Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Sudbury, Suffolk Sudbury (, ) is a market town and civil parish in the south west of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour near the Essex border, north-east of London. It is the largest town in the Babergh local government district and part of the South Suf ...

, England. The club was formed in 1999 by the merger of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers, the process giving rise to the name Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury. and went on to win the Eastern Counties League Premier Division five seasons in a row as well as reaching the final of the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

in three successive seasons, records for both competitions. They are currently members of the and play at the King's Marsh Stadium in the Ballingdon- Brundon area of Sudbury.

History

A.F.C. Sudbury was formed on 1 June 1999 by the amalgamation of the town's two previous clubs, Sudbury Town (founded 1885) and Sudbury Wanderers (founded 1958). The new club played at Wanderers' ground, and were initially managed by Wanderers' Keith Martin. In their debut season, 1999–2000, Sudbury finished in third place in the Eastern Counties League Premier Division. The following five seasons all resulted in Sudbury winning the Premier Division title – a league record. Sudbury did not take

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

at any of these opportunities, despite being entitled to. In this period Sudbury had a series of good performances in national cup competitions. In 2000–01 the club reached the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, where they were beaten 6–1 by

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. They reached the semi-final of the 2001–02

, before being knocked out by Tiptree United. The following three seasons saw Sudbury reaching the final each year (a Vase record), but being defeated every time, by

Brigg Town Brigg Town Football Club CIC is a football club based in Brigg, Lincolnshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Hawthorns. Established in 1864, not only are they are officially the 7th oldest football club in the world, ...

in 2003 (after which Martin left the club and was replaced by Gary Harvey), Winchester City in 2004 and Didcot Town in 2005. However, the club did win the

Suffolk Premier Cup The Suffolk Premier Cup is the top level football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ...

three times, in 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04. The financial constraints of owning two grounds led the board not to apply for promotion until the beginning of the 2005–06 season. After finishing third in 2005–06, a season in which they won the Eastern Counties League Cup, and passing the necessary ground inspection Sudbury were invited to take promotion into a resurrected Isthmian League Division One North, following the re-structuring of the

National League System The National League System comprises the six levels of the English football league system immediately below the level of the English Football League. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Football Association. The National League System has a ...

. Potential legal action from the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

nearly scuppered this move, but Sudbury started 2006–07 in the new division. The management team of Gary Harvey and Michael Cheetham, who took the team up, both resigned before the season could begin, citing work and family commitments, respectively. New manager Mark Morsley was appointed in May 2006, signed from

Needham Market Needham Market is a small town in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, set in the Gipping Valley. Nearby villages include Barking, Suffolk, Barking, Darmsden, Badley and Creeting St Mary. The town is located just east of the A14 road ( ...

. Sudbury's first season at this level saw the club finish in fifth place, qualifying them for the promotion play-offs. After beating

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 333,587 in 2021. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Hig ...

in the semi-final, Sudbury lost to Harlow Town in a penalty shootout. Sudbury again qualified for the play-offs in 2007–08, finishing second in the table, but were defeated in the semi-final by eventual winners

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...

. In the close-season manager Morsley resigned, and was replaced by his assistant Nicky Smith. Sudbury were moved into the Southern League Division One Midlands for 2008–09 following a restructuring of the English football pyramid. After two seasons of mid-table finishes the club was moved back to the Isthmian League Division One North for

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. Smith resigned in September 2011 and was replaced by his assistant Chris Tracey. At the start of the 2013–14, Sudbury appointed

Wroxham Wroxham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Wroxham has an area of 6.21 square kilometres, and in 2001, had a population of 1,532 in 666 households. A reduced population of 1,502 in 653 household ...

manager David Batch as their new manager, after Chris Tracey left the club. Sudbury reached the final of the Isthmian League Cup in April 2014, but lost 3–0 away to Maidstone United. Batch left to join St Neots Town at the end of 2014, and was replaced by Jamie Godbold. Godbold led the club to a third-place finish and qualification for the play-offs, where they were defeated by Brentwood Town in the semi-final. The following season Sudbury won the division with three games to spare, earning promotion to the Premier Division. Their stay in the division only lasted one season as they were relegated back to Division One North at the end of the campaign, the club's first-ever relegation. Mark Morsley re-joined as first team manager in early 2017–18. In 2021 Sudbury reached the first round of the

for a second time, causing an upset by beating

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

3–1 in the fourth qualifying round, who were two tiers above Sudbury, top of the league and unbeaten. In the first round, they were drawn at home against nearby League Two side

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

, losing 4–0 in front of a record but reduced capacity attendance of 2,000. The match was broadcast live on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

and shown in 78 countries. The 2022–23 season saw them finish second in the North Division, going on to defeat

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

in the play-off semi-finals, before beating Heybridge Swifts after extra time in the final to earn promotion to the Premier Division Central of the Southern League.

