Sutton United F.C.
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Sutton United Football Club is an English football team currently playing in the Conference South. They play at the Borough Sports Ground in Gander Green Lane, Sutton which has been the club's home since 1911.
The club was formed on 5th March 1898 when Sutton Guild Rovers FC and Sutton Association FC (formerly Sutton St Barnabas FC) agreed to merge during a meeting at the Robin Hood Hotel (which still stands today). Sutton adopted their unique club colours of Amber & Chocolate after it was discovered that purchasing club caps in the planned Claret & Gold (similar to that now worn by Bradford City) was too expensive.
The club was a member of the Athenian League from 1921 to 1963, when it joined the Isthmian League and made its first appearance in the final of the FA Amateur Cup, losing 4-2 to Wimbledon (a game famous for Eddie Reynolds, the Wimbledon forward, scoring all four goals with his head). The club reached the final again in 1969, when, as strong favourites, they lost 2-1 to North Shields. The following year saw the club reach the 4th round of the FA Cup, when they were drawn at home to English champions and European Cup semi-finalists Leeds United. A club record crowd of 14,000 saw Sutton lose 6-0, but they drew praise from all quarters, including the Leeds and later England manager Don Revie. The club reached the final of the FA Trophy in 1981, but suffered their 3rd defeat at Wembley, 1-0 to Bishops Stortford.
The club won the Isthmian League championship in 1985. After refusing promotion to the Vauxhall Conference, they retained the championship the following year and this time accepted promotion. In January 1989, the club beat First Division Coventry City 2-1 in the third round of the FA Cup, joining a small number of non-league clubs to beat top-division opponents in the competition. In 1989 the club became the only English winners of the Anglo-Italian Cup, beating Chieti 2-1.
Sutton have claimed the scalps of several other League clubs in the FA Cup including Aldershot, Peterborough United, Torquay United and Colchester United.
In 1991, the club suffered relegation to the Isthmian League, but gained promotion again as champions in 1999. Unfortunately, the stay in the Conference lasted just one season as the U's were relegated again.
The club is also notable as the first-ever opponent of AFC Wimbledon, defeating the Dons 4-0 in a pre-season friendly in July 2002 in front of a 4500+ crowd.
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