Cambridge FC

Cambridge F.C. is a soccer club based in Cambridge, New Zealand. It currently plays in the NRFL Division 2, a semi-professional football league in that country.

Not to be confused with Cambridge United F.C., Cambridge City F.C., or Cambridge University A.F.C..

Cambridge
Full nameCambridge Football Club
Nickname(s)Reds
Founded1948 (1948)
GroundJohn Kerkhof Park, Cambridge
Capacity1,200
ChairmanSteve Thomas
CoachPaul Richardson
LeagueNRFL Division 2
20195th
WebsiteClub website

In 2019, they finished 5th in the league.[1] The club had won promotion to the league in 2017 after a two-legged play-off series against Auckland's Beachlands Maraetai FC.[2]

They were the 2017[3] and 2015 champions[4] of the WaiBOP Premiership, run by the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Football Federation.

Cambridge has five senior men's teams and one women's teams competing in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions. Men's teams play in the WaiBOP Championship (formerly Federation Two), and in the Waikato 3rd and 4th divisions. The women's team plays in the Waikato Women's League. The club also fields boys' and girls' youth teams and has more than 500 junior team players (under 16).

Club history

The club was founded in 1948 and has played at John Kerkhof Park, Cambridge, New Zealand, since 1967. The teams play in red and white, a legacy of the club's first president Vic Butler's support of Arsenal F.C..[4]

Playing record

The club achieved its first significant success at senior level, winning the Northern League's 4th Division (South) in 1984 and again in 1986. In 1989, it won the Northern League 3rd division title.

Cambridge reached new heights in 1993, winning the Northern League 2nd division without losing a game. In 1995, it won the first division and earned promotion to the Northern League's premier division, the highest level the club has played in its history. After only one season, the club was relegated and a year later was relegated again, dropping to the 2nd division.

After almost 40 years in the Northern League, Cambridge was relegated from the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2 in 2011 after finishing 12th and losing the challenger series playoff vs Manukau City AFC.

The club elected to drop two divisions into the Waikato Bay of Plenty Football Federation Division Two to rebuild under coach Karl Dagnall and won promotion in 2012 to Waikato Bay of Plenty Football Federation Division One.

In 2014, the club finished runners-up in Waikato Bay of Plenty Football Federation Division One and won the WaiBOP Federation Challenge Shield.

In 2015, the club won the WaiBOP Premiership and qualified for play-offs to win promotion to the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2 but lost the two-match series to Auckland champions Waitemata FC.[4]

The club were runners-up in the 2016 WaiBOP Premiership.[5]

In 2017, Cambridge won the WaiBOP Premiership[3] and the WaiBOP Championship, the Waikato/Bay of Plenty's top competitions.[6]

The club also retained the WaiBOP Challenge Shield, as well as winning the Waikato Women's League.[7]

Cambridge's U-19 youth team won the 2017 Satellite Final of the National Youth Tournament in Napier.[8]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  NZL Fraser Nicholls
2 DF  NZL Elliot Cooper
3 DF  SCO Thomas Purves
4 DF  NZL Patrick Woodlock
5 MF  FRA Auguste Hirsinger
6 MF  FRA Hugo Stalin
7 DF  NZL Kieran Hill
8 DF  NZL Daniel Clarkin (Captain)
9 MF  NZL Marc Glenister
10 FW  NZL Dylan Blair
No. Pos. Nation Player
11 FW  NZL Ewan Donald
12 DF  NZL Kerin Vollebregt
13 MF  COL Fabian Munoz
14 FW  NZL Joshua Nooijen
15 FW  NZL Joshua Clarkin
16 MF  NZL Michael Cosgrave
17 FW  NZL Tom Woutersen
18 FW  NZL Zac Mayo
21 DF  NZL Blair Pennell
22 GK  PAK Fazeel Aqil

Coaches

The club appointed the following coaching/management teams for recent seasons:

2012: Karl Dagnall (coach), Andrew Jones (team manager).

2013: Karl Dagnall (coach), Andrew Jones (team manager).

