Cranfield United Football Club is a football club based in

Cranfield Cranfield is a village and civil parish in the west of Bedfordshire, England, situated between Bedford and Milton Keynes. It had a population of 4,909 in 2001. increasing to 5,369 at the 2011 Census. The parish is in Central Bedfordshire un ...

, near

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

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 ...

. The club is affiliated to the

Bedfordshire County Football Association The Bedfordshire Football Association, also simply known as ''Bedfordshire FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Bedfordshire, England. Founded in 1894, the Bedfordshire FA run a number of cups at different levels for teams a ...

. They are currently members of the .

History

The club was formed in 1903. After the first world war they played in the Bedford and District League and then moved to the

North Bucks & District Football League The North Bucks & District Football League, commonly referred to as simply the North Bucks League, is a competition affiliated to the Berks & Bucks County Football Association featuring amateur association football clubs primarily in Northern B ...

in 1930. They joined Division 2b of the

South Midlands League The South Midlands League was a football league covering Bedfordshire and some adjoining counties in England. It was founded in 1922 as the Bedfordshire County League and merged with the Spartan League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midla ...

in 1949, and won it at the first attempt, winning promotion to Division one. They were promoted to the premier division in the 1952–53 seasons when they finished as runners-up. The club remained in the premier division until the 1955–56 season when they were relegated to Division one, and three seasons later they were relegated again to the Bedford and District League. The club returned to the South Midlands League, in the 1976–77 season, starting in Division one. The club remained in Division one until the end of the 1995–96 season, except for three seasons from 1985 to 1986 when they were in the Premier Division. The club left the South Midlands League again in 1996. In 2001 the club joined the

Spartan South Midlands Football League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian Leagu ...

in Division Two and four seasons later they were promoted to Division One. In the 2009–10 they played in the FA Cup for the first ever time, losing to

Crawley Green Crawley Green is a suburb of south-east Luton near to London Luton Airport, in the Borough of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The area is roughly bounded by Crawley Green Road to the north, Devon Road to the south, the Midland Main Line to the we ...

3–1 in the extra preliminary qualifying round. Cranfield United resigned from the Spartan South Midlands League at the end of the 2012–13 season and took their reserve team's place in Division Two of the Bedfordshire County League. At the end of the 2014–2015 season Cranfield United's first team won the Bedfordshire County Football League Division One as Champions, and were promoted to the Premiership Division for the 2015-2016 Season. The Reserve side also won the Bedfordshire League Division three as Champions during the same season, and for the 2015–2016 season will be playing in Division Two.

Ground

Cranfield United play their home games at Crawley Road, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AA.

Honours

League honours

Division One: ** Runners up (1): 1952–53 *

Division 2b: ** Winners (1): 1949–50

Cup honours

*Bedfordshire Senior Cup: ** Runners up (1): 1952–53

Records

*Highest League Position: 4th in South Midlands League 1954–55 *

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 competit ...

best performance: Extra Preliminary qualifying round 2009–10, 2012–13 *

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footb ...

best performance: Second Qualifying round 2006–07, 2008–09, 2010–11

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/cranfieldunitedfootballclub/ Football clubs in Bedfordshire 1903 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 1903 Football clubs in England Bedfordshire County Football League North Bucks & District Football League South Midlands League Spartan South Midlands Football League United F.C.