Needham Market FC
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Needham Market Football Club 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
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 ( ...
, Suffolk, England. They are currently members of the and play at Bloomfields.


History

Although records show the existence of a Needham Market Football Club during the late 1890s, the modern club was officially established in 1919.History
Needham Market FC
They subsequently joined the Ipswich & District League. After finishing as runners-up in Division 3A in 1930–31 and 1931–32, the club were promoted to Division Two A. They went on to win Division Two A in 1932–33 and were runners-up the following season. 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 ...
they won the Division Two title in 1946–47 and went on to win Division One in 1952–53.Honours
Needham Market F.C.
The club won the League Cup in 1977–78 and again in 1979–80. However, they finished bottom of the Senior Division in 1983–84 and were relegated to Division One.
Non-League Matters
However, they won the Suffolk Junior Cup the following season. In 1986–87 Needham Market were Division One runners-up, earning promotion back to the Senior Division. They went on to win the
Suffolk Senior Cup The Suffolk Senior Cup is the second level football cup competition organised by the Suffolk FA after the Suffolk Premier Cup. It is currently open to Suffolk–based clubs competing in Eastern Counties League Division One and the top divisions ...
in 1989–90. In 1995–96 the club were Senior Division champions, and were promoted to Division One of the
Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suffolk ...
. They were Division One runners-up in 2004–05 and were promoted to the Premier Division, winning the Suffolk Senior Cup in the same season. In 2006–07 the club win the East Anglian Cup, before going on to finish as runners-up in the Premier Division and win the League Challenge Cup and 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 ...
in 2007–08, as well as reaching the semi-finals 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 ...
, losing 4–2 on aggregate to Kirkham & Wesham. The 2009–10 season saw Needham Market win the Premier Division title and the League Cup double, earning promotion to Division One North 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 ...
. In their first season in Division One, Needham finished as runners-up, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. However, they lost 3–1 at home to Brentwood Town in the semi-finals. The following season the club finished third and reached the play-off final, but lost 1–0 to
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 ...
. They qualified for the play-offs again after finishing fifth in 2013–14, this time losing 1–0 to
Witham Town Witham Town Football Club is a semi professional English football club based in Witham, Essex. The club are currently members of the and play at the Simarco Stadium. History Clubs named Witham Town have been in existence since the mid 19th ce ...
in the semi-finals. The club went on to win the division the following season, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2016–17 they won the Suffolk Premier Cup for a second time. Needham Market were transferred to the Premier Central division of the Southern League at the end of the 2017–18 season as part of the restructuring of the non-League pyramid. In 2019–20 the club won the Suffolk Premier Cup, defeating
Lowestoft Town Lowestoft Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. They are currently members of the and play at Crown Meadow. History The club was established in 1887 as Lowestoft FC by a merger of East S ...
4–3 on aggregate in the two-legged final. In
2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
they 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, losing 2–0 at
Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...
. The club were Premier Division Central champions in 2023–24, earning promotion to the
National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...
. They finished third-from-bottom of the National League North the following season and were relegated back to the Southern League's Premier Division Central.


Reserve team

The club's reserve team played in the Essex & Suffolk Border League, winning Division Two in 1998–99. In 2013 they joined Division One of the Eastern Counties League.


Ground

The club initially played at Young's Meadow, before relocating to Crowley Park. In 1996 they moved to a new ground, buying the site after former player Arthur Rodwell died and left the club money, which was used together with a grant from the
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. The new ground was named Bloomfields after former player and clubman Derrick Bloomfield. A new record attendance of 750 was set for a
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 ...
match against Ipswich Town reserves during the 2006–07 season. This was beaten when a crowd of 1,375 watched the FA Vase semi-final against Kirkham & Wesham in 2008. Another new record was set on 26 October 2013 when 1,748 saw the club play
Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
in an
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 ...
fourth qualifying round game. In 2018 a 3G pitch with a 50-seat stand and new changing rooms were installed within the Bloomfields complex, which is used by the reserve team.


Current squad


Management and coaching staff


Boardroom


Current staff


Honours

*Southern League **Premier Division Central champions 2023–24 *Isthmian League **Division One North champions 2014–15 *Eastern Counties League **Premier Division champions 2009–10 **League Cup winners 2007–08, 2009–10 *Suffolk & Ipswich League **Senior Division champions 1995–96 **Division One champions 1952–53 **Division Two champions 1946–47 **Division Two A champions 1932–33 **League Cup winners 1977–78, 1979–80 *Suffolk Premier Cup **Winners 2007–08, 2016–17, 2019–20 *Suffolk Senior Cup **Winners 1989–90, 2004–05 *Suffolk Junior Cup **Winners 1984–85 *East Anglian Cup **Winners 2006–07


Records

*Best FA Cup performance: First round,
2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
*Best FA Trophy performance: Quarter-finals, 2021–22 *Best FA Vase performance: Semi-finals, 2007–08 *Record attendance: 1,784 vs
Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
, FA Cup fourth qualifying round, 26 October 2013 *Biggest win: 10–1 vs Ipswich Wanderers, 1 September 2007, FA Cup preliminary round *Heaviest defeat: 6–0 vs Wingate & Finchley, 8 September 2015, Isthmian League Premier Division *Most appearances: Rhys Barber, 365 (2006–2012) *Most goals: Sam Newson, 134 (2010–2015) *Most goals in a season: Craig Parker, 40 (2010–11)


See also

* *


References


External links


Official website
{{coord, 52, 09, 02.64, N, 1, 02, 40.72, E, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Football clubs in England Football clubs in Suffolk Association football clubs established in 1919 1919 establishments in England Needham Market Suffolk and Ipswich Football League Eastern Counties Football League Isthmian League clubs Southern Football League clubs National League (English football) clubs