Kirkley and Pakefield F.C.

History

The original Kirkley F.C. was established in 1886, and the first recorded game was a match against East Suffolk on 4 December at Crown Meadow. The club played several more matches before merging with East Suffolk to form Lowestoft Town the following year.

Following a trial for players in late 1889, a second club then went on to be formed just over a year later in 1890, playing their first match on 15 November against Clifford House School. They originally played on a pitch at St Aubin's College, forming strong links with the college, whose headmaster employed several former Cambridge Blues as teachers. With several teachers playing for the club, they won the Suffolk Junior Cup in 1894. For a brief time the club became the dominant side in Lowestoft, reaching the semi-finals of the FA Amateur Cup in 1896–97. During that season several local businessmen had bought the Kirkley Recreation Ground for the club for £746 17s 6d, with it opening on 5 September 1896. The club reached the final of the Suffolk Senior Cup five times in six seasons between 1897 and 1902, with the reserve team winning the Junior Cup in 1898.

At the time, the club played in the North Suffolk League, winning it in 1894–95, 1896–97, 1901–02, 1905–06, 1907–08 and 1908–09. They were also founder members of the Norfolk & Suffolk League in 1897 and were runners-up in 1898–99 and 1903–04. In 1907–08, Kirkley and Lowestoft Town decided to merge due to financial difficulties, but due the "Good Friday Fiasco", in which Lowestoft used reserve players in a league match against Kirkley in order to rest first team players for the cup matches between the two clubs, the plan was abandoned. Instead, the club sold their ground to the Lowestoft Corporation for £1,600 and moved to Carlton Road. However, the club still experienced financial difficulties and disbanded at the end of the 1913–14 season, at a time when Stanley Rous was playing for the club.

A third Kirkley FC playing at Carlton Road was established during the 1919–20 season, and joined a league in 1920. In 1923 they returned to the Kirkley Recreation Ground, and in 1924–25 won the Suffolk Senior Cup. They joined the Norfolk & Suffolk League in 1924 after Mortons Athletic folded. After merging with Waveney Athletic in 1929, the club became known as Kirkley & Waveney. In 1935 they merged with Lowestoft Town.

In 1975 Brooke Marine, then in the Anglian Combination and playing at Kirkley's former Walmer Road ground, applied to change their name to Kirkley F.C.. As the name was owned by Lowestoft Town, the original Kirkley having merged into it, the club had to take the name Kirkley United, being renamed in 1978. The newly renamed club won Division Two in 1978–79 and Division One in 1979–80, and the "United" moniker gradually dropped out of use.

They won the Suffolk Senior Cup again in 2001, and the following season won a treble, claiming the Anglian Combination Premier Division title, the Combination Senior Knock-out Cup, and the Suffolk Senior Cup again, beating Haverhill Rovers 4–3 after extra time. In 2002–03 they won the league again by a margin of 28 points, and were promoted to Division One of the Eastern Counties League. In 2004–05 the club were promoted to the Premier Division after finishing third. On 26 December 2005 the club played its first league match against Lowestoft Town, attracting a record crowd of 1,124.

In 2007 the club merged with Pakefield F.C., and was renamed Kirkley & Pakefield.

Honours

Records