2010–11 Cambridge United F.C. season

Cambridge United 2010–11 football season

Cambridge United

2010–11 season

Chairman

Paul Barry

Manager

Martin Ling
Jez George

Conference National

17th

FA Cup

First round

FA Trophy

Second round

Top goalscorer

League:
Danny Wright (10)
All:
Danny Wright (12)

Highest home attendance

3,225 v Histon (1 January 2011)

Lowest home attendance

1,045 v Forest Green Rovers (11 December 2010)

Average home league attendance

2,514

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

← 2009–10

2011–12 →

The 2010–11 season was the 98th full season in the history of Cambridge United. They competed in the Conference National, finishing 17th of 24, along with various cup competitions.

After relegation from the Football League in 2005, where the club had enjoyed a 35-year stay, the club were hopeful of ending their six-year spell in non-league football following a season of consolidation under manager Martin Ling, who had taken over a club that had reached two successive play-off finals, but had lost both and was in disarray off the pitch.^[1]

However, United's season never recovered from a winless 5-game opening, and after flirting with relegation for much of the season, Ling was sacked on 1 February 2011 following a further run of four straight defeats, culminating in a 4–0 thrashing at the hands of Bath City.^[2] Jez George, manager of United's youth development team CRC, was appointed caretaker manager and oversaw the team's successful avoidance of relegation to the Conference South.

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.^[3] 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,^[4] coming out of it three months later after the intervention of sports minister Richard Caborn,^[5]^[6] but not before selling their Abbey Stadium home to keep the club afloat and closing the youth system.^[7]

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 and Gary Brabin Cambridge made two successive play-off finals but lost both to Exeter and Torquay respectively. After a season of mid-table rebuilding under new manager Martin Ling, the club were hopeful of a push for promotion at the start of the season.

Review

July

Manager Martin Ling released a number of the 2009–10 at the end of that season, including established players such as Danny Potter and Courtney Pitt,^[8] and began to rebuild the squad in time for the upcoming season with the signings of a number of players. The signings of former Histon players Danny Wright and Danny Naisbitt, along with that of Kettering defender James Jennings and York winger Simon Russell, were announced at a game to celebrate the achievements of Director of Football Jez George in raising money and awareness for the club's 'Walk for Change' in May 2010.^[9]

This flurry of signings was followed the following month with the signing of another winger in the shape of Forest Green's Conal Platt, and experienced midfielder Adam Miller, who reportedly turned down interest from League One sides Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford City to join the club.^[10]^[11]^[12] The signing of veteran striker Daryl Clare on 1 July, arriving for a fee of £10,000 on a two-year contract, led Ling to claim that his squad was all-but complete.^[13]

August

Despite general optimism at the start of the season the team started badly, with no win coming until the 6th game, at home to Eastbourne Borough.^[14] Before the victory over Eastbourne, Cambridge found themselves in 23rd place, with just 3 points from a possible 15 and only 3 goals scored, the least in the league.^[15] The away loss to Mansfield Town was particularly difficult to stomach, as the winning goal game from a hotly disputed penalty. James Jennings was sent-off for the alleged handball, which to vindicate Cambridge's complaints, was rescinded on appeal.^[16]

September

September started much more positively, with a 5–0 thrashing of Gateshead at the Abbey Stadium.^[17] The game was also notable for summer signing Daryl Clare's first goal for the club, and former Histon striker Danny Wright's first at home. Following back-to-back home wins, the club moved into a mid-table position, however this brief run of good form was not to continue: only one more win was achieved, in between losses to Luton, Newport County and AFC Wimbledon.^[14] The club's fortunes were not helped by a hip injury to winger Conal Platt, and serious ankle damage to midfielder Adam Miller.^[18]^[19] Miller's injury turned out to be particularly serious – reconstructive surgery was forecast to put him out for 6 months.^[19]

October

The month started with two more losses, to Bath City and Hayes & Yeading, leaving the club in the relegation zone. This brought the run to four consecutive losses and forced the board to issue a vote of confidence in manager Martin Ling's management.^[20] This led to something of a renaissance in form – the club went unbeaten in the month's remaining four games, and won the last three, including a 3–0 home win against Lewes in the FA Cup Fourth qualifying round.^[21] Daryl Clare, who had struggled to find his old form since joining the club with just 1 goal in 13 appearances, was ruled out for 6 weeks at the end of the month with a finger injury.^[22]

