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Cambridge United

2008–09 season
Chairman	George Rolls
Manager	Gary Brabin
Conference National	2nd
FA Cup	First round (lost to Kidderminster)
Conference League Cup	Third round (lost to A.F.C. Telford)
FA Trophy	Second round (lost to Crawley Town)
Top goalscorer	Scott Rendell (13)
Highest home attendance	7,090 (v Altrincham, League, 26 Apr)
Lowest home attendance	2,662 (v Northwich, League, 14 Mar)
Average home league attendance	3,567
Home colours Away colours
← 2007–082009–10 →

The 2008–09 season was the 97th season in the history of Cambridge United, and the club's fourth consecutive season in the Conference National. After finishing as runners-up and losing in the play-off final during the 2007–08 season, the club were optimistic of a return to the Football League either as champions or through the play-offs.

The club appointed little-known manager Gary Brabin to guide them through the season, who joined from Southport with relatively little managerial experience. He replaced the successful Jimmy Quinn who parted company with the club by mutual consent after lengthy talks with chairman Phillip Law.

The club enjoyed a successful season, although they were not close to catching eventual champions Burton Albion for much of the season. However, in the final months some excellent form, together with the departure of Burton's manager Nigel Clough, saw the gap close and Cambridge could have won the title and promotion on the final day of the season had they beaten rather than drawn at home to Altrincham. As it was they finished runners-up for the second successive season and despite a memorable play-off campaign, which included beating Stevenage Borough 3–0 after extra time in the second leg at the Abbey Stadium to overturn a first-leg deficit, Cambridge lost the play-off final to Torquay United.

Background

Cambridge United were founded in 1912 as Abbey United, named after the Abbey district of Cambridge. For many years they played amateur football until their election to the Football League in 1970. The early 1990s was Cambridge's most successful period; managed by John Beck the club won the first ever play-off final at Wembley Stadium and gained promotion from the Fourth Division before reaching two successive FA Cup quarter finals in 1990 and 1991 and winning the Third Division in 1991. The club reached the play-offs in 1992 but failed in their bid to become founder members of the Premier League. This was the club's highest final league placing to date and since then it has been in almost constant decline.

The following season the club sacked Beck and were relegated from the First Division. Further relegation followed two seasons later. United returned to Division Two but were relegated in 2002. In 2005, after 35 years in the Football League, Cambridge United were relegated into the Football Conference. This brought with it financial difficulties and the club filed for administration, coming out of it three months later after the intervention of sports minister Richard Caborn, but not before selling their Abbey Stadium home to keep the club afloat and closing the youth system.

The club's first season in the Conference National was one of stabilisation, followed by a close shave with relegation. Under the stewardship of Jimmy Quinn, the club recovered in the previous season to finish in the play-off final. However, after despite losing the 1–0 to Exeter City, the club were hoping to build on this relative success under the new management of Gary Brabin following Quinn's departure.

Team kit

The team kit for the season was produced by Vandanel for the second season. The same kit was used as in the previous season, with a white and black away shirt, and amber and black striped home shirt. As for previous seasons, the kit had two different sponsors - local company Global Self Drive at home and Kershaw away.

A special edition play-off final shirt was also released and worn for that match. Produced by Vandanel, the shirt was all amber with limited black trim and sponsored by Kershaw.

Team

First team squad

This table shows the squad as it stood at the end of the season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Danny Potter 2 DF  ENG Dan Gleeson 3 DF  ENG Anthony Tonkin 4 MF  EIR Daryl McMahon 5 DF  ENG Phil Bolland 6 DF  ENG Wayne Hatswell 7 FW  ENG Mark Beesley 8 MF  ENG Andy Parkinson 10 MF  ENG Jon Challinor 11 MF  ENG Courtney Pitt

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 DF  ENG Josh Coulson 15 MF  ENG Paul Carden 16 MF  ENG Ben Farrell 18 MF  ENG Robbie Willmott 21 FW  ENG Chris Holroyd 25 MF  ENG Jai Reason 26 DF  ENG Rory McAuley 27 FW  ENG Lee Phillips 28 FW  ENG Danny Crow 30 GK  ENG Aaron Grundy

Top scorers

Includes matched in the Conference National, FA Cup and FA Trophy. Where total goals are equal, the list is sorted in favour of league goals, and then alphabetical order.

Position	Nation	Name	Conference National	FA Cup	Total
1		Scott Rendell	13	2	15
2		Lee McEvilly	8	3	11
3		Chris Holroyd	10	0	10
4		Robbie Willmott	6	2	8
5		Mark Beesley	4	0	4
=		Danny Crow	2	2	4
=		Wayne Hatswell	4	0	4
8		Jon Challinor	2	0	2
=		Felino Jardim	2	0	2
=		Courtney Pitt	2	0	2
11		Phil Bolland	1	0	1
=		Dan Brown	1	0	1
=		Paul Carden	1	0	1
=		Mark Convery	1	0	1
=		Ben Farrell	1	0	1
=		Andy Parkinson	1	0	1
=		Lee Phillips	1	0	1
		TOTALS	60	9	69

Match results

Pre-season

Friendlies
Kick Off	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers	Attendance
12 July 2008	King's Lynn	A	2 – 3	Beesley, Reed	unknown
15 July 2008	Cambridge City	A	1 – 1	Beesley	910
19 July 2008	Everton	H	4 – 2	Parkinson (2), Willmott, Beesley	4,495
23 July 2008	Soham Town Rangers	A	4 – 2	Willmott (2), Jardim (2)	569
26 July 2008	Coventry City	H	1 – 3	Farrell	1,751
28 July 2008	Bedford Town	A	1 – 2	Ives	304
30 July 2008	West Ham United	H	0 – 0	–	2,491
1 August 2008	Braintree Town	A	Cancelled	–	–

League

Play-offs

FA Cup

FA Trophy

Conference League Cup

League table

Awards

Awarded on 2 June 2009.

Award	Name	No.	Pos.
Internet Player of the Year	Wayne Hatswell	10	DF
Internet Young Player of the Year	Chris Holroyd	4	FW
Goal of the Season	Paul Carden (vs Oxford United)	15	MF

References

1. "Brabin takes the reins". Cambridge News. 23 June 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
2. ^ "Quinn Leaves By Mutual Consent". cambridgeunited.com. 15 June 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
3. "Cambridge vs Altrincham". Cambridge United. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
4. Cambridge United Potted History Archived 8 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
5. "Cambridge United file for administration.. is this the end of the U's?". BBC Cambridgeshire. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
6. "Cambridge United – A Fresh Start". www.cambridge-united.co.uk. 22 July 2005. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
7. "Cambridge United Clear Last Hurdle". www.cambridge-united.co.uk. 18 July 2005. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
8. "Abbey sale keeps Cambridge afloat". BBC. 1 December 2004. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
9. Historical Kits – Cambridge United
10. "CUFC Launch Play-off Final Shirt". Cambridge United. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
11. "Player of the Season Awards". Cambridge United F.C. 2 June 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2010.

See also

• History of Cambridge United F.C.
• 2008–09 in English football
• 2008–09 Football Conference

• Cambridge United F.C. seasons
• 2008–09 Football Conference by team