Lowestoft Town F.C.

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Lowestoft Town
Lowestoft Town Badge.png
Full nameLowestoft Town Football Club
Nickname(s)Trawler Boys
Founded1887 (merger)
GroundCrown Meadow, Lowestoft
Capacity3,000 (455 seated) [1]
ChairmanGary Keyzor
ManagerJamie Godbold
League Isthmian League North Division
2022–23 Isthmian League North Division, 3rd of 20
Website Club website

Lowestoft Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. They are currently members of the Isthmian League North Division and play at Crown Meadow.

Contents

History

The club was established in 1887 as Lowestoft F.C. by a merger of East Suffolk and the original Kirkley, and were renamed Lowestoft Town in 1890. They joined the Norfolk & Suffolk League as founder members in 1897, and won six of the first seven championships, [2] also playing in the North Suffolk League, where they also won six championships in seven seasons. They reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup in 1900, losing the final 5–1 to Bishop Auckland, and also reached the semi-finals in 1902–03, losing in a replay to Oxford City. In the 1926–27 season they reached the first round of the FA Cup the first time, losing 10–1 at Watford. They won the Norfolk & Suffolk League again in 1928–29 and 1930–31.

In 1935 the club merged with another incarnation of Kirkley, and joined the new Eastern Counties League. They shared the first championship with Harwich & Parkeston, before winning it outright in 1937–38. The following season they won the League Cup with a 4–1 win over Colchester Town reserves, and also reached the first round of the FA Cup losing 6–0 at Swindon Town.

They won the League Cup again in 1955, and after turning semi-professional in 1962, dominated the league during the 1960s, winning the championship in 1962–63 and finishing runners-up in 1963–64. They then won four successive championships, before finishing second in 1968–69 and going on to win two more titles in the following seasons, as well as winning the League Cup in 1966, 1967 and 1969. They also reached the first round of the FA Cup in 1966–67, losing 2–1 at Orient, and again the following season, when they lost 1–0 at home to Watford.

However, the club's fortunes then went into decline, although they won the League Cup in 1976, and a league and cup double in 1977–78, a season in which they reached the FA Cup first round again, losing 2–0 at home to Cambridge United.

They won the league again in 2005–06, and in 2008 reached the final of the FA Vase, where they lost 2–1 to Kirkham & Wesham. [3] The following season they won the Premier Division of the Eastern Counties League again, together with the Suffolk Premier Cup, and were promoted to Division One North of the Isthmian League. They won the league at the first attempt to earn promotion to the Premier Division, also reaching the first round of the FA Cup, losing 1–0 at Wrexham. In their first season in the Premier Division they finished fourth and reached the play-off final, where they lost 4–3 at Tonbridge Angels. In 2011–12 the club reached the play-off final again after finishing third, but lost 2–1 to AFC Hornchurch after extra time. The club also reached the final of the Suffolk Premier Cup, in which they defeated Bury Town 4–2. In 2012–13 Lowestoft reached the play-off final for the third consecutive season after finishing as runners-up, this time losing 2–1 at home to Concord Rangers.

After finishing fourth the following season, the club finally earned promotion to the Football Conference North, winning the play-off final at the fourth attempt after beating AFC Hornchurch 3–0. After finishing mid-table in their first season and winning the Suffolk Premier Cup, beating Whitton United 2–1 after extra time, they were relegated from the renamed National League North at the end of the 2015–16 season, although they retained the Premier Cup with a 3–1 win over Leiston. The club 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 2021–22 they finished bottom of the Premier Central Division, resulting in relegation to Division One North of the Isthmian League.

Colours and badge

Lowestoft Town's club colours are all blue with white trim and the club's second choice kit, usually when away from home, is all white with blue and yellow trims. [4]

The club badge is the town crest of Lowestoft.

Ground

The Main Stand at Crown Meadow Main stand Lowestoft.png
The Main Stand at Crown Meadow

Lowestoft originally played at the Crown Meadow Athletics Ground, which shared part of the same site as the modern Crown Meadow. In 1889 they moved to a ground in North Denes, but returned to the new Crown Meadow in 1894. It was opened with a match against Lowestoft Harriers on 22 September 1894. In 1922 the club bought the ground from the council for £3,150 after it looked as though the site may be sold for housing. [5] Floodlights were installed in 1964 and a social club built in the same year. The record crowd of 5,000 was set for the FA Cup match against Watford 1967.

In 1988, the pavilion (which was built in 1885) was demolished and part of the site was sold to a developer, with the proceeds funding the building of a new changing room and hospitality block. [5] Today the ground consists of a 466-seat stand with standing areas around the rest of the pitch.

Current squad

As of 17 September 2023 [6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Pos.NationPlayer
GK Flag of England.svg  ENG Warren Burwood
GK Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Luke Holt
DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Travis Cole(captain)
DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Owen Murphy
DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Charlie Norman
DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Dylan Ruffles
DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Danno White
MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Robert Eagle
MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Tom Fitzgerald
Pos.NationPlayer
MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Kyle Haylock
MF Flag of England.svg  ENG David Hinton
MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Sam Johnson
MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Louis McIntosh
MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Harvey Sayer
FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Adam Hipperson
FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Jake Reed
FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Sam Aldous

The Isthmian League does not use a squad numbering system.

Management and coaching staff

Boardroom

PositionName
ChairmanGary Keyzor
President Terry Butcher

Current staff

As of 6 August 2022 [6]
PositionName
Manager Flag of England.svg Jamie Godbold
Assistant Manager Flag of England.svg Adam Gusterson
Goalkeeping CoachFlag placeholder.svg Vacant
Strength & Conditioning Coach Flag of England.svg Cion Wren
Physio Flag of England.svg Luke Pearce
Kitman Flag of England.svg George Neeve

Honours

Records

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p564 ISBN   978-1-869833-77-0
  2. Norfolk & Suffolk League 1897–1939 Non-League Matters
  3. Bradbury, Jamie (11 May 2008). "Matt's magic for Kirkham". The Football Association. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  4. Bullen Terry (13 July 2014). "New Lowestoft Town Home/Away Kit". Lowestoft Town F.C. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 Blakeman, M (2010) The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume II ISBN   978-1-908037-02-2
  6. 1 2 "The Team". Lowestoft Town FC. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

52°28′50.68″N1°44′49.36″E / 52.4807444°N 1.7470444°E / 52.4807444; 1.7470444