November

United's injury woes continued at the start of November, with commanding centre-back Brian Saah rule out for 6 weeks after undergoing a hernia operation.^[23] This ruled Saah out of the televised FA Cup First round tie at home to Huddersfield Town, which ended goalless, earning the club a lucrative replay.^[24] In the replay at the Galpharm Stadium, although leading through a Rory McAuley goal, Huddersfield scored twice in added time to knock the U's out.^[25]

In the league, Cambridge went unbeaten through November, picking up 6 points from their 4 goals. This included a memorable comeback against Tamworth, who were 3 goals up after 58 minutes.^[26] However, the U's rallied and goals from Robbie Willmott, Jordan Patrick (his first for the first team) and Adam Marriott saw them salvage a point. Speaking to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Rory McAuley, who had enjoyed an increased role in the first team, said he thought the club had come through their difficulties, and were working more as a team, saying "we're willing to work for each other and to help each other."^[27]

Team kit

The team kit for the season is produced by Italian manufacturers Erreà, who took over from Vandanel who produced the club's kit for the previous three seasons.^[28]

The home kit changed from the previous season's amber shirt with a black sash,^[29] to a plain amber shirt following a premature end to Vandanel's sponsorship of the club owing to financial difficulties.^[28] The amber shorts and socks are also replaced, with all-black to be worn instead. The club's association with national brewers Greene King continues, with their IPA brand entering the second of a three-year deal to be worn on the front of shirts.^[30]

Following the success of previous seasons' votes, the club's away kit was the subject of a fans' vote. Three options were given, with fans invited to text a premium rate number with their favourite option.^[31] The winning design was a light blue and black striped shirt, which received 47% of the vote, narrowly beating a light and navy design with a curve detail which received 41%.^[32] The design is intended to remain for two seasons, and new manufacturers Erreà have confirmed they will go ahead with the fans' choice of design rather than adapting it to one of their standard designs. The kit will bear the name of sponsors Kershaw for the tenth season, a local record for shirt sponsorship, breaking the company's own record from the preceding sponsorship agreement.^[33]

Team

First team squad

This shows the most up-to-date Cambridge United squad following transfers during the season. To view previous players see the appearances and discipline table which includes all players to appear in a match day squad during the season.

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Danny Naisbitt
2	DF	ENG	Kevin Roberts
3	DF	ENG	James Jennings
4	DF	ENG	Josh Coulson
5	DF	ENG	Brian Saah
6	DF	WAL	David Partridge
7	MF	ENG	Simon Russell
8	MF	ENG	Adam Miller
9	FW	ENG	Danny Wright
10	FW	ENG	Daryl Clare
11	MF	ENG	Robbie Willmott
12	DF	ENG	Rory McAuley


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	MF	IRL	Conal Platt
15	MF	ENG	Paul Carden
16	FW	ENG	Wayne Gray
17	MF	ENG	Sam Ives
18	DF	ENG	Darryl Coakley
19	FW	ENG	Adam Marriott
20	MF	ENG	Jordan Patrick
26	DF	ENG	Blaine Hudson
27	MF	ENG	Luke Berry
30	GK	ENG	Simon Brown

Appearances and discipline

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		FA Trophy		Total		Discipline
No.	Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Danny Naisbitt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Kevin Roberts	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
3	DF	James Jennings	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0
4	MF	Josh Coulson	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
5	DF	Brian Saah	4	1	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0
6	DF	David Partridge	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0
7	MF	Simon Russell	4	1	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0
8	MF	Adam Miller	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0
9	FW	Danny Wright	4	1	0	0	0	0	4	1	3	0
10	FW	Daryl Clare	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0
11	MF	Robbie Willmott	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
12	DF	Rory McAuley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	Conal Platt	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
15	MF	Paul Carden	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	2	0
16	FW	Wayne Gray	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
17	MF	Sam Ives	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
18	DF	Darryl Coakley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	FW	Adam Marriott	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
20	MF	Jordan Patrick	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	DF	Blaine Hudson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	Luke Berry	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	GK	Simon Brown	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0

Last updated: 24 August 2010
Source: Cambridge United F.C. Club Statistics

Top scorers

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by squad number when total goals are equal.

