Gymnasium F.C.
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| Full name | Gymnasium Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Gymns |
| Founded | 1890 |
| Ground | Tromode Park, Tromode Road Douglas, Isle of Man |
| League | Isle of Man Football League Division Two |
| 2016–17 | Division Two, 8/13 |
Gymnasium F.C. are a football club from Douglas on the Isle of Man. They compete in the Isle of Man Football League. They wear a navy and white shirt, black shorts, black socks and play their home games at Tromode Park in Douglas.
Gymnasium AFC was founded in 1890 by a group of businessmen who wanted to keep fit. They met at the old Douglas Gymnasium and initially played rugby before making the switch to football. Gymns were one of 8 teams that initially made up the official Manx Football League.
They have been Isle of Man Football League champions seven times, including four consecutive championships from 1902–03 to 1905–06. They have won the Manx FA Cup ten times.
The club experienced an internal power struggle during 1987, resulting in the resignation of a section of the committee and players to form Douglas Royal, who even copied the Gymns kit of the time and to this day consider themselves rivals (despite being in the lower leagues).
In 2001–02 they were relegated to Division Two but were promoted again the following season as runners-up. However they spent just one season back in the First Division finishing the season winning just two games. And yet again the following season, 2004–05, they were immediately promoted as runners-up. Since this time the club has consolidated its position within the top tier and continues to climb the table each season.
In addition to the Senior team, the club has a reserve team that play in the Isle of Man Football Combination and a Ladies team which plays in the Women's Division One. Plans are being reviewed to create a Youth program within the club to compete at all age groups and it is anticipated that this will be in place for the 2010–11 season.
Thanks to links with a prominent Premier League club, Gymns were donated a playing kit for the 2002–03 season. Unfortunately a mix up in communication resulted in blue/white stripe shirts being provided instead of the clubs traditional all-white. As a result, Gymns altered the club colours that season to reflect this new kit, later switching the shorts and socks from Blue to Black and thus creating the home strip worn today.
During the 2008–09 season, the club achieved The Football Association Charter Standard status, the FA's kitemark scheme for quality assurance.
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