Nickname(s) The Greens Chairman Alan Gordon Founded 27 September 1887 | Ground Capacity 3,000 Manager Ricci Butler | |
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Full name Gorleston Football Club Ground Emerald Park, Gorleston League Eastern Counties Football League Premier Division | ||
Gorleston Football Club is a football club based in Gorleston, Norfolk, England. They are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Premier Division and play at Emerald Park.
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History
The club was established on 27 September 1887 by members of Gorleston Cricket Club looking for a winter pastime, and were initially nicknamed the "Cards", playing in crimson shirts and blue shorts. Their first competitive match was a game against Beccles Caxton in the Suffolk Senior Cup (at the time, Gorleston was still in Suffolk), losing 1–0. The following year they moved to the Recreation Ground.
In 1903 the club began playing in green shirts and white shorts. In 1907 they won the Norfolk Junior Cup and joined the Great Yarmouth Borough League, winning it in their first season. They then joined the Norfolk & Suffolk League, finishing third in their first season. They won the league in 1920–21, and the Norfolk Senior Cup in 1922 and 1923. In 1925–26 they did the double, winning the league and the Senior Cup. They won the Senior Cup again in 1928 and the league in 1929–30.
After winning the Senior Cup in 1931, the club won the league for four consecutive seasons between 1931–32 and 1934–35. They also won the East Anglian Cup in 1932 and the Senior Cup in 1933. In 1935 they became founder members of the Eastern Counties League, and won the Senior Cup again. Their final trophy before World War II was the Senior Cup in 1938, beating local rivals Great Yarmouth Town 3–0.
After the war, the club won the Senior Cup again in 1951. In 1951–52 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, and were drawn against Leyton Orient. After a 2–2 draw at Brisbane Road and a 0–0 draw at the Recreation Ground (at which the club's record attendance of 4,473 was set), a second replay was held at Arsenal's Highbury Stadium, resulting in a 5–4 win for Leyton Orient, with Gorleston having been 4–1 down at one point in the match.
The following season won the league and Senior Cup. In 1955–56 they won the League Cup, beating Tottenham 'A' 2–1. They reached the first round of the FA Cup again in 1957–58, but lost 10–1 at Gillingham.
In 1959–60 the club finished nineteenth in the league and financial problems forced them to drop back into the Norfolk & Suffolk League. They were founder members of the Anglian Combination, and returned to the Eastern Counties League as Combination champions in 1969, a year in which the Senior Cup was regained in 1969.
The Eastern Counties League was won for a second time in 1972–73. A twelfth Senior Cup victory was achieved in 1978, and the club won back-to-back league titles in 1979–80 and 1980–81. In the 1982-83 season they boasted World Cup winner Martin Peters amongst their ranks. In 1983 the club left the Recreation Ground to move to Emerald Park, and in the same season won another East Anglian Cup with a victory over Bishop's Stortford. The following year they won the Senior Cup again.
After being relegated in 1993–94, the club returned to the Premier Division as Division One champions in 1995–96. A fourteenth Senior Cup was won in 2001 with a 4–0 win over Great Yarmouth Town, before the club was relegated again in 2004–05. They returned to the Premier Division after winning Division One in 2010–11.
The club won the Senior Cup in 2012, beating Thetford Town 2–0 in the final, and again in 2014 with a 1–0 win over Wroxham.