The Robins first Manager
George King (appointed Player-Coach) in June 1955. Previous to this, teams had been selected by a committee.

Numbered Shirts
The team first wore numbered shirts in the 1946-47 season.

The FA Cup
The club first entered the FA Cup in 1935-36 v Chatteris Engineers (0-2). They did not enter again until the 1954-55 season.

Nicknames
Now know as 'The Robins', the club's original (pre-war) nickname was the 'Citizens'.

Grounds
Ely's final game at the Paradise Recreation Ground, home for 96 years, was a 2-3 defeat against Felixstowe Town. Nigel Fuller scored the club's last goal on the ground.

The first competitive fixture played at the Unwin Ground was a 1-4 FA Cup qualifying round defeat against Tiptree United. Kevan Cambridge scored Ely's first goal on the ground.

Amalgamation
Ely amalgamated with another city based club, called Ely Albion FC, in 1908.

Ex-Professionals Known to have turned out for the club include:
George King (Newcastle Utd, Carlisle Utd & Barrow)
Lindsay Smith (Cambridge Utd & Colchester Utd)
Alan Biley (Cambridge Utd, Derby & Portsmouth)
Tom Finney (Cambridge Utd & Northern Ireland)
Trevor Quow (Peterborough Utd & Northampton)
Hugh Barr (Coventry)
Reg Pearce (Peterborough)

Other Trivia
As a result of a dispute with the Cambs FA over fees - Ely withdrew from the Cambs Senior League in 1902-03, having only joined the previous season. The club were limited to playing friendlies for the whole of that season. The club re-joined the league the following year.

The club adopted semi-professional status upon joining the Central Alliance League in 1958.

Ron Atkinson was the player-manager of Kettering Town when they visited Ely in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round in 1972-73.

Stan Woodgett, Ely's goalkeeper of the late 1940's and early 1950's was the club's designated penalty taker. He scored one of Ely's goals in the 2-3 Peterborough Senior Cup defeat against Cambridge United Reserves (1951-52)

Mike Dixon, father of ex-England international Kerry Dixon, played one season for Ely (1968-69). The centre-forward renowned for his heading ability finished the season with 32 goals. He subsequently left for Bedford Town. Kerry Dixon was manager of the Letchworth side that knocked Ely out of the 2001-02 FA Vase.

Note:
These are not official club records - The info has been compiled by me over the years - and pre 1980 is entirely based on archived newspaper reports. Therefore there are bound to be some inaccuracies - particularly in respect of the 'record goalscorers' - whilst I think I'm pretty near the mark.