Peterborough United F.C.

Peterborough United formed in 1934 at Peterborough's Angel Hotel to provide a replacement for Peterborough & Fletton United, who had folded two years previously.[2] Peterborough's application to join the Midland League was welcomed by the league, however, the representatives from the club did not have the money to pay for the security deposit, entry fee and subscription. Grantham Town loaned the money to The Posh who began selling shares to raise funds.[3]

4,033 fans attended The Posh's first league match which ended in a 4–0 victory over Gainsborough Trinity. William Rigby scored the team's first goal. They won the Midland League on six occasions, including five seasons in a row from 1956 to 1960. The Posh were elected to The Football League for the beginning of the 1960–61 season, winning Division Four.[4]

Following the Fourth Division Championship success in 1960–61, The Posh spent seven seasons in the 3rd Division. They reached the quarter-finals of the 1964–65 FA Cup, beating Arsenal and Swansea Town along the way before going out to Chelsea.[5] They were relegated back to the 4th Division for financial irregularities in the summer of 1968. The club took six seasons to return to Division 3, winning the 4th Division championship.

In 1977–78 the club threatened to go one better until they narrowly missed out on promotion to Division 2 when they drew the last game of the season at champions Wrexham (0–0) when a win was needed to go up. The game was notable for the fact that over 2,000 Preston North End fans travelled to Wrexham to watch the game and cheer on the home side – Preston were the club who went up because Peterborough did not win. The Wrexham defeat cast a long shadow over the club and it fell into a long decline. Relegation followed in 1979 and Posh subsequently spent 12 years back in the 4th division. The 1980s was a long story of mismanagement and false dawns, punctuated by the odd cup run. March 1984 marked the arrival of striker Errington Kelly on loan;[6][7] after scoring seven goals in eleven appearances, he was made permanent,[8] and went on to have over 100 appearances for Peterborough over five seasons.[9]

In January 1991, Chris Turner, who had played in the 1974 Fourth division championship team took over as manager and the team embarked on a run of 13 unbeaten games that propelled them into the top four. Six players were signed on transfer deadline day, which at the time was a record for the number of players signed by one club on a single day. On the final day of the season, Posh travelled to Chesterfield needing a win to seal promotion. Despite going two goals down in the first ten minutes, the team rallied and drew level with goals from David Robinson and George Berry. However, Posh's closest rivals, Blackpool lost at Walsall and promotion was achieved.

Chart of table positions for Peterborough since joining the Football League.

The following season arguably remains the most successful in the club's history. After an inconsistent start the team hit form during the autumn when they knocked Wimbledon and Newcastle United out of the League Cup. The reward was a home tie with a Liverpool team containing Bruce Grobbelaar, Jan Mølby, Steve McManaman, Dean Saunders and Mark Wright. Garry Kimble scored the only goal after 19 minutes prompting wild celebrations and a place in the quarter-finals. In the league, the team went from strength to strength and surged up the table. Middlesbrough ended the League Cup run after a replay and there was further disappointment when the team missed out on a trip to Wembley in the Football League Trophy when they lost to Stoke City over two legs in the area final.

Progress continued in the league and a play-off place was clinched on the last day of the season despite a 1–0 defeat to champions Brentford. The following week, Huddersfield Town came to London Road for the first leg of the Semi-final. Captain Mick Halsall's last minute equaliser levelled the score at 2–2. Three days later, the supporters travelled north more in hope than expectation but they were rewarded when the team came from a goal down to win 2–1 with Worrell Sterling and Steve Cooper scoring the goals. On 24 May 1992, Peterborough United played at Wembley for the first time, against Stockport County in the Third Division playoff final. With Posh winning 2–1 and gaining promotion to the new First division. They played in Football League Division One between 1992 and 1994 and finished 10th, their highest ever league finish, in 1992–93 season.[10]

