This is a list of all seasons played by Cambridge United in English football since the 1970–71 season, when the club were elected to the Football League. It details their record in every major competition entered, as well as the top goalscorers for each season.

The club currently play in League One, having been promoted from League Two in 2020/21 where they had competed since 2014, following their promotion back to the Football League after a 9-year absence, during which time they competed in the Football Conference.

The club has spent the following number of seasons at each level of the English football league system since its initial election:

The club's highest position ever is 5th in the Second Division in 1991–92, the last season before the establishment of the Premier League, a playoff position. They lost the semi-final to Leicester City 6–1 on aggregate and lost their chance to become founder members of the Premier League. Their lowest position has been 17th in the Football Conference (now National League) in 2006–07 and 2010–11.

Key

Seasons

Season League record FA Cup EFL Cup EFL[a]
Trophy 		Other Top goalscorer(s)[b]
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Competition Result Name Goals
1970–71 Division 4 46 15 13 18 51 67 43 20th R2 R1 — — — Ivan Hollett 12
1971–72 Division 4 46 17 14 15 62 60 48 10th R2 R1 — — Brian Greenhalgh 19
1972–73 Division 4 ↑ 46 20 17 9 67 57 57 3rd R1 R1 — — Brian Greenhalgh 18
1973–74 Division 3 ↓ 46 13 9 24 48 81 35 21st R3 R2 — — Brian Greenhalgh 11
1974–75 Division 4 46 20 14 12 62 44 54 6th R3 R1 — — Bobby Shinton 16
1975–76 Division 4 46 14 15 17 58 62 43 13th R1 R1 — — Tommy Horsfall 15
1976–77 Division 4 ↑ 46 26 13 7 87 40 65 1st R1 R2 — — Alan Biley 20
1977–78 Division 3 ↑ 46 23 12 11 72 51 58 2nd R2 R1 — — Alan Biley 23
1978–79 Division 2 42 12 16 14 44 52 40 12th R3 R1 — — Alan Biley 22
1979–80 Division 2 42 14 16 12 61 53 44 8th R4 R2 Anglo-Scottish Cup Group Tommy Finney 13
1980–81 Division 2 46 17 6 19 53 65 40 13th R3 R4 — — George Reilly
Steve Spriggs 		10
1981–82 Division 2 46 13 9 20 48 53 48 14th R3 R2 — — Joe Mayo
George Reilly 		8
1982–83 Division 2 42 13 12 17 42 60 51 12th R5 R2 — — George Reilly 11
1983–84 Division 2 ↓ 42 4 12 26 28 77 24 22nd R3 R2 — — — Robbie Cooke 8
1984–85 Division 3 ↓ 46 4 9 23 37 95 21 24th R1 R1 R2 — — Robbie Cooke 7
1985–86 Division 4 46 15 9 22 65 80 54 22nd R1 R1 QF — — David Crown 27
1986–87 Division 4 46 17 11 18 60 62 62 11th R2 R4 PR — — Mark Cooper
David Crown 		16
1987–88 Division 4 46 16 13 17 50 52 61 15th R2 R1 PR — — David Crown 12
1988–89 Division 4 44 18 12 14 71 62 68 8th R3 R1 R1 — — Laurie Ryan 13
1989–90 Division 4 ↑ 46 21 10 15 76 66 73 6th[c] QF R2 PR — — Dion Dublin
John Taylor 		21
1990–91 Division 3 ↑ 46 25 11 10 75 45 86 1st QF R1 SF — — Dion Dublin 21
1991–92 Division 2 46 19 17 10 65 47 74 5th[d] R4 R2 — Full Members' Cup R2 Dion Dublin 19
1992–93 Division 1[e] ↓ 46 11 16 19 58 69 49 23rd R3 QF — Anglo-Italian Cup Group Steve Claridge 7
1993–94 Division 2 46 19 9 18 79 73 66 10th R2 R2 R2 — — Steve Butler 21
1994–95 Division 2 ↓ 46 11 15 20 52 69 48 20th R3 R1 R2 — — Carlo Corazzin 19
1995–96 Division 3 46 14 12 20 61 71 54 16th R1 R1 PR — — Carlo Corazzin 12
1996–97 Division 3 46 18 11 17 53 59 65 10th R2 R1 R1 — — Carlo Corazzin 8
1997–98 Division 3 46 14 18 15 63 57 60 16th R2 R1 R1 — — Martin Butler 13
1998–99 Division 3 ↑ 46 23 12 11 78 48 81 2nd R2 R3 SF — — Martin Butler 20
1999–2000 Division 2 46 12 12 22 64 65 48 19th R5 R1 R1 — — Trevor Benjamin 23
2000–01 Division 2 46 14 11 21 61 77 53 19th R2 R1 R2 — — Tom Youngs 15
2001–02 Division 2 ↓ 46 7 13 26 47 93 34 24th R1 R1 RU — — Tom Youngs 11
2002–03 Division 3 46 16 13 7 67 70 61 12th R3 R2 SF — — Dave Kitson 25
2003–04 Division 3 46 14 14 18 55 67 56 13th R2 R1 R1 — — Luke Guttridge 12
2004–05 League 2 ↓ 46 8 16 22 39 62 30[f] 24th R2 R1 R2 — — Jermaine Easter
Shane Tudor 		7
2005–06 Conference 42 15 10 17 51 57 55 12th QR4 — QF FA Trophy R1 Fola Onibuje 11
2006–07 Conference 46 15 10 21 57 66 55 17th QR4 — FA Trophy R1 Robbie Simpson 17
2007–08 Conference 46 25 11 10 68 41 86 2nd[g] R3 FA Trophy
Conference League Cup 		R2
R4 		Scott Rendell 19
2008–09 Conference 46 24 14 8 65 39 86 2nd[h] R1 FA Trophy
Conference League Cup 		R2
R3 		Scott Rendell 13
2009–10 Conference 44 15 14 15 65 53 59 10th R2 FA Trophy R3 Danny Crow 19
2010–11 Conference 46 11 17 18 53 61 50 17th R1 FA Trophy R2 Daniel Wright 12
2011–12 Conference 46 19 14 13 57 41 71 9th R1 FA Trophy R4 Luke Berry 9
2012–13 Conference 46 15 14 17 68 69 59 14th QR4 FA Trophy R2 Tom Elliott 15
2013–14 Conference ↑ 46 23 13 10 72 35 82 2nd[i] R2 FA Trophy W Luke Berry 14
2014–15 League 2 46 13 12 21 61 66 51 19th R4 R1 R1 — — Robbie Simpson 9
2015–16 League 2 46 18 14 14 66 55 68 9th R2 R1 R1 — — Luke Berry 12
2016–17 League 2 46 19 9 18 58 50 66 11th R3 R2 R2 — — Luke Berry 22
2017–18 League 2 46 17 13 16 56 60 64 12th R2 R1 Group — — Uche Ikpeazu 13
2018–19 League 2 46 12 11 23 40 66 47 21st R1 R1 R2 — — Jevani Brown 8
2019–20 League 2 37 12 9 16 40 48 45 16th[j] R1 R2 Group — — Harvey Knibbs
Sam Smith 		8
2020–21 League 2 ↑ 46 24 8 14 73 49 80 2nd R1 R2 R3 — — Paul Mullin 34
2021–22 League 1 46 15 13 18 56 74 58 14th R4 R2 QF — — Sam Smith 21
2022–23 League 1 46 13 7 26 41 68 46 20th R2 R2 Group — — Sam Smith 14

