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.
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Season | League record | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL[a] Trophy |
Other | Top goalscorer(s)[b] | ||||||||||
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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 |
2023–24 | League 1 | 46 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 39 | 61 | 48 | 18th | R3 | R1 | Group | — | — | Gassan Ahadme | 13 |