Ely City and Ely Crusaders merged in Autumn 2015 to form a new youth football club called Ely City Crusaders . The reason behind the new club being formed wast to promote the development of football within the community of Ely and give every child the opportunity to grow and develope to different levels with the view of ensuring their is a pathway to the highest level of senior football locally.

Importantly work has been going on behind the scenes to improve and understand each clubs needs and requirements going forward. Both clubs are now pleased to announce that Ely City have adopted Ely City Crusaders formaly and entered into an Agreement of Understanding under the guidance of Cambridgeshire FA.

Both clubs Ely City and Ely City Crusaders have and will remain totally separate organisations with separate constitutions ,management and finance ,but importantly work has now began on a Joint Development Plan that we see both clubs working together for the benefit of each other. The two clubs now form one big club for the city of Ely with every player being part of that club within our city '

Crusaders Chairman Steve Wickens commented 'As the City of Ely grows it makes perfect sense for the two City based teams to work together in order to offer a complete footballing journey from mini kickers at the age of 5 right through to senior football. There is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes, but by working together we are stronger and will hopefully fulfill our aim of enabling anybody who wants to be involved in football, whether that be as a player, coach or referee, to do so in a well structured, friendly and safe environment'.

Ely City Development Officer and a member of the Joint Development Plan committee Paul Jeffrey commented 'Although work has been slow over the last couple of years it was necessary to form stronger building blocks between the two clubs to move us both forward. These are now in place and the total vision for both football clubs is that we want to get the message out there that we are all one club working towards the same aim and goal. Although both clubs are run separately for affiliation purposes I want to stress to everyone within Ely that we are one bigger football club looking to progress and develop on and off the pitch at every level together. This will enhance our community and funding opportunities