Mulbarton Wanderers History

Mulbarton Wanderers Youth FC was formed in 1998 after splitting from Mulbarton United Youth FC. In 2001 Harford Belles joined forces to form Mulbarton Wanderers and Belles FC

In 2000/01 the club was awarded the FA National Football Grass Roots Award presented in Mulbarton by the then England National Team Manager Kevin Keegan.

The Men`s First Team was formed in 2001 and in our first season finished Runners-Up to gain promotion from Central and South Norfolk League Division 4. In 2003/04 the club were granted the FA Charter Standard Community Club Award.

The First Team continued to move up the divisions and further promotions were secured in 2004/2005 and 2006/2007 to climb to Division 1 of the league also finishing Runners-Up in the Junior League Cup in 2008/2009. Promotion to Division 6 of the Anglian Combination was gained in the same season.

The next few seasons saw the First Team promoted in successive seasons, to reach the Premier Division in 2015/16. The next season we finished third and won the Mummery Cup with a 2-1 Victory over Acle. The following season 2017/2018 we finished Runners-Up in the league securing promotion to the Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties League division 1 north.

In our first season in the Thurlow Nunn league we battled to an excellent third placed finish which was way beyond our expectations. Our second we were looking on course for promotion to the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division as we sat at the top of the table for most of the season but then the pandemic struck and with more important matters at hand, the season was expunged and then the 20/21 season went the same way. However, with the league cancelled we had an excellent run in the F.A. Vase being the highest scoring team in the competition until being knocked out in the 4th round. We also reached the final of the Norfolk Senior Cup, narrowly losing by the odd goal to Gorleston Town. When the F.A. decided to reorganise non-league football using points per game we were promoted to step 5 for the first time in the club’s history.

In our 1st season in the premier division 21/22 we finished an excellent 4th. The highlight of the season was winning the Norfolk Senior Cup at Carrow Road with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Dereham Town. A very proud day for the whole club.

The 22/23 season saw the team recruiting several new players and we became a draw specialist team drawing 15 games that season but still finishing a credible mid table position of 10th.

The 23/24 season saw the recruitment and hard work come to fruition, turning a lot of draws into wins and having a settled side we finished in 3rd place qualifying for the promotion playoffs. The semi-final was