The East Anglian Cup was a football competition that embraced East Anglian clubs in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, but also included clubs from a much wider geographical area, from Boston and Louth in Lincolnshire down to Oxford City, Chelsea and Gillingham in the South, plus Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire teams as well. Amateur teams and the lower sides of professional clubs competed alongside each other in a long-running competition.
It was originally started as the South East Anglian League in 1903 with three clubs from Colchester (Colchester Town, Colchester Crown and Colchester Garrison), Ipswich Town and Harwich & Parkeston. The number of teams competing grew gradually and the “South” part of the name was dropped and the competition continued until World War I. After the War it was competed for as the East Anglian Cup for the first time in 1920–21, whilst the East Anglian League continued until it merged with the Norfolk & Suffolk League in 1964 to form the current Anglian Combination.
From 1921 to 1939 the rules limited membership to 16 clubs and it continued during World War II, whilst most football was suspended, providing competition for RAF teams, works sides and top amateur clubs of the time. Post War expansion saw the limit on numbers eventually removed in 1960 and the draw was made on a geographical basis to prevent large distances being travelled. The matches were arranged by mutual agreement between clubs and usually consisted of two rounds, an area semi-final, an area final, with the four winners meeting in the semi-finals and final. The competition lasted over a hundred years but seems to have fallen out of favour with the last final taking place in 2009.
Norwich City were the most successful team in the history of the East Anglian Cup with 12 victories from the early days to the 1920s and a treble in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Cambridge were the next most successful with 6 wins as Cambridge Town plus four more when they had changed their name to Cambridge City. King's Lynn and Romford were next with 5 apiece, although one for Romford includes their modern incarnation.
Competition winners +SeasonWinnersRef1903–04Ipswich Town1904–05Colchester Crown1905–06King's Own Scottish Borderers1906–07Colchester Town1907–08King's Royal Rifles1908–09Norwich City1909–10West Yorkshire Regiment1910–11West Yorkshire Regiment1911–12Norwich City1912–13Norwich City1913–14Norwich City1914–19Competition suspended1919–20Norwich City1920–21Norwich City1921–22Norwich City1922–23Norwich City1923–24Cambridge Town1924–25Chelmsford1925–26Harwich & Parkeston1926–27Chelmsford1927–28Cambridge Town1928–29Chelmsford1929–30Lowestoft Town1930–31Cambridge Town1931–32Colchester Town1932–33Harwich & Parkeston1933–34Harwich & Parkeston1934–35Romford1935–36King's Lynn1936–37Romford1937–38Barking1938–39Walthamstow Avenue and Lowestoft Town jointly1939–40Walthamstow Avenue1940–41Ford Sports1941–42Walthamstow Avenue1942–43Cambridge Town1943–44Cambridge Town1944–45Grays Athletic1945–46Cambridge Town1946–47Crittall Athletic1947–48Cambridge Town1948–49Chelmsford City1949–50Tottenham Hotspur1950–51Great Yarmouth Town1951–52Romford1952–53Gorleston1953–54Barking and March Town jointly1954–55Romford1955–56Romford1956–57Clacton Town1957–58Tottenham Hotspur1958–59Norwich City1959–60Cambridge City1960–61Boston United1961–62Cambridge United1962–63Hertford Town1963–64Stevenage Town1964–65Cambridge City1965–66King's Lynn1966–67King's Lynn1967–68King's Lynn1968–69Braintree & Crittall Athletic1969–70Hertford Town1970–71Lowestoft Town1971–72Dagenham1972–73Hitchin Town1973–74Ware1974–75Cheshunt1975–76Cambridge City1976–77Letchworth Garden City1977–78Lowestoft Town1978–79Norwich City1979–80Norwich City1980–81Norwich City1981–82Bishop's Stortford1982–83GorlestonThe East Anglian Football Cup Competition Official Handbook 1983-84 lists all the winners noted above1983–84Stansted1984–85King's Lynn1985–86Sudbury Town1986–87Not completed1987-88Wisbech Town1988-89Aveley1989-90Harlow TownThe winners from 1983-90 come from The Bureau of Non-League Football Volume 3 1983 to Volume 9 1990.1990-91Haverhill Rovers1991-92Sudbury Town1992-93St Albans City1993-94Heybridge Swifts1994-95Heybridge Swifts1995-96Braintree Town1996-97Potton United1997-98Romford1998-99Ipswich Wanderers1999-2000Clacton Town2000-01Cancelled - bad weather2001-02Harlow Town2002-03East Thurrock United2003-04Spalding United2004-05Spalding United2005-06Harlow Town2006-07Needham Market2007-08Leiston2008-09Tilbury
Wins by teams Club Wins First final won Last final won NotesNorwich City121908–091980–81Cambridge City101923–241975–76Won 6 titles as Cambridge Town.King's Lynn †51935–361984–85Dissolved in 2009.Romford61934–351997–98Chelmsford City51924–251948–49Won 4 titles as Chelmsford.Lowestoft Town41929–301977–78Braintree Town31946–471995–96Won 1 title as Braintree & Crittall Athletic and 1 title as Crittall Athletic.Harlow Town31989–902005–06Harwich & Parkeston31925–261933–34Walthamstow Avenue †31938–391941–42Dissolved in 1988.Barking21937–381953–54Clacton Town21956–571999–2000Colchester Town †21906–071931–32Dissolved in 1937.Gorleston21952–531982–83Hertford Town21962–631969–70Heybridge Swifts21993–941994–95Spalding United22003–042004–05Sudbury Town †21985–861991–92Dissolved in 1999.Tottenham Hotspur21949–501957–58West Yorkshire Regiment21909–101910–11Aveley11988–891988–89Bishop's Stortford11981–821981–82Boston United11960–611960–61Cambridge United11961–621961–62Cheshunt11974–751974–75Colchester Crown †11904–051904–05Dissolved.Dagenham †11971–721971–72Dissolved in 1992. Merged with Redbridge Forest to form Dagenham & Redbridge.East Thurrock United †12002–032002–03Dissolved in 2023.Ford Sports11940–411940–41Grays Athletic11944–451944–45Great Yarmouth Town11950–511950–51Haverhill Rovers11990–911990–91Hitchin Town11972–731972–73Ipswich Town11903–041903–04Ipswich Wanderers11998–991998–9911905–061905–06Dissolved in 1908.King's Royal Rifles11907–081907–08Leiston12007–082007–08Letchworth Garden City †11976–771976–77Dissolved in 2000s.March Town11953–541953–54Needham Market12006–072006–07Potton United11996–971996–97St Albans City11992–931992–93Stansted11983–841983–84Stevenage Town †11963–641963–64Dissolved in 1968.Tilbury12008–092008–09Ware11973–741973–74
References
East Anglian Football Cup Competition Official Handbook 1983-84. Roe, Keith (2007) The Essex Senior League: A Statistical Journey 1971-2007 pages 272-4. The Bureau of Non-League Football Volume 3 1983 to Volume 9 1990. The Cherry Red Non-League Newsdesk Annual 2004 to 2008. Various club websites and Wikipedia entries.