52°44′58.6″N0°24′29.2″E / 52.749611°N 0.408111°E /52.749611; 0.408111
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| Full name | King's Lynn Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Linnets | ||
| Founded | 30 August 1881 | ||
| Dissolved | 2009 | ||
| Ground | The Walks,King's Lynn | ||
| Capacity | 5,733 (1,200 seated) | ||
King's Lynn Football Club was an Englishassociation football club based inKing's Lynn,Norfolk. The club was founded in 1881 and they werewound up at theHigh Court on 25 November 2009 with debts of £77,000, going out of business in December after a failed appeal.[1] The club was re-formed in January 2010 as Lynn FC and later renamedKing's Lynn Town.
It is not known when the first football club in King's Lynn was founded although there is mention of one existing in 1868.[2] That club ceased playing in the middle of the following decade. A new club was formed at a meeting on 30 August 1881.[3] Known locally asLynn Town, it is said they did not adopt the name King's Lynn until 1953.[4] In 1882–83 they won theNorfolk Senior Cup and went on to win it three more times in the next seven years. In 1897 they were founder members of theNorfolk & Suffolk League and were champions four times beforeWorld War I. After the war they won four consecutive titles between 1921–22 and 1924–25. During this period the club also played in theEast Anglian League, and were league runners-up in 1908–09[5]
In 1935 Lynn were founder members of theEastern Counties League. They left in 1946 to join theUnited Counties League, but returned to the ECL in 1948.[6] During the 1949–50 season they set the league's record attendance of 8,387 for a local derby withWisbech Town, and also set their own record later in the season when 12,931 saw them playExeter City in theFA Cup. In 1953–54 they won the league and league cup, and at the end of the season stepped up to theMidland League. Four years later they joined theSouthern League when it added a second division, becoming members of the South East Division for atransitional season. During their first season in the Southern League, the club reached the first round of the FA Cup, where they defeatedMerthyr Tydfil 2–1 to reach the second round for the first time, going on to lose 3–1 atBrentford. At the end of the season, they qualified for a place in the Southern Division of the Premier League for1959–60 season. The new season saw them defeat Football League opposition in the FA Cup for the first time, beatingAldershot 2–1 in the first round, before losing 4–2 atReading in the second round.
In1961–62 season saw King's Lynn reach the FA Cup third round for the first and only time. After beatingChelmsford City 2–1 in the first round, they defeatedCoventry City by the same scoreline atHighfield Road. In the third round the club were drawn away toEverton, where they lost 4–0. The club ended theleague season by being relegated to Division One but returned to the Premier Division after finishing second in1963–64. They won four successiveEast Anglian Cups between 1964–65 and 1967–68 but were relegated again at the end of the1970–71 season.
In 1980 the club transferred to theNorthern Premier League, winning thePresident's Cup in their third season in the league. In 1983 they returned to the Southern League and won the East Anglian Cup again in 1984–85. They were relegated to the Midland Division at the end of the1986–87 season, where they remained until finishing second in1995–96 and earning promotion back to the Premier Division. They were relegated again in2001–02 but returned to the Premier Division after winning Division One East in2003–04. They won the League Cup in 2004–05 and qualified for the promotion play-offs in2005–06 and2006–07 but lost on both occasions. Although they were promoted to theConference North as champions in2007–08, they were demoted a year later due to ground grading issues. Midway through theirfirst season back in the Northern Premier League the club folded due to financial difficulties.[7]
King's Lynn reserves played in thePeterborough & District League between 1928 and 1954, winning the title in 1950–51 and 1953–54. They then spent a season in the United Counties League, before returning to the Peterborough & District League. After a third title in 1956–57 they left to join theCentral Alliance. However, after applying for the reserve team to join the Eastern Counties League every year since 1956, they were finally successful in 1959. They remained in the ECL until 1971 when they returned to the Peterborough & District League. They won the Norfolk Senior Cup in 1982–83 and the league title in 1984–85. They returned to the ECL when it added a second division in 1988, and although they left in 1993, they returned again the following season. After disbanding in 1996 they were soon reformed and joined the reserve section of the United Counties League. They rejoined Division One of the ECL again in 2001 and were promoted to the Premier Division after finishing second in 2002–03.[8] They withdrew from the ECL when the club folded in 2009.On reformation the club won the United Counties League Reserve Division One in 2011 and United Counties League Reserve Premier Division in 2012.
King's Lynn played at the Walks for their entire existence, with the stadium name deriving from the area of park located next to the stadium. At the end of the 2008–09 season the club were informed that they would be relegated from the Conference North because the Walks failed to meet Conference North standards, although the remedial work was completed by the start of the following season.
