Camberley Town Football Club is a semi-professional

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 ...

based in

Camberley Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England. They are currently members of the and play at Krooner Park.

History

The club was established in 1895 after a discussion at St Michael's church, and was originally named St Michael's Football Club, although they became known as St Michael's, Camberley.Full club history
Camberley Town F.C. The first match, a friendly, was played on 16 October against D Company from the

Royal Military College Royal Military College may refer to: ;Australia * Royal Military College, Duntroon, Campbell, Australian Capital Territory ;Canada * Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario * Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean, Quebec ;Indi ...

in nearby Sandhurst; St Michael's won 4–2. In January 1896 they joined 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 ...

, entering and winning the Surrey Junior Cup in 1897–98; the club's first competitive game was played on 16 October 1897, a Junior Cup first round match against Farncombe which St Michael's won 5–2. After winning the cup, the club joined the East & West Surrey League for the 1898–99 season. In January 1901 a public meeting was held, at which it was decided to establish a new club that would absorb both St Michael's and Camberley Magpies. The name Camberley & Yorktown was adopted and the club took St Michael's place in the East & West Surrey League. However, they dropped into the Aldershot Combination in 1902, before switching to the Ascot & District League in 1903. The club finished as runners-up in their first season and went on to win the league in 1904–05. They were runners-up again in 1905–06, before winning a hat-trick of successive titles in 1907–08, 1908–09 and 1909–10, remaining unbeaten throughout the third of the title-winning seasons. The season also saw them win the Surrey Junior Cup for a second time, beating

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

2–0 in the final. In 1910 Camberley & Yorktown returned to the East & West Surrey League, which had been renamed the

West Surrey League West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

. In 1912–13 the club also entered the three-club Aldershot Senior Civilian League, which they won. They went on to win the West Surrey League the following season. In 1922 Camberley & Yorktown were founder members of 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 Leag ...

.Surrey Senior League 1922-1978
Non-League matters They won three successive titles in 1930–31, 1931–32 and 1932–33 and were runners-up in 1938–39. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the club was renamed Camberley, and were Surrey Senior League runners-up in 1946–47, before winning the league's Charity Cup in 1951–52 with a 4–3 win over Chertsey Town.Chapter Three : The Post War Years
Camberley Town F.C. The club were league runners-up again in 1961–62, and adopted their current name on 2 June 1967 after merging with former

Parthenon League The Parthenon League was a association football, football league covering Greater London and the surrounding area. History The league was formed in 1951 with 11 clubs, nine of which had come from the Middlesex Senior League.

club Camberley Wanderers. In 1973 they joined the

Spartan League The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League. History The Spartan League was establi ...

, but left to join Division Two of the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an England, English amateur association football, football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football ...

in 1975. In 1977 they switched to Division Two of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

, and were promoted to Division One after finishing as Division Two runners-up in 1978–79. Two seasons later they were relegated, and after a single season back in Division Two, they rejoined the Athenian League, which now had a single division. In 1983

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakema ...

became the club's

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

while he was living in Camberley. He remained in this post until 1986 when he was elected vice-president, and left the club when he moved to the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

in 1988. In 1984 the Athenian League disbanded; Camberley rejoined the Isthmian League and were placed in Division Two South, where they remained until being placed in Division Three following league reorganisation in 1991. In 1998–99 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 ...

for the first time. Drawn against away to Third Division

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, they lost 5–0. Division Three became Division Two in 2002, and Camberley remained members until the end of the 2005–06 season, when they dropped into the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League. They were runners-up in the division in 2013–14 and 2014–15.

Ground

In 1898 the club started playing at the new Recreation Ground on London Road, although they also used a pitch near Southwell Park Road when the Recreation Ground was unavailable and had moved there permanently by 1905. They played there until moving to Martin's Meadow in 1909. However, when the tenancy came to an end, the club returned to the Recreation Ground. Since 1923 the club have played at Krooner Park on Wilton Road. The ground was paid for with the winnings of a horse named Krooner who won two races at

Haydock Park Racecourse Haydock Park Racecourse is a racecourse in Merseyside, North West England. The racecourse is set in an area of parkland bounded by the towns of Haydock to the west, Ashton-in-Makerfield to the north, Golborne to the east and Newton-le-Willows ...

in 1920. It was officially opened on 26 December 1923.Chapter Two: Between The Two World Wars
Camberley Town F.C. Due to financial difficulties Krooner Park was sold back to the local council in 1939 with the council guaranteeing that the ground would be retained in perpetuity and that it would be rented to the football club, giving them priority whilst they remained in existence. In the mid-1960s the club asked the council to leave Krooner Park and build a new ground at Southcote Park Farm, but the request was rejected due to the amount of engineering that would be required. Floodlights were installed at the ground in 1974, with the first floodlit match being a friendly against Crystal Palace on 14 October. The attendance at the match, which ended in a 1–1 draw, was around 3,100, a ground record.Chapter Four: Building for Seventies Success
Camberley Town F.C. The highest confirmed attendance at Krooner Park was 2,066 when the newly formed

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

visited for an Isthmian League Division Three match on 10 November 1992.

Honours

*Combined Counties League **Premier Challenge Cup winners 2008–09, 2014–15 **Development Cup winners 2021–22 *Surrey Senior League **Champions 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33 **Charity Cup winners 1937–38, 1951–52 *West Surrey League **Champions 1913–14 *Aldershot Senior Civilian League **Champions 1912–13 *Ascot & District League **Champions 1904–05, 1907–08, 1908–09, 1909–10 *

Surrey Senior Cup The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...

**Winners 1978–79 *Surrey Junior Cup **Winners 1897–98, 1909–10 *

Southern Combination Challenge Cup The Southern Combination Challenge Cup is a football competition contested by non-league clubs. An independent cup, it was directly affiliated to the Football Association until 2015, when a change in FA Rules required such competitions to affili ...

**Winners 1980–81 *Aldershot Senior Cup **Winners 1996–97, 1997–98, 2006–07, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2018–19

Records

*Best

performance: First round, 1998–99 *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: Preliminary round, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82 *Best

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 ...

performance: Quarter finals, 1985–86, 2015–16 *Biggest victory: 25–1 vs Warfield, Ascot & District League, 12 October 1907 *Record attendance: 2,066 vs

, Isthmian League Division Three, 10 November 1992

References

External links