2014: Norm Rose (coach), Ray Pooley (director of football), Robbie Greenhalgh (assistant coach), Kim Brierley (goalkeeper coach), Shane Ridgway (manager).[9]

2015: Brett Clark (co-coach), Mike Woodlock (co-coach), Robbie Greenhalgh (assistant coach), Kim Brierley (goalkeeper coach), Chrissy Goodin (team manager).

2016: Brett Clark (co-coach), Mike Woodlock (co-coach), Kim Brierley (goalkeeper coach), Chrissy Goodin (team manager).

2017: Mike Woodlock (coach), Steve Thomas (assistant coach), Kim Brierley (goalkeeper coach), Chrissy Goodin (team manager).

2018: Mike Woodlock (coach, retired in May 2018)[10], Paul Richardson (coach, appointed in May 2018), Ray Pooley (assistant coach), Kim Brierley (goalkeeper coach), Chrissy Goodin (team manager).[11]

2019: Paul Richardson (head coach), Richard Wade and Blair Hoad (assistant coaches), Kim Brierley (goalkeeper coach), Fairlie Morton (team manager).[12]

2020: Paul Richardson (head coach), Richard Wade and Blair Hoad (assistant coaches), Kim Brierley (goalkeeper coach), Nicola Brierley (team manager), Clarke McKenzie (physio).[13]

Since January 2017, former All Whites player and coach Ricki Herbert has been the Technical Director for the club.[14]

In October 2017, the club and the Ricki Herbert Football Academy announced a partnership to run a young player development programme at the Cambridge club.[15]

Regional and national participation

Every summer since 2011, the club has staged the Cambridge Sevens[16] which are one-day tournaments for men's and women's teams drawn from the upper North Island of New Zealand.

In 2013, the club hosted premium events such as the Soccer Shop Waikato Cup Final,[17] the Waikato v Bay of Plenty All Stars game,[18] and the WaiBOP Women's All Stars v WaiBOP National League side.

After successfully hosting these games,[19] the club was appointed as the home ground for five ASB Premiership matches for new franchise WaiBOP United.[20] This meant Cambridge became one of six bases for national league football in New Zealand (the others are Auckland, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin).

The appointment led to the club becoming an all-year operation, with investment in better facilities including upgraded playing surfaces, new changing rooms[21] and a new irrigation system. In late 2014, WaiBOP United announced Cambridge would continue to be the team's home base with five more ASB Premiership matches played in early 2015. For the 2015–16 season, WaiBOP United announced they were moving their home games from Cambridge's John Kerkhof Park to Waikato Stadium to enable a television deal to cover ASB Premiership games.

National league football returned to Cambridge in 2018 when the club hosted a match for ISPS Handa Premiership team Hamilton Wanderers and two of that club's National Youth League fixtures.[22] In 2019, the club hosted a national league double header when Hamilton Wanderers played Auckland City in the National Youth League and the ISPS Handa Premiership.[23]

In 2016, the club's John Kerkhof Park became the training base and home ground for the WaiBOP team in New Zealand's National Women's League, hosting three NWL games in each of the 2016 and 2017 seasons. In 2019, Cambridge was named as the host club for six NWL games and the training base for the WaiBOP team.[24]

The club staged its first international match on 25 May 2015 when Hungary and Fiji met in a warm-up match[25] for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup being held in New Zealand.

The club hosted the finals of the Soccer Shop men's Waikato Cup and Plate in 2013, 2016, 2017[26] and 2019.[27] It hosted the women's Waikato Cup and Plate finals in 2016, 2018[28]and 2019.[27]

Achievements

The club's first significant off-field achievement was winning Waipa District's Sports Club of the Year award in 2001, an award it won again in 2014 and 2015.[4]

The club's success at hosting regional and national matches led to it winning the Supreme Award at the 2014 Trustpower Waipa District Community Awards,[29] and the club represented Waipa at the national community awards[30] in Wellington in March 2015.

The club had previously won the Trustpower Waipa District Community Awards (Sports) award in 2010.[4] The club won another award for community service in December 2016, the Waikato Community Partnership Award, for its work with those ordered by the courts to perform community work.[31]

In June 2014, the club was named Club of the Year for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty,[32] winning WaiBOP Football's Colin Bell/Ron White Memorial Trophy.

