Full name | Bury Town Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Blues |
Founded | 1872 |
Ground | Ram Meadow, Bury St Edmunds |
Capacity | 3,500 (300 seated) |
Chairman | Russell Ward |
Manager | Ben Chenery |
League | Isthmian League Division One North |
2016–17 | Isthmian League Division One North, 11/24 |
Website | Club home page |
Bury Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Division One North and play at Ram Meadow.
The club was established by William Lake at a meeting in the Suffolk Hotel in 1872. Initially named Bury St Edmunds Football Club, the first committee of the club elected to choose royal blue as the club's colours. In 1885 they were one of eleven founder members of the Suffolk FA and voted to change their name to Bury Town. In 1895 the club's name reverted to Bury St Edmunds, then to Bury United in 1908 and back to Bury Town in 1923.
The club joined the Norfolk & Suffolk League in 1899, but left midway through the 1901–02 season. They subsequently became members of the South East Anglian League in 1904 and finished bottom of the league in 1905–06. They rejoined the Norfolk & Suffolk League in 1920, leaving again in 1929 and rejoining again in 1932. During this time they also played in the Essex & Suffolk Border League. In 1935 the club moved into senior football by becoming founder members of the Eastern Counties League. They gained their first honour when they won the Suffolk Senior Cup in 1936–37, a trophy they retained for the next two seasons. 1937–38 saw the club achieve its best pre-war league position of runners-up, before the competition was suspended due to the outbreak of World War II. Bury Town won the Suffolk Senior Cup for the fourth time in 1945 before resuming league action in 1946.
In 1958–59 Bury Town became the first ever winners of the Suffolk Premier Cup and went on to retain the trophy for the next three seasons. In 1961–62 the Eastern Counties League Cup was won for the first time and then in 1963–64 the club won the Eastern Counties League Championship for the only time in its history, recording a "treble" by winning the League Cup and the Suffolk Premier Cup for the fifth time. This success prompted the club to join the Metropolitan League in 1964 when once again, they won the Suffolk Premier Cup. During the 1965–66 campaign, Bury Town recorded yet another “treble” winning the Metropolitan League Championship, the Metropolitan League Professional Cup and for the seventh time, the Suffolk Premier Cup. In 1967–68 the Blues won the Metropolitan League Cup for the only time and finished runners-up in the league.