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The EFL Trophy was called the Associate Members' Cup from 1983 to 1992 and the Football League Trophy from 1992 to 2016.
  2. ^ Includes goals scored in the Football League, Football Conference, FA Cup, EFL Cup, EFL Trophy, FA Trophy, and Conference League Cup.
  3. ^ Promoted to Football League Third Division via the play-offs, beating Maidstone United 3–1 on aggregate in the semi-final and Chesterfield 1–0 in the 1990 Football League Fourth Division play-off final.
  4. ^ Lost in the play-off semi-final to Leicester City 6–1 on aggregate.
  5. ^ The Second Division was renamed Division One after the teams in the First Division broke away from The Football League to form the FA Premier League.[1]
  6. ^ Cambridge United were deducted 10 points for entering administration.[2]
  7. ^ Beat Burton Albion 4–3 on aggregate in the semi-final before losing 1–0 to Exeter City in the 2008 Conference Premier play-off final.
  8. ^ Beat Stevenage Borough 4–3 on aggregate in the semi-final before losing 2–0 to Torquay United in the 2009 Conference Premier play-off final.
  9. ^ Promoted to Football League Two via the play-offs, beating FC Halifax Town 2–1 on aggregate in the semi-final and Gateshead 2–1 in the 2014 Conference Premier play-off final.
  10. ^ The 2019–20 EFL League Two was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with league positions, promotions and relegations decided on a points-per-game basis.

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ "History of the Football League". The Football League. 22 September 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Cambridge United file for administration". BBC Online. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
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