Full name | Kingstonian Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | The K's The Ks |
Founded | November 9, 1885 |
Ground | Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames |
Capacity | 4,850 (2,265 seated) |
Chairman | Mark Anderson John Fenwick Malcolm Winwright |
Manager | Craig Edwards |
League | Isthmian League Premier Division |
2015–16 | Isthmian League Premier Division, 7th |
Website | www |
Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club play at Kingsmeadow in Kingston-upon-Thames, which has been their home since 1989, when they left their original Richmond Road ground. They share the ground with AFC Wimbledon, who purchased the lease of Kingsmeadow in 2003.
Kingstonian Football Club was founded in 1885 by the Young Man's Christian Association, named Kingston & Surbiton YMCA, and began competing properly in 1893 in the Surrey Junior Cup. There was a split before the start of the 1908-1909 season which damaged the club, the two clubs were named Old Kingstonians and Kingston-on-Thames A.F.C. After period of quiet during World War I, the two clubs re-united and joined the Athenian League in 1919, named Kingstonian. In 1929, their application to join the Isthmian League was accepted, and they have competed there to the present day. The club, nicknamed "The K's" or "The Ks", spent three seasons at the highest level of non-league football, 1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01, and have won the FA Trophy twice, in consecutive seasons, in 1999 and 2000.
Kingstonian was formed in autumn 1885, under the name Kingston & Surbiton YMCA. In the period, rugby was the dominant sport in the town, but the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was unable to support a rugby club. This influenced their decision to create a club to play "Football under Association rules". The new club played their first fixture on 28 November 1885 losing 3–1 to Surbiton Hill with home games played at Bushey Park before moving to the Spring grove the following season. Over the two years the club played only friendly matches against other football teams in the region.