenian League from 1921 to 1963, when it joined the Isthmian League and made its first appearance in the final of the FA Amateur Cup, losing 4-2 to Wimbledon (a game famous for Eddie Reynolds, the Wimbledon forward, scoring all four goals with his head). The club reached the final again in 1969, when, as strong favourites, they lost 2-1 to North Shields. The following year saw the club reach the 4th round of the FA Cup, when they were drawn at home to English champions and European Cup semi-finalists Leeds United. A club record crowd of 14,000 saw Sutton lose 6-0, but they drew praise from all quarters, including the Leeds and later England manager Don Revie. The club reached the final of the FA Trophy in 1981, but suffered their 3rd defeat at Wembley, 1-0 to Bishop's Stortford.

The club won the Isthmian League championship in 1985. After refusing promotion to the Football Conference, they retained the championship the following year and this time accepted promotion. In January 1989, the club beat First Division Coventry City 2-1 in the third round of the FA Cup (the goalscorers were Tony Rains and Matthew Hanlan), joining a small number of non-league clubs to beat top-division opponents in the competition. In 1979 the club became the winners of the Anglo-Italian Cup, beating Chieti 2-1.

Sutton have claimed the scalps of several other League clubs in the FA Cup including Aldershot, Peterborough United, Torquay United and Colchester United.

In 1991, the club suffered relegation to the Isthmian League, but gained promotion again as champions in 1999. Unfortunately, the stay in the Conference lasted just one season as the U's were relegated again.

The club is also notable as the first-ever opponent of AFC Wimbledon, defeating the Dons 4-0 in a pre-season friendly in July 2002 in front of a 4500+ crowd.

Sutton United finished midtable 14th in the Conference South at the end of 2006/2007 season.

After a poor start to the 2007–08 campaign, Ian Hazel resigned to be replaced with Ernie Howe, who was in turn replaced by Jimmy Dack towards the end of the season. It was too late to make any big changes in position and so the team fell down to the Isthmian Premier League.

Honours

*Athenian League: 1928, 1946, 1958
*London Senior Cup 1958, 1983
*Isthmian League Premier Division: 1967, 1985, 1986, 1999
*Anglo-Italian Cup: 1979

Notable former managers

* George Smith
* Sid Cann, manager 1962-1973, during which period the club reached two FA Amateur Cup finals
* Barrie Williams, defeated the 1987 Winners of the FA Cup, Coventry City in 1989

Notable former players

* Nassim Akrour - Algerian international
* Nicky Bailey - Currently plays in the Football League Championship for Charlton Athletic,formerly with Southend United and Barnet
* Luke Cornwall - played professionally for Fulham and Grimsby Town
* Lenny Dennis - Jamaican international.
* Efan Ekoku - Played in the Premiership for Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City and internationally for Nigeria
* Peter Fear - Played for Wimbledon and Oxford United
* Dario Gradi - Started his career with Sutton United and then Tooting & Mitcham before going into management with Wimbledon and Crewe
* Paul McKinnon - Sutton United's record goalscorer. Also played for Blackburn Rovers
* Mick Mellows - Ex England Amateur International,formerly with Reading and Portsmouth (where he is now club chaplain)
* Jon Nurse - Currently plays in League Two with Dagenham & Redbridge.
* Paul Rogers
* Andy Scott - Played for Sheffield United and is currently manager of Brentford
* Rob Scott - Played for Sheffield United F.C.

Rivals

Sutton United's main rivals include Carshalton Athletic, AFC Wimbledon, Kingstonian, Woking and Tooting & Mitcham.

Sutton United have a fierce rivalry with their nearest neighbours Carshalton Athletic as they are both based in London Borough of Sutton and both used to play in the Conference South together attracting crowds of over 1,000. The most recent game was on 2 Jan 2006 at Borough Sports Ground, ending in a 1–1 draw. Due to Sutton's relegation in 2007-08 from the Conference South and Carshalton Athletic's survival in the Isthmian League Premier Division, the two will meet at least twice next season.

Current squad

References

External links

* [http://www.suttonunited.net/ Official club website]
* [http://www.from-the-lane.co.uk/ 'From the Lane' Unofficial Fan Site]
* [http://www.gandermonium.co.uk/ 'Gandermonium' Unofficial Fan Site]
* [http://www.suttonexiles.info/ 'Sutton Exiles' Map of Sutton United Supporters Across the Globe]