During the 2005–06 season the club had three managers: Team owner Barry Fry returned to management following former England international Mark Wright's sacking in January 2006. Wright's assistant Steve Bleasdale was then appointed acting manager, but resigned in April. Keith Alexander joined as manager from Lincoln City for 2006–07 but was sacked in January 2007 after a run of poor form and was replaced by Darren Ferguson.[11] He led the club to back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship in his two full seasons in charge. By November 2009 Posh were bottom of the Championship and Ferguson left the club,[12] to be replaced by Mark Cooper. In February 2010, after only 13 games in charge, Cooper also left the club[13] and Jim Gannon was appointed in his place.[14] Following confirmation of relegation from the Championship after a 2–2 draw at Barnsley, Gannon was replaced by Gary Johnson.[15]

Peterborough United fans at Old Trafford in 2011

Gary Johnson left the club on 10 January 2011 due to policy disagreement.[16] Two days after Johnson's departure, Darren Ferguson returned to the club on a four and a half-year contract. Peterborough finally finished 4th in 2010–11 with one of the worst defensive records in the third tier, conceding 75 goals, but scoring 106; the most for anybody in the Football League that season. Peterborough beat Milton Keynes Dons in the play-off semi-finals. They defeated Huddersfield Town in the final with a 3–0 victory, and gained promotion back to the Championship.

Darren Ferguson led the team to safety in its first season back in the Championship, leading to a finish in 18th. However, the Posh were relegated back the following season, after losing to Crystal Palace 3–2 on 4 May 2013, the final match of the season.[17] On 30 March 2014, the Posh won the Football League Trophy after defeating Chesterfield in the final at Wembley Stadium.[18] Darren Ferguson ended his time as Peterborough United manager on 21 February 2015, following a 3–0 defeat at Milton Keynes Dons.[19]

On 1 May 2021, Peterborough were promoted back to the Championship after an 8-year stay in League One after coming back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 against rivals Lincoln City following a 96th-minute penalty by Jonson Clarke-Harris.[20] On 20 February 2022, Darren Ferguson left Peterborough United for the third time, after offering his resignation to club co-owner Darragh MacAnthony. Ferguson left the club in the relegation zone of the Sky Bet Championship, five points from safety. Matthew Etherington was placed in temporary charge of the club's upcoming games on 22 February. On 23 April 2022, Peterborough were relegated back to the EFL League One following a 1–0 defeat at home against Nottingham Forest.[21]

According to the Football Fans Census, Cambridge United were considered to be the club's main rival.[31] The Cambridge rivalry, known as the Cambridgeshire derby, has been fought very evenly over the years; Peterborough winning 17 and Cambridge 15, with Peterborough netting 54 times and Cambridge 52 in the 38 competitive matches they have played each other. However, the two sides did not meet each other between 2001 and 2017 when they faced each other in the Checkatrade Trophy, a game which Peterborough won 2–0. They next met in the league on 29 October 2022. A game which Peterborough won 1–0.[32] Peterborough won the latest fixture 2–0 in the EFL Trophy on 12 September 2023.

Northampton Town are the club's traditional rival,[31] dating back to when both sides were lower league, and as the city of Peterborough is historically part of Northamptonshire.

More recently, Peterborough fans have begun to view the MK Dons as rivals, partly due to the geographic location, but also due to battling with the MK Dons for promotion from League Two and League One in Darren Ferguson's first two full seasons.[33][34]

Ever since 1992 there has also been animosity between Peterborough United and Huddersfield Town, with Chris Turner's Peterborough progressing to the final and later on winning the play-offs in the 1991–92 Football League Third Division, they progressed past Huddersfield winning 4–3 on aggregate in the playoff semi finals.[35] This rivalry further grew in 2011 with Peterborough winning against Huddersfield in the 2010–11 League One play-off final 3–0, and in the 2012–13 Championship season Huddersfield relegated Peterborough from the championship on the last day of the season with them drawing 2–2 with Barnsley, and with Peterborough losing 3–2 against Crystal Palace, Huddersfield's draw with Barnsley, with both sides willing to see the game out as a draw, caused the latter to leapfrog Peterborough and send them down to League One.[36][37] This rivalry was played again in the 2021–22 Championship season.[38]

Peterborough also have shown a certain enmity towards Lincoln City.[39] This rivalry grew on 1 May 2021, as Peterborough United came back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 meaning they secured automatic promotion to the Championship, denying Lincoln a chance at finishing second and forcing the Lincolnshire club to settle for a play-off place.[40]

Many fans consider Peterborough to be a part of the Pride of Anglia derby, contested between the professional clubs based in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and sometimes Essex. Matches against these teams often draw large crowds with Posh's highest home attendance of the 2019–20 season coming against Ipswich Town with 10,071 fans.