In November 2014, the club was named Sports Club of the Year at the Waipa Networks District Sports Awards[33] and in January 2015 was a finalist for the Waikato Sports Club of the Year.[4] Former club chairman Greg Zeuren was named Sports Administrator of the Year at the Waipa awards[34] and won the Waikato Sports Administrator of the Year title in 2015.[35]

In 2014, the club won two WaiBOP Football Best Practice Awards, for its sponsorship practices and for the participation of women in the club.[31]

The club won the New Zealand Match Programme of the Year Award for 2011,[36] and the publication was highly commended in the awards for 2012 and 2013.

In August 2015, the club was awarded New Zealand Football's Quality Club Mark (QCM), Level 1 Star, which is a quality assurance standard used to measure the proficiency of clubs. Cambridge became one of the first clubs in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region to attain the QCM.[37]

In November 2015, the club won the Waipa Sports Club of the Year award for the second year in a row.[31]

The club's WaiBOP Premiership-winning first team won the 2017 Waipa Sports Team of the Year award.[38]

Long-serving club president Peter Martens was awarded a Queen's Service Medal for services to football in the 2020 New Year Honours. [39]

In January 2020, the club jointly won (with Cambridge Junior Cricket Association) an award for Innovation in Sport at the Sport Waikato annual awards after forming a ground-sharing partnership with the cricketers.[40]

International players

Probably the club's best known past player is New Zealand international striker Chris Wood who joined English Premier League club Burnley in August 2017 from English Championship club Leeds United[41] after he moved to Leeds in July 2015 from Leicester City.[42]

Other full internationals who played their junior football at Cambridge FC include All White Che Bunce and Football Ferns Katie Duncan and Tayla Christensen.[4]

Two New Zealand international women's players, Maria Anderton and Andrea Rogers played senior football for the club with Anderton receiving a Special Achievement Award when retiring from competitive football in 2014 after more than 800 matches.[4] Rogers was named the club's women's Player of the Year for 2017.[43]

Former player Robbie Greenhalgh is a former New Zealand Under 17 player, while one of the club's former junior players, Jamie Woodlock, represented New Zealand at the Oceania Under 17 Championships in January 2015.[44]

Former Cambridge junior and youth player Grace Wisnewski scored three goals at the 2018 U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup in Uruguay in which New Zealand came third at the tournament. [45]

Goalkeeper Patrick Steele has represented New Zealand at futsal, playing for the national U-18 team.[46]

Notable players

Captain Patrick Woodlock was named the WaiBOP Premiership's Player of the Year for 2015 and 2017[47] and won the club's Jim Barry Player of the Year[48] trophy for the sixth time in 2017, setting a new club record.

Since 1991, the club has awarded the Jim Barry Memorial Trophy to its Player of the Year.

YearPlayer of the Year
1991 Michael Welton
1992 Alex Stuttard
1993 Tony McIsaac
1994 Gary Board
1995 Ramon Messam
1996 Mark Stuttard/Wayne Gulletly (joint winners)
1997 Richard Hill
1998 Tony Dikmans
1999 Richard Hill
2000 Tony Dikmans
2001 Kelvin Rogers
2002 Kelvin Rogers
2003 Tony McIsaac
2004 Sam Messam
2005 Tony McIsaac
2006 Tony McIsaac
2007 Charlie Boyle
2008 Patrick Woodlock
2009 Jason Chewins
2010 Ryan McNamara
2011 Scott Parsonage
2012 Jack Taylor
2013 Patrick Woodlock
2014 Patrick Woodlock
2015 Patrick Woodlock
2016 Patrick Woodlock
2017 Patrick Woodlock
2018 Andrew Taylor
2019 Josh Clarkin

