A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BLOATERS

Gt. Yarmouth Town FC  was formed in 1897 with most of the players being drawn from two very successful local clubs, Yarmouth Fearnoughts and Yarmouth Royal Artillery, who between them had won the Norfolk Senior Cup for the previous four years. The players’ experience obviously told as the new Gt. Yarmouth Town FC won this trophy in its very first year, defeating Lynn Town 4-3 in a replay after a 0-0 draw. Then, between 1902 and 1906, Yarmouth were to prove invincible in the same competition, again beating Lynn on each occasion! In total, Yarmouth have won the Senior Cup thirteen times and have been runners-up a further fifteen times. Sadly, the last occasion was as long ago as 1990, though under Paul Tong, now back at the club, the final was reached in three consecutive seasons in the early 2000s.

Founder-members of the Norfolk & Suffolk League, Yarmouth won this championship in 1914, 1927 and 1928 before joining the newly formed Eastern Counties League in 1935; they have been ever-present members since, a feat shared with neighbouring Lowestoft Town.

After the Second World War, the Gt. Yarmouth Town FC, now with semi-professional status, gained national recognition for their FA Cup exploits, reaching the second-round proper twice! The first-round proper was reached for the first time in 1947 when they lost at home to Shrewsbury Town in front of 4160 spectators. Then in 1952 a Wellesley crowd of 3889 witnessed a first-round proper 1-0 win over Guildford City, but a 1-4 home defeat to Wrexham in the second round (crowd 6963, a new record) dealt that season’s exit; in 1953 the Bloaters’ finest hour saw them defeat League side Crystal Palace 1-0 in the first-round proper in front of a still-record crowd of 8944! Second-round exit came at then-League club Barrow, 2-4.

Other cup exploits over the years include eight appearances in the first round proper of the old Amateur Cup, and one in the second round. In 1952 the East Anglian Cup was won for the only time, and - on what we night term the ‘domestic front’ - the Eastern Counties League Cup has been won three times to date, in 1938, 1975 and 1981. The late fifties saw a return to strictly amateur status but it was not long before a revival of fortunes saw paid players return and with them, finally, the ECL title in season 1968-69; however, this remains the sole occasion so far.

Ex-Norwich, Newcastle and Sheffield United winger Bill Punton then took the reigns for what proved to be a 21-year spell, making him the longest-serving manager of the club. This was also one of the club’s most successful periods: although the league title proved elusive Punton led the Bloaters to two runners-up spots, four Senior Cup triumphs, the two League Cup wins of ’75 and ’81, and to within one goal of Wembley in the FA Vase in 1983. Then, as the first ECL club to get that far, Yarmouth lost on aggregate to eventual winners VS Rugby in the semi-final, despite a phenomenal goal by prolific striker Neil Hart , a Yarmouth legend, to set up a tense extra-time period in the second leg at the Wellesley in front of another, but now rare, 4000 plus gate, the first since those heady days of the fifties.

It was in the last season of Punton’s tenure that he introduced a young Paul Tong to his managerial team but 1990 was a year of change with both Punton and Tong moving on to Diss Town and long-serving club official Jack Pegg retiring from active service.

The club experienced a dip in fortunes in the early nineties until Paul Chick and Donny Pye were appointed, but after two moderately successful seasons this pair also moved to Diss when Punton retired from management. Ironically, Tong then returned to the Wellesley as first team boss and stayed seven years, making him the second-longest serving manager after Punton. In this period the club revived its Youth U18 side and this has been, and continues to be, a successful breeding ground for new talent. During this first managerial spell at Yarmouth for Tong, the club won the ECL Millennium Trophy, one year after being runner-up, and reached those three consecutive Senior Cup finals though disappointingly losing all three. After Tong reluctantly resigned, saying he has taken the club as far as he felt he could at the time, a succession of short-lived appointments concluded with the record-breaking goalkeeper Nick Banham who with his wife Julia formed a unique partnership at the club.

With the Gt. Yarmouth Town FC then heading for financial meltdown, an appeal for help in the local media resulted in local businessman Stephen Brierley coming to the rescue in late 2008 and the Bloaters are now heading towards a more hopeful future. Ex-Norwich, Rangers and West Ham player Dale Gordon, Yarmouth-born and raised locally in Caister, was brought in as Director of Football and club stalwart Kevin Cruickshank stepped up to the first team manager’s post. In the summer of 2008, Kevin was joined by the returning Paul Tong and a successful partnership was developing when Paul decided to quit in February 2009 over "a matter of principle" between the joint managers.