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How a 116-year-old club forged a path to a new home

Tom Jackson/BBC An image of Cambridge City's new stadium, showing the main stand with a sunrise scene in the backgroundTom Jackson/BBC
Cambridge City FC will play their first game at the new FWD/IP Community Stadium on Saturday

A 116-year-old city football club is preparing for a new chapter in its history with its first fixture at a brand new stadium.

Cambridge City FC will play their first game at the new FWD/IP Community Stadium in the nearby village of Sawston on Saturday, after sharing a ground with both St Ives and Histon since 2012-13.

Club historian and former player, Neil Harvey, 60, first began delving into the Isthmian League team's highs and lows after he started following City on leaving school aged 18.

"Officially, it's our 24th venue since the club was set up in 1908," he said, although the high number of bases was mostly due to it playing at many different venues before World War One.

E Gill/Neil Harvey A black and white photograph from 1912 showing 27 men sitting and standing in rows. Many of the men are dressed in suits with waistcoats, but others are dressed in football kit, and one is holding a football. There is large (2ft/0.6m) trophy showing a winged male figure holding a laurel leaf and trampling on a figure belowE Gill/Neil Harvey
Cambridge Town FC - as it was then known - with the International du Nord Trophy, won in Tourcoing, Lille, France, in 1912, when their players were amateur townsfolk

"It's like, wow, is this really our football club?" said Mr Harvey about the new stadium as it prepares to be ready for the visit of Tilbury in the Isthmian's Northern Division, which is in tier eight of the English football league pyramid.

Cambridge City Football Club The close-up of the front cover of Cambridge City's souvenir programme for the last match at its Milton Road ground, focusing on the top half showing a black and white image of the club's opening ceremony in 1922. Written at its top is The Lilywhites. Taken from a souvenir programme from its last game at Milton Road in 2013Cambridge City Football Club
The club traditionally played in white shirts, earning the team its nickname The Lilywhites, and it moved to Milton Road in 1922

"It was the nearest club to where I grew up on the north side of Cambridge and in the early 1980s I was working in Shire Hall with a former player called Brian Holmes, who played for the club in the 1950s," he said.

As well as delving into archives, he was regularly attending matches, even getting the chance to play for his team.

"I'd gone to watch the reserves one Saturday afternoon, and not long before kick-off I was asked if I had my kit with me as one of the subs hadn't turned up," Mr Harvey said.

"I joined the bench for the match and with 15 minutes to go, playing Harlow Town reserves at Milton Road, I came on and made my first appearance."

Pauline Muncey A blurry image of Neil Harvey in black and white football strip on the Milton Road pitch. He is looking towards the left and smiling. It was taken during a Cambridge City 'Legends' against BBC Radio Cambridgeshire at Milton Road in May 2010Pauline Muncey
Neil Harvey still occasionally plays for the Lillywhites' Legends teams, saying: "I'm not sure if I really qualify as a 'Legend', but when offered the chance to play I wasn't going to turn it down"
Aero Pictorial Limited A black and white aerial shot of Cambridge City's Milton Road ground in 1960. The ground takes up much of the shot and shows two covered stands at its top and bottom sides. Tall scaffolding towers for spot lights can be seen at all corners of the ground. On the top left and along the bottom can be seen houses and gardens Aero Pictorial Limited
The big change for The Lilywhites came in 1958 when the club turned professional and so instead of local players, it began recruiting from all over the country

The club was set up by a group of Edwardian, middle-class residents who dubbed it Cambridge Town - the university town was not granted city status until 1951.

After World War One, it found a permanent home at Milton Road where it stayed for 91 years.

Mr Harvey said it was proudly amateur in the inter-war period, developing a fierce rivalry with Ipswich Town FC, but declining to go professional with the Suffolk club in 1936.

Eric Fernandez A black and white image of a football match taking place at Cambridge City's Milton Road ground. Men are scattered across the pitch and crowds of people can be seen standing and watching the match along the bottom and top of the ground. The people along the top of the ground are part-covered by a roofEric Fernandez
As a result, it was regularly attracted thousands of fans to its matches in the 1960s, such as this one in November 1965 (Cambridge City v Weymouth)

The club won the Spartan League competition three times between the end of World War Two and 1950 and successfully applied to change its name to Cambridge City, ahead of rival Abbey United, which changed names to Cambridge United.

More glory came from the late 1950s, becoming Southern League champions in 1962-63 and staying top of the division until 1968, when it was relegated.

Mr Harvey, who works for an education consultancy and now lives in Girton, said: "City had the highest attendances of non-league football, regularly attracting gates of 3,500 fans, beating United - sometimes even attracting 10,000 packed into our tiny Milton Road ground."

Karen Harvey Neil Harvey standing outside with a glimpse of a river and bridge behind him. He has short curling salt-and-pepper hair, has a scarf wrapped round his neck and is smiling broadlyKaren Harvey
Mr Harvey hopes the Sawston ground move will spur his team on to success, mirroring what happened when the club moved to a new Milton Road pitch in the 1980s

City played on the original pitch until 1984 when it moved to the next-door site.

It left Milton Road in 2013, signing off with a 1-0 win over Redditch, after the land was sold for housing, and fans are ready to put a decade without a home of their own behind them.

Mr Harvey said: "There's certainly masses of interest in this first game and I wouldn't be surprised if we pushed 1,000 fans on Saturday.

"I think the team will push on, we can hopefully get into play-offs this season - and who knows after that?"

Cambridge City Football Club Cambridge City FC ground at Sawston. A grey football stadium stand and the above is a yellow/orange sunset. There is also a goal with the net folded up at the end of the pitch which runs in front of the standCambridge City Football Club
The new ground is very much a community effort for its fans, with Mr Harvey doing turns cleaning its changing rooms

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