Cobham Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in the village of Cobham, Surrey,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Affiliated to the

Surrey County Football Association The Surrey County Football Association was founded in 1877 and affiliated to The Football Association in 1882, at the same time as a County Senior Cup competition, the Surrey Senior Cup, was established. The organisation administers all levels o ...

,Cobham
Combined Counties League they are currently members of the and play at Leg O'Mutton Field.

History

The club was formed on 5 November 1886 by villagers connected with the local coffee tavern; the local vicar offered to supply it with a football. In 1890, one of the club's players, Arthur Smith, died following injuries sustained in a match against Kingston Wanderers. The club affiliated to the Surrey FA in October 1892, and joined a local league. They played in the Kingston and District Football League, winning Division One in 1928–29 and 1929–30. The club subsequently transferred to the Surrey Intermediate League (Central), winning the League Cup in 1933–34 and 1935–36. They then moved up to the

Surrey Senior League The Surrey Senior League was an English regional football league for teams based in Surrey although teams from outside the county were often admitted as well. The league existed from 1922 until 1978, when it was rebranded as the Home Counties Leagu ...

for the 1937–38 season.Surrey Senior League 1922-1978
Non-League Matters During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Cobham temporarily merged with the Avorians Sports Club to form Cobham Avorians to ensure local football continued. After top half finishes in the two seasons before

, the club only finished in the top half on four further occasions until the league was transformed into the Home Counties League in 1978, finishing bottom of the league in 1953–54, 1955–56, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73 and 1975–76. The Home Counties League became the Combined Counties League in 1979, and Cobham spent the 1981–82 season in the Eastern Division when the league was divided into two divisions, before reverting to a single division the following season. In 1998–99 Cobham finished as league runners-up, and in 2001–02 they won the Premier Division Challenge Cup, beating

Bedfont Bedfont is a suburb in the London Borough of Hounslow, approximately west of Charing Cross. Originally a distinct village, Bedfont has a large central conservation area around Bedfont Green. The majority of the housing was built at a time of ...

in the final. When the league gained a second division in 2003, the club were placed in the Premier Division. However, they were relegated to Division One after finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 2008–09. In 2017–18 the club were Division One runners-up, earning promotion to the Premier Division.

Ground

The club played at several venues around the edge of the village in their early years, before basing themselves at Cobham Recreation Ground after

.''Worcester Park v Cobham'', Worcester Park Official Matchday Programme, issue 105 During the 1955–56 season they moved to Leg O' Mutton Field on Anvil Lane, with the road name leading to the club gaining the nickname of "the Hammers". In 1995 the ground was formally renamed the Reg Madgwick Stadium after Reg Madgwick, a former player, committee member and fundraiser who had died that year and had his ashes scattered on the pitch. Floodlights were installed in the 1997–98 season and were first used in a friendly against Woking, which Cobham lost 8–0.Soccer: Woking boss says keep your hands off my players
Get Surrey, 21 February 1997 It currently has a capacity of 2,000. The main stand was erected in 2004 and another 100-seat stand was installed in 2016.

Honours

*Combined Counties League **Premier Challenge Cup winners 2001–02 *Surrey Intermediate (Central) League **League Cup winners 1933–34, 1935–36 *Kingston & District League **Division One champions 1928–29, 1929–30

Records

*Highest league position: 2nd in the Combined Counties League, 1998–99 *Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

performance: First qualifying round, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2010–11, 2020–21 *Best FA Vase performance: Fifth round, 2020–21 *Record attendance: 2,000, charity match, 1975

References

External links