Position	Squad Number	Name	League	FA Cup	FA Trophy	Total
FW	9	Danny Wright	10	1	1	12
MF	N/A	Robbie Willmott	10	0	0	10
FW	16	Wayne Gray	7	1	0	8
MF	7	Simon Russell	6	1	1	8
DF	5	Brian Saah	3	0	2	5
DF	4	Josh Coulson	4	0	0	4
FW	19	Adam Marriott	3	0	1	4
FW	29	Liam Hughes	2	0	0	2
MF	20	Jordan Patrick	2	0	0	2
DF	3	James Jennings	1	0	1	2
MF	27	Luke Berry	1	0	0	1
FW	10	Daryl Clare	1	0	0	1
MF	N/A	Dean Sinclair	1	0	0	1
MF	N/A	Mark Bentley	1	0	0	1
DF	12	Rory McAuley	0	1	0	1
DF	N/A	David Partridge	0	0	1	1
DF	2	Kevin Roberts	0	0	1	1
		Own Goals	1	0	0	1
		TOTALS	53	4	8	65

Last updated: 4 September 2010
Source: BBC Sport

Overall

This table takes account of all competitive matches.

	Statistic	Notes
Games played	52	46 in the League, 3 in the FA Cup, 3 in the FA Trophy
Games won	13	11 in the League, 1 in the FA Cup, 1 in the FA Trophy
Games drawn	19	17 in the League, 1 in the FA Cup, 1 in the FA Trophy
Games lost	20	18 in the League, 1 in the FA Cup, 1 in the FA Trophy
Goals scored	65	See Top Scorers table above for distribution
Goals conceded	73
Goal difference	8
Clean sheets	14
Yellow cards	73
Red cards	6	The red card awarded to James Jennings for a deliberate handball in the 1–0 defeat at Mansfield Town on 28 August 2010 was subsequently rescinded by the FA, and is therefore not included in this total.^[34]
Worst discipline	James Jennings	2 red card, 8 yellow cards
Best result	5–0	v. Gateshead, 4 September 2010
Worst result	1–5 0–4	v. Mansfield Town, 23 December 2010 v. Bath City, 29 January 2011
Most appearances	47	Wright
Top scorer	10	Willmott, Wright
Points	50	Out of a possible 138 (36%)

Last updated: 30 April 2011
Source: Cambridge United

Match results

Match won

Match drawn

Match lost

Pre-season

Friendlies
Kick Off	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report
17 July 2010	St Ives Town ^[A]	A	1–1	Hudson 46'	536	Report^{[permanent dead link]}
21 July 2010	Mildenhall Town	A	2–0	Wright 38' Marriott 48'	Unknown	Report
24 July 2010	Lowestoft Town	A	1–2	Gray 9'	542	Report
26 July 2010	King's Lynn ^[A]	A	1–4	Unknown	Unknown	N/A
27 July 2010	Colchester United	H	0–1	–	941	Report
29 July 2010	Cambridge City	A	3–3	Hughes 31, 62' Berry 88'	Unknown	Report
31 July 2010	Leyton Orient	H	1–3	Willmott 90'	1,037	Report
2 August 2010	Godmanchester Rovers ^[A]	A	2–1	Patrick 21', 70'	130 (approx)	Report
3 August 2010	Bury Town	A	4–0	Miller 28 Marriott 63', 73, 82'	Unknown	Report
7 August 2010	Bishop's Stortford	A	4–2	Wright 18', 28' Miller 22' Willmott 74'	408	Report

A. ^ The club competed in some friendlies as a Cambridge United XI, rather than a full first team.^[35] Where indicated, a Cambridge United XI team played which featured more a mixture of squad players and trialists than in other games.