League record
YearCompetitionDivisionPosition
1972 Northern League 4 2nd – promoted
1973 Northern League 3 7th
1974 Northern League 3 8th
1975 Northern League 3 9th – relegated
1976 Waikato Competition 1 3rd
1977 Waikato Competition 1 2nd
1978 Waikato Competition 1 unknown
1979 Northern League 4 (South) 3rd
1980 Northern League 4 (South) 8th
1981 Northern League 4 (South) 8th
1982 Northern League 4 (South) 7th
1983 Northern League 4 (South) 8th
1984 Northern League 4 (South) 1st – promoted
1985 Northern League 3 9th – relegated
1986 Northern League 4 (South) 1st – promotion
1987 Northern League 3 6th
1988 Northern League 3 10th
1989 Northern League 3 1st – promoted
1990 Northern League 2 4th
1991 Northern League 2 5th
1992 Northern League 2 7th
1993 Northern League 2 1st – promoted
1994 Northern League 1 4th
1995 Northern League 1 1st – promoted
1996 Northern League Premier 9th – relegated
1997 Northern League 1 12th – relegated
1998 Northern League 2 10th
1999 Northern League 2 10th
2000 Northern League 2 9th
2001 Northern League 2 4th
2002 Northern League 2 3rd
2003 Northern League 2 10th
2004 Northern League 2 5th
2005 Northern League 2 9th
2006 Northern League 2 5th
2007 Northern League 2 5th
2008 Northern League 1 (restructured) 9th
2009 Northern League 1 12th
2010 – a Northern League 1 (grading) 15th
2010 – b Northern League 1 (provisional) 9th
2011 Northern League 2 12th – relegated
2012 Waikato/Bay of Plenty Federation 2 2nd – promoted
2013 Waikato/Bay of Plenty Federation 1 5th
2014 Waikato/Bay of Plenty Federation 1 2nd
2015 Waikato/Bay of Plenty WaiBOP Premiership 1st – champions
2016 Waikato/Bay of Plenty WaiBOP Premiership 2nd
2017 Waikato/Bay of Plenty WaiBOP Premiership 1st – champions
2018 Northern League 2 7th
2019 Northern League 2 5th

Cup competitions

Chatham Cup

Cambridge have reached the third round of New Zealand's oldest cup competition 12 times, the furthest the club has progressed.[49].

YearRound reachedResult
1972 3rd Lost 3–2 to Claudelands Rovers
1974 3rd Lost 7–1 to Hamilton
1984 3rd Lost 3–1 to Lyndale (Auckland)
1994 3rd Lost 6–2 to Mount Wellington (Auckland)
1995 3rd Lost 4–2 to Mount Wellington (Auckland)
1996 3rd Lost 5–1 to University of Auckland
1999 3rd Lost 3–2 to Mt Albert-Ponsonby (Auckland)
2004 3rd Lost 5–1 to Lynn Avon United (Auckland)
2005 3rd Lost 2–1 to Whakatane Town
2007 3rd Lost 4–0 to Manurewa (Auckland)
2008 3rd Lost 1–0 to Forrest Hill-Milford (Auckland)
2014 3rd Lost 4–2 to Birkenhead United (Auckland)

Waikato Cup and Plate

In 2008, Cambridge won the Waikato Cup.[50]

In 2013, Cambridge were beaten finalists in the Waikato Cup, losing 5–1 to Hamilton Wanderers. The club's C team won the Plate in 2013, beating Waihi 4–3.

Cambridge again reached the final of the Waikato Cup in 2017 when the club's B team lost 2–0 to Otorohanga.[51]

Waikato Women's Cup and Plate

The club's women's first team won the 2014 Waikato Cup.[52] They were beaten finalists in 2013, 2015 and 2018.[53]

The club were runners-up in the 2016 Waikato Plate.

Tournaments

Cambridge's U-19 youth team, coached by Adrian Clark, won the 2017 Satellite Final of the National Youth Tournament in Napier.[54]

It was the club's first success at the tournament since 2007 when the Mike Woodlock-coached Cambridge team won the Satellite Final 2–1 against Dunedin Technical.

In 2006, the Cambridge team won the Satellite Final 1–0 against Ellerslie but were deemed to have breached tournament rules. The squad included future All White Chris Wood and he was ruled ineligible to play at the tournament because he was 14 (and the minimum playing age was 15).[55]

In 2009, Cambridge (again coached by Woodlock) were beaten 1–0 in the Satellite Final by Dunedin.

gollark: Anyway, observe.
gollark: On a ballistic trajectory, yes.
gollark: Continually.
gollark: Just propel them.
gollark: Only if you're bad.

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