Full name | Sutton United Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | The U's The Amber and Chocolates The Yellows |
Founded | 5 March 1898 |
Ground | Gander Green Lane, Sutton |
Capacity | 5,013 (765 seated) |
Chairman | Bruce Elliott |
Manager | Paul Doswell |
League | National League |
2016–17 | National League, 12/24 |
Website | Club home page |
Sutton United Football Club is a football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. They play home games at Gander Green Lane, close to West Sutton Station. The club is an FA Charter Standard Community Club affiliated to the Surrey County Football Association.
Sutton started out playing in junior, local leagues, but progressed into the Athenian League in 1921; the Isthmian League in 1964; and the Conference in 1986. The team fell back into the Isthmian League in 1991. They appeared in the Conference for one more season in 1999–2000, and were founding members of the Conference South (now known as National League South) in 2004. Sutton won the National League South in 2015–16 and since 2016–17 have competed in the National League, one tier below the Football League.
The team has had several cup successes, including playing at Wembley in the FA Amateur Cup final twice and in the FA Trophy final in 1981. Sutton won the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1979, but the club is most famous for its FA Cup "giant killing" exploits, most notably in the 1988–89 season, when they defeated Coventry City 2–1 in the 3rd Round. The Coventry team was composed mostly of star international players and had won the competition in 1987. In the 2016–17 season, Sutton reached the 5th Round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, beating three Football League teams (Cheltenham Town, AFC Wimbledon and Leeds United) before losing 2–0 at home to Arsenal.