Lowestoft Town FC  

Lowestoft FC was formed in 1897 with the Town tag added three years later in 1890.   

The club have continuously played at the Crown Meadow ground and in 1902 they installed a unique feature by moving the then yacht club pavilion form its harbour location onto the football ground.    

Earlier, in 1897, the Norfolk and Suffolk League formed and founder members Lowestoft Town were soon dominating the competition by winning the championship six times in seven seasons. 

Despite these local successes it was on the national stage that Lowestoft Town made their mark with some impressive performances in the FA Amateur Cup.   

In 1899/1900 Town reached the final of the Amateur Cup after beating big names Leytonstone (9-0) and Marlow (1-0) only to come up against the biggest name of all, Bishop Auckland, in the final tie played at Leicester.   

On the day the Northern giants proved too much for Lowestoft who tumbled to a 5-1 defeat.  In 1903 Town reached the semi-final of the Amateur Cup but lost to Oxford City in a replay. 

1904 proved to be a pivotal year for football in East Anglia when Lowestoft Town and neighbours Norwich City were ordered to appear before an FA commission and were found guilty of professionalism.   

City, who had recruited several former Lowestoft players, promptly turned professional and began their climb up the football ladder whilst Lowestoft paid a fine to retain their amateur status. 

In 1935 the club merged with Kirkley and entered the newly formed Eastern Counties League.  The change of scene brought immediate success with Town sharing the title with Harwich & Parkeston. 

A play-off match to decide the outright champions was played at Colchester but the 3-3 draw meant the two clubs shared the honour of being inaugural Eastern Counties champions.     

Two years later Lowestoft won the title outright and during their continuous stay in the Eastern Counties League they have the championship 11 times including a run of four successive titles in the mid-1960s.  The clubs last title success came in 2005/06. 

In the FA Cup the club have tasted success by reaching the First Round proper on five occasions, the first time in 1926/27, though they have yet to beat a Football League club.   

Success in the FA Trophy and Vase had been hard to find prior to 2007/08 when Town enjoyed a tremendous run to the Wembley final of the Vase only to lose in heartbreaking fashion to a last minute goal.