League

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	D	D	D	L	W	W	L	D	W	L	L	L	L	D	W	W	D	D	D	W	L	D	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	W	D	L	D	D	W	D	D	D	L	W	D	L
Position	18	18	21	21	23	17	11	17	18	13	15	16	19	21	22	18	14	14	15	15	13	13	14	12	10	14	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	16	17	17	17	16	16	16	17	18	17	17	17

Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2011. Source: Matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

14 August 2010
15:00 BST

Wrexham	1–0	Cambridge United
Morell 25'	Report

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

Attendance: 4,040

Referee: S. Bratt

17 August 2010
19:45 BST

Cambridge United	2–2	Crawley Town
Russell 18' Saah 29'	Report	Tubbs 5, 8'

23 October 2010 Fourth qualifying round	Cambridge United	3 – 0	Lewes	Cambridge
15:00	Forrester 4'	Report	Gray 22' Wright 35' Russell 47'	Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 1,626 Referee: Richard West

6 November 2010 First round	Cambridge United	0 – 0	Huddersfield Town	Cambridge
17:30		Report		Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 3,127 Referee: Paul Tierney

16 November 2010 First round replay	Huddersfield Town	2 – 1	Cambridge United	Huddersfield
19:45	Peltier 91' Roberts 94'	Report	McAuley 53'	Stadium: Galpharm Stadium Attendance: 3,766 Referee: G Salisbury

11 December 2010 First round	Cambridge United	2 – 1	Forest Green Rovers	Cambridge
15:00	Partridge 56' Roberts 90'	Report	Klukowski 84'	Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 1,045 Referee: W. Atkin

15 January 2010 Second round	Alfreton Town	3 – 3	Cambridge United	Alfreton
15:00	Hall 53' Wilson 60' Flint 73'	Report	Russell 40' Saah 66' Marriott 88'	Stadium: North Street Attendance: 929 Referee: unknown

18 January 2011 Second round replay	Cambridge United	3 – 6	Alfreton Town	Cambridge
19:45	Saah 40' Wright 69' Jennings 89'	Report	Law 24' Clayton 78, 96, 116' Brown 83' Wilson 110'	Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 1,098 Referee: unknown

No.	Pos.	Name	Age	EU	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Transfer fee	Source
9	FW	Danny Wright	25	EU	Histon	Transfer	Summer	2012	Free	BBC Sport
3	DF	James Jennings	22	EU	Kettering Town	Transfer	Summer	2012	Free	BBC Sport
1	GK	Danny Naisbitt	31	EU	Histon	Transfer	Summer	2012	Free	BBC Sport
7	MF	Simon Russell	25	EU	York City	Transfer	Summer	2012	Free	BBC Sport
14	FW	Conal Platt	23	EU	Forest Green Rovers	Transfer	Summer	2012	Free	Cambridge United
8	FW	Adam Miller	28	EU	Gillingham	Transfer	Summer	2013	Free	BBC Sport
10	FW	Daryl Clare	31	EU	Gateshead	Transfer	Summer	2012	£10,000	BBC Sport

N	Pos.	Name	Age	EU	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Transfer fee	Source
1	GK	Danny Potter	31	EU	Torquay United	Released	Summer	N/A	BBC Sport
3	DF	Aiden Palmer	23	EU	Bishop's Stortford	Released	Summer	N/A	Cambridge United
8	FW	Antonio Murray	25	EU	Histon	Released	Summer	N/A	Cambridge United
6	MF	Jai Reason	20	EU		Released	Summer	N/A	Cambridge United
8	FW	Lee Phillips	29	EU	Bath City	Released	Summer	N/A	Cambridge United
29	FW	Calum Willock	28	EU	Ebbsfleet United	Released	Summer	N/A	Cambridge United
11	MF	Courtney Pitt	28	EU	A.F.C. Telford United	Released	Summer	N/A	Cambridge United
8	MF	Ben Farrell	23	EU		Released	Summer	N/A	Cambridge United
7	FW	Mark Beesley	29	EU		Released	Summer	N/A	Cambridge United
2	DF	Dan Gleeson	25	EU	Luton Town	Transfer	Summer	Free	BBC Sport
10	FW	Danny Crow	25	EU	Luton Town	Transfer	Summer	Free	Luton Town

Job title	Name^[36]
Manager	Martin Ling (until 1 February 2011)^[2] Jez George (appointed 1 February 2011)^[2]
Player/Assistant Manager	Paul Carden
Director of Youth Football	Jez George
Centre of Excellence Manager	Marc Tracy
Physiotherapist	Greg Reid
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon	Dennis Edwards
Medical Officer	Dr M Wharton