As of 6 October 2023[41][42][43]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  AUS Nicholas Bilokapic 2 DF  ENG Jadel Katongo (on loan from Manchester City) 3 MF  ENG Harrison Burrows 4 DF  ENG Ronnie Edwards 5 DF  ENG Josh Knight 6 DF  ENG Romoney Crichlow 7 MF  CMR Jeando Fuchs 8 MF  ENG Ryan de Havilland 9 FW  JAM Jonson Clarke-Harris 10 FW  ENG Ephron Mason-Clark 11 MF  GHA Kwame Poku 13 GK  ENG Will Blackmore 14 MF  ENG Joel Randall 15 DF  ENG Zak Sturge (on loan from Chelsea) 16 MF  ENG David Ajiboye 17 FW  ENG Ricky-Jade Jones 18 FW  ENG Malik Mothersille 20 DF  ENG Emmanuel Fernandez

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF  CYP Hector Kyprianou 23 FW  ESP Kai Corbett 25 GK  ENG Fynn Talley 27 MF  ENG Archie Collins 28 FW  ENG Jacob Wakeling 30 DF  IRL Peter Kioso (on loan from Rotherham United; (captain) 33 GK  ENG Jake West 34 MF  ENG Harry Titchmarsh 35 MF  ENG Donay O'Brien-Brady 36 DF  ENG James Dornelly 37 DF  ENG Harley Mills 38 FW  ENG Gabriel Overton 39 DF  ENG Joe Toynton 40 MF  ENG George Holley 41 DF  ENG Noah Freeman 42 MF  ENG Max Beech

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  ENG Kabongo Tshimanga (at Fleetwood Town until 30 June 2024) 24 DF  ENG Charlie O'Connell (at Woking until 4 November 2023)

For a list of notable Peterborough United players in sortable-table format see List of Peterborough United F.C. players.

• Chairman: Darragh MacAnthony
• Chief Executive Officer: Dawn Gore
• Director of Football: Barry Fry
• Directors: Randal Stewart Thompson , Dr Jason Neale , Liz Elsom , Dawn Gore

• First-team manager: Darren Ferguson
• Assistant manager: Kieran Scarff
• First-team coach : Dale Tonge
• Goalkeeping coach: Ali Uzunhasanoglu
• Head of sports science: Lewis Keeble
• First Team Analyst: Matthew Loades
• Physio: Jonathan Chatfield
• Kit Manager: Ryan Melton
• Club doctor: Dr Cosmas C.P Nnochiri

• Under 23s Manager: Ryan Semple
• Under 23s Assistant Manager: Vacant
• Under 18s Manager: Vacant
• Youth Lead Phase Coach: Ryan Semple
• Head of academy coaching: Tony Cook
• Head of Player Care: Michael Harriman
• Academy manager: Dan Robinson

• Best FA Cup performance: Quarter-finals, 1964–65
• Best League Cup performance: Semi-finals, 1965–66

Most League Appearances:

• Tommy Robson – 482 (440 starts and 42 as a substitute): 1968–1981[10]

Most Consecutive Appearances:

• Eric Steele – 148 (124 League, 24 Cup):[10] 1973–1977

Most League Goals:

• Jim Hall – 122 1967–75

Most League Goals (incl. Non-League):

• Dennis Emery—195: 1954–1963

Most League goals in one season:

• Terry Bly – 52 : 1960–61 (also an all-time Fourth Division record)[10]

• Highest Transfer Fee Received- a fee around £7m (rising to £10m) from Brentford for Ivan Toney, August 2020

• Highest Transfer Fee Paid – A fee exceeding £1.25m to Bristol City for Mo Eisa, June 2019[47]