 | |||
| Full name | Chichester City Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Lillywhites | ||
| Founded | 2000 | ||
| Ground | Oaklands Park,Chichester | ||
| Capacity | 2,000[1] | ||
| Chairman | Andrew Bell | ||
| Manager | Miles Rutherford | ||
| League | Isthmian League Premier Division | ||
| 2024–25 | Isthmian League Premier Division, 6th of 22 | ||
| Website | https://chichestercityfc.co.uk/ | ||
Chichester City Football Club is a semi-professionalfootball club based inChichester,West Sussex,England. Affiliated to theSussex County Football Association, they are currently members of theIsthmian League Premier Division and play at Oaklands Park.
The club was established in 2000 as a merger ofChichester City andPortfield, and was originally namedChichester City United.[2] Both clubs were in Division One of theSussex County League, with the new club taking their place in the division, with the new club losing their first league match 5–1 at home toSaltdean United.[3] They were Division One champions in2003–04. The following season saw them finish sixteenth,[2] although they won the Brighton Charity Cup, beatingHorsham on penalties in the final.[3] They retained it in 2005–06, defeatingRingmer 2–1 in the final.[3]
In 2006–07 Chichester won theSussex RUR Cup with a 2–1 win overWhitehawk in the final.[3] In 2009 the club was renamed Chichester City.[4] The league was renamed the Southern Combination in 2015, with Division One becoming the Premier Division. In2018–19 the club were Premier Division champions, earning promotion to the South East Division of theIsthmian League. In2019–20 they reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, and were then given a bye to the second round due toBury having been removed from the competition.[5] In the second round they lost 5–1 toLeague One sideTranmere Rovers.[6] In2023–24 the club finished fifth in the Isthmian League South East Division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beatingRamgate 1–0 in the semi-finals, they defeatedThree Bridges 5–0 in the final to earn promotion to the Premier Division.
The club originally played at Portfield's Church Road, with the agreement thatChichester District Council would sell the ground for housing and use the funds to redevelop Chichester City's Oaklands Park ground.[7] They moved to Oaklands Park in 2008 after a 100-seat stand was installed; the final match at Church Road was a 5–4 win againstThree Bridges on 19 April.[3] A new clubhouse and changing rooms were completed in 2010, with hardstanding installed on all four sides of the pitch.[7] An artificial pitch was installed in 2023–24.[8]
50°50′33.040″N0°46′31.480″W / 50.84251111°N 0.77541111°W /50.84251111; -0.77541111
