3/1 To Win
The 24 teams that will take part in Sky Bet League One in the 2023/24 season were confirmed at the end of May.
Here, dcfc.co.uk will take a look at each one in focus ahead of the new campaign getting underway at the start of August.
In this instalment, we put the focus on Cambridge United.
Fact File
Established: 1912
Nickname: The U’s
Home: Abbey Stadium (8,127 capacity)
Manager: Mark Bonner
2022/23 finish: 20th (Sky Bet League One)
Club History
Founded in 1912 as Abbey United, the club turned professional in 1949 and that’s when their name changed to what it is today, Cambridge United.
Their nickname ‘the U’s,’ is taken from United. They were formerly known as ‘The Wasps’ due to their traditional black and amber strip.
In 1970 they were elected to the football league to replace Bradford Park Avenue and by 1978 they were playing in the second division. In 2005 after 35 years in the Football League, the club were relegated to what was then called the Conference but is now named as the National League.
They spent nine years in the Conference before earning promotion back to the Football League in 2014 and in 2021/22, after seven seasons in Sky Bet League Two, they were promoted to Sky Bet League One after finishing as runners up to Cheltenham Town.
Played For Both
Alan Biley
Biley was a prolific forward that started his career with Cambridge United in 1975.
He scored 82 goals in 185 appearances for the U’s which saw him attract the interest of the Rams, among others.
Biley signed for Derby, who were in the First Division at the time in 1979, but despite his nine goals in 18 matches, he couldn’t help save the Rams from top flight relegation. He spent just two seasons in Derbyshire before moving on to Everton.
The forward returned to Cambridge at the back end of his career before eventually retiring in 1989 with Waterford United.
Ian Ashbee
Midfielder Ashbee started his career in Derbyshire in 1994 but after failing to burst onto the first-team scene, and making just one first-team scene, he was sold to Cambridge in 1996.
Unlike his spell with the Rams, his time at the U's was extremely successful and he became, at the time, one of Cambridge's longest serving players.
He made over 200 appearances in Cambridgeshire before moving on to Hull City after six years with the club and helped them rise from the lower leagues to the Premier League.
2022/23 Season
Like the Rams, the 2022/23 season went down to the wire for the U’s – but for very different reasons.
It was a campaign predominantly of struggle for Cambridge and one that left them needing to win on the final day to be with any chance of remaining in the third tier in 2023/24.
Even a victory wouldn’t guarantee them survival as they were relying on results elsewhere, but the stars ultimately aligned for the U’s and a 2-0 win over already relegated side Forest Green Rovers combined with their rivals Morecambe and MK Dons failing to win saw them safe.
Record Against The Rams
Derby have only faced off with the U’s 19 times throughout their history and it’s the Rams that have an incredibly impressive record across those fixtures.
Aside from the first ever two meetings between the sides in 1980, which were both won by the U’s, Cambridge have only recorded one other victory over Derby - a 2-1 win in the 1989 League Cup.
The Rams have registered 11 victories including last season’s Sky Bet League One double whilst the other five matches have ended in draws.
Derby were 2-0 winners at Cambridge in October in Paul Warne's first game in charge, thanks to two goals from Jamie Collins, while Lewis Dobbin's header earned a 1-0 home win over the U's in their last game of 2022.
