 | |||
| Full name | Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Yellows The Suds | ||
| Founded | 1999 | ||
| Ground | The Elite Travel Stadium,Sudbury | ||
| Capacity | 2,000 | ||
| Chairman | Andrew Harvison | ||
| Manager | Tom Austin (interim) | ||
| League | Southern League Premier Division Central | ||
| 2024–25 | Southern League Premier Division Central, 17th of 22 | ||
| Website | afcsudbury.co.uk | ||
Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury is afootball club based inSudbury, Suffolk, England. The club was formed in 1999 by the merger ofSudbury Town andSudbury Wanderers,[1] the process giving rise to the name Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury.[2] and went on to win theEastern Counties League Premier Division five seasons in a row as well as reaching the final of theFA Vase in three successive seasons, records for both competitions.[1][3] They are currently members of theSouthern League Premier Division Central and play at The Elite Travel Stadium in theBallingdon-Brundon area of Sudbury.
AFC Sudbury was formed on 1 June 1999 by the amalgamation of the town's two previous clubs,Sudbury Town (founded 1885) andSudbury Wanderers (founded 1958).[1] The new club played at Wanderers' ground, and were initially managed by Wanderers' Keith Martin.[4]
In their debut season,1999–2000, Sudbury finished in third place in theEastern Counties League Premier Division.[2] The following five seasons all resulted in Sudbury winning the Premier Division title – a league record.[1] Sudbury did not takepromotion at any of these opportunities, despite being entitled to. In this period Sudbury had a series of good performances in national cup competitions. In2000–01 the club reached the first round of theFA Cup, where they were beaten 6–1 byDarlington. They reached the semi-final of the 2001–02FA Vase, before being knocked out byTiptree United. The following three seasons saw Sudbury reaching the final each year (a Vase record), but being defeated every time, byBrigg Town in 2003 (after which Martin left the club and was replaced byGary Harvey),[5]Winchester City in 2004 andDidcot Town in 2005.[6] However, the club did win theSuffolk Premier Cup three times, in 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04.[7]
The financial constraints of owning two grounds led the board not to apply for promotion until the beginning of the2005–06 season. After finishing third in 2005–06, a season in which they won theEastern Counties League Cup,[2] and passing the necessary ground inspection Sudbury were invited to take promotion into a resurrectedIsthmian League Division One North, following the re-structuring of theNational League System. Potential legal action from theNorthern Premier League nearly scuppered this move,[8] but Sudbury started 2006–07 in the new division. The management team of Gary Harvey andMichael Cheetham, who took the team up, both resigned before the season could begin, citing work and family commitments, respectively. New manager Mark Morsley was appointed in May 2006, signed fromNeedham Market. Sudbury'sfirst season at this level saw the club finish in fifth place, qualifying them for the promotion play-offs. After beatingEnfield Town in the semi-final, Sudbury lost toHarlow Town in a penalty shootout.[9] Sudbury again qualified for the play-offs in2007–08, finishing second in the table, but were defeated in the semi-final by eventual winnersCanvey Island.[10] In theclose-season manager Morsley resigned,[11] and was replaced by his assistantNicky Smith.[12]
Sudbury were moved into theSouthern League Division One Midlands for2008–09 following a restructuring of the English football pyramid.[13] After two seasons of mid-table finishes the club was moved back to the Isthmian League Division One North for2010–11.[14] Smith resigned in September 2011 and was replaced by his assistant Chris Tracey.[15] At the start of the2013–14, Sudbury appointedWroxham manager David Batch as their new manager, after Chris Tracey left the club. Sudbury reached the final of the Isthmian League Cup in April 2014, but lost 3–0 away toMaidstone United.[16] Batch left to joinSt Neots Town at the end of 2014,[17][18] and was replaced by Jamie Godbold.[19] Godbold led the club to a third-place finish and qualification for the play-offs, where they were defeated byBrentwood Town in the semi-final.[20] Thefollowing season Sudbury won the division with three games to spare, earning promotion to the Premier Division.[21] Their stay in the division only lastedone season as they were relegated back to Division One North at the end of the campaign, the club's first-ever relegation.[22] Mark Morsley re-joined as first team manager in early 2017–18.[23]
In 2021 Sudbury reached the first round of theFA Cup for a second time, causing an upset by beatingDartford 3–1 in the fourth qualifying round, who were two tiers above Sudbury, top of the league and unbeaten.[24] In the first round, they were drawn at home against nearbyLeague Two sideColchester United, losing 4–0 in front of a record but reduced capacity attendance of 2,000. The match was broadcast live onBBC Two and shown in 78 countries.[25][26] The2022–23 season saw them finish second in the North Division, going on to defeatGrays Athletic in the play-off semi-finals, before beatingHeybridge Swifts after extra time in the final to earn promotion to the Premier Division Central of the Southern League.[27]
| Season | Division | Position | Significant events |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | Eastern Counties League Premier Division | 3/21 | – |
| 2000–01 | Eastern Counties League Premier Division | 1/22 | Champions, declined promotion. Reached first round ofFA Cup |
| 2001–02 | Eastern Counties League Premier Division | 1/22 | Champions, declined promotion. Reached semi-final ofFA Vase.Suffolk Premier Cup winners |
| 2002–03 | Eastern Counties League Premier Division | 1/23 | Champions, declined promotion. FA Vase runner-up. Suffolk Premier Cup winners |
| 2003–04 | Eastern Counties League Premier Division | 1/22 | Champions, declined promotion. FA Vase runner-up. Suffolk Premier Cup winners |
| 2004–05 | Eastern Counties League Premier Division | 1/22 | Champions, declined promotion. FA Vase runner-up |
| 2005–06 | Eastern Counties League Premier Division | 3/22 | Promoted. Eastern Counties League cup winners. |
| 2006–07 | Isthmian League Division One North | 5/22 | Lost in play-off final |
| 2007–08 | Isthmian League Division One North | 2/22 | Lost in play-off semi-final; transferred to Southern League |
| 2008–09 | Southern League Division One Midlands | 12/22 | |
| 2009–10 | Southern League Division One Midlands | 14/22 | Transferred to Isthmian League |
| 2010–11 | Isthmian League Division One North | 7/21 | |
| 2011–12 | Isthmian League Division One North | 8/22 | |
| 2012–13 | Isthmian League Division One North | 17/22 | |
| 2013–14 | Isthmian League Division One North | 10/24 | |
| 2014–15 | Isthmian League Division One North | 3/24 | Lost in play-off semi-final |
| 2015–16 | Isthmian League Division One North | 1/24 | Champions, promoted |
| 2016–17 | Isthmian League Premier Division | 23/24 | Relegated |
| 2017–18 | Isthmian League North Division | 12/24 | |
| 2018–19 | Isthmian League North Division | 8/20 | |
| 2019–20 | Isthmian League North Division | – | Season abandoned due to coronavirus pandemic |
| 2020–21 | Isthmian League North Division | – | Season abandoned due to coronavirus pandemic |
| 2021–22 | Isthmian League North Division | 7/20 | Reached first round of FA Cup |
| 2022–23 | Isthmian League North Division | 2/20 | Play-off winners, promoted |
| 2023–24 | Southern League Premier Central | 18/21 | |
| 2024–25 | Southern League Premier Central | 17/22 |
The AFC Sudbury reserve team initially played in the Reserves section of theEastern Counties League before joining Division One of the league at the start of the 2013–14 season, at which point it was renamed AFC Sudbury Reserves/Under-21s. In the team's second season in Division One they won the First Division Knock-Out Cup, after beatingGreat Yarmouth Town 1–0. Currently AFC Sudbury Reserves find themselves in the Thurlow Nunn league, the 10th tier of English football.
The AFC Sudbury women's team took overSudbury Wanderers' place in Division Two of theEastern Region Women's Football League in 1999. However, they dropped out the league at the end of the 2001–02 season. They returned to the league in 2010 and were placed in Division One North. After being promoted from Division One North to the Premier Division at the end of the 2014–15 season,[28] the club achieved consecutive promotions in 2021–22 and 2022–23 to reach theFA Women's National League Division One South East, the fourth tier of women's football. The Women's First Team have won the Suffolk FA County Cup three times, the last two being in 2023–24 and 2024–25.
The club's academy team plays in the Eastern Counties Youth League,[29] whilst it has an under-19 teams inthe Football Conference Youth Alliance. The club has two youth sections, one playing from U7s through to U16s in the Suffolk Youth League and the other being a pathway to the academy for ages U9 to U16 for boys playing in the Colchester & District Youth League first then Eastern Junior Alliance for U13s upwards, and U11s to U16s girls teams playing in the Junior Premier League.
AFC Sudbury's club colours are yellow and blue, the same as those of Sudbury Town.[30] The club's second choice kit, usually when away from home, is all red for the men's first team, all pink for the women's first team and blue for the youth teams, although in past seasons other colours have been used, such as all white in the2007–08 season[31] and fuchsia in the 2024–25 season.
The club badge is the town crest of Sudbury, which incorporates atalbot dog with itstongue sticking out. This was augmented with a banner containing the club's name in early 2018.[32]
AFC Sudbury play their home games at the 2,500 capacity King's Marsh Stadium in theBallingdon-Brundon area of Sudbury, previously home toSudbury Wanderers.[33][34] At the time of AFC Sudbury's formation the ground consisted of two pitches, a training area, clubhouse, floodlights, a 200-seat stand on the West side of the main pitch and covered ends behind the goals.[1] A 300-capacity terrace (the Shed) was constructed on the East side of the pitch in 2000 and houses the more vocal section of the crowd.[1] A new clubhouse, also containing a grassroots football and education centre, was completed in 2010.[35] The ground is fully enclosed by fencing and there areturnstiles at the main entrance.[1] In 2025 a second 3G pitch was installed at the site.
AFC Sudbury sold Sudbury Town's former ground, the Priory Stadium, to a housing developer in June 2007. The money from this sale was earmarked for paying off loans, andcapital gains tax, as well as a newclubhouse and changing rooms.[36]Planning permission for the construction of the new facilities was granted byBabergh District Council in August 2008, though various conditions regarding issues such as possible landcontamination, the site'sarchaeological value, risk of flooding anddrainage are required to be addressed before work may commence.[37]
A 3Gartificial turf pitch was installed prior to the 2015–16 season.[38]
52°2′24.533″N0°42′58.180″E / 52.04014806°N 0.71616111°E /52.04014806; 0.71616111