Season-by-season record

Other teams

Reserve team

The A.F.C. Sudbury reserve team initially played in the Reserves section of the Eastern Counties League before joining Division One of the league at the start of the 2013–14 season, at which point it was renamed AFC Sudbury Reserves/Under-21s. In the team's second season in Division One they won the First Division Knock-Out Cup, after beating Great Yarmouth Town 1–0. Currently AFC Sudbury Reserves find themselves in the Thurlow Nunn league, the 10th tier of English football.

Women's team

AFC Sudbury Women in 2024 The A.F.C. Sudbury women's team took over Sudbury Wanderers' place in Division Two of the Eastern Region Women's Football League in 1999. However, they dropped out the league at the end of the 2001–02 season. They returned to the league in 2010 and were placed in Division One North. After being promoted from Division One North to the Premier Division at the end of the 2014–15 season, the club achieved consecutive promotions in 2021–22 and 2022–23 to reach the

FA Women's National League The FA Women's National League is a group of six football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Football Association, before ...

Division One South East, the fourth tier of women's football.

Youth teams

The club's academy team plays in the Eastern Counties Youth League, whilst it has two under-19 teams in

the Football Conference Youth Alliance The Football Conference Youth Alliance (known sometimes as the Conference Youth Alliance) was formed in 2005 as the official U19s Youth League for professional teams, semi-professional and for non-league teams who compete in the Football Confere ...

. In addition to an under-16 team, it has youth teams for every year group from age 7 to 13.

Colours and badge

A.F.C. Sudbury's club colours are yellow and blue, the same as those of Sudbury Town. The club's second choice kit, usually when away from home, is all blue, although in past seasons other colours have been used, such as all white in the 2007–08 season. For the 2024–25 season, the mens first team started wearing a fuchsia and navy blue away kit, to match that worn by the ladies first team. The club badge is the town crest of Sudbury, which incorporates a

talbot Talbot is a dormant automobile marque introduced in 1902 by British-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément ...

dog with its

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

sticking out. This was augmented with a banner containing the club's name in early 2018.

Ground

A.F.C. Sudbury play their home games at the 2,500 capacity King's Marsh Stadium in the Ballingdon- Brundon area of Sudbury, previously home to Sudbury Wanderers. Between June 2010 and August 2014, due to a sponsorship deal, the ground was officially titled The MEL Group Stadium. At the time of A.F.C. Sudbury's formation the ground consisted of two pitches, a training area, clubhouse, floodlights, a 200-seat stand on the West side of the main pitch and covered ends behind the goals. A 300-capacity terrace (the Shed) was constructed on the East side of the pitch in 2000 and houses the more vocal section of the crowd. A new clubhouse, also containing a grassroots football and education centre, was completed in 2010. The ground is fully enclosed by fencing and there are turnstiles at the main entrance. A.F.C. Sudbury sold Sudbury Town's former ground, the Priory Stadium, to a housing developer in June 2007. The money from this sale was earmarked for paying off loans, and

capital gains tax A capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax on profits realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals, real estate, and property. In South Africa, capital g ...

, as well as a new

clubhouse Clubhouse may refer to: Locations * The meetinghouse of: ** A club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal ** In the United States, a country club ** In the United Kingdom, a gentlemen's club * A ...

and changing rooms.

Planning permission Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to buil ...

for the construction of the new facilities was granted by

Babergh District Council Babergh District (pronounced , ) is a local government district in Suffolk, England. In 2021 it had a population of 92,300. The district is primarily a rural area, containing just two towns, Sudbury and Hadleigh. The council was based in Hadleig ...

in August 2008, though various conditions regarding issues such as possible land

contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that renders something unsuitable, unfit or harmful for the physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Within the scien ...

, the site's

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

value, risk of flooding and

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...

are required to be addressed before work may commence. A 3G

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

pitch was installed prior to the 2015–16 season.

Honours

*Isthmian League **Division One North champions 2015–16 * Eastern Counties League **Premier Division Champions 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05 ** League Cup winners 2005–06 *Suffolk Premier Cup **Winners 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04

Records

*Best

performance: First round, 2000–01, 2021–22 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

performance: First round, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15 *Best

performance: Runners-up, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06 *Most appearances: Sam Clarke, 387 *Most goals: Gary Bennett, 172Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p578 *Record attendance: 2,000 vs

, FA Cup first round, 5 November 2021

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudbury Isthmian League clubs Football clubs in Suffolk Association football clubs established in 1999 Southern Football League clubs Sudbury, Suffolk Eastern Counties Football League GA-Class football in England articles 1999 establishments in England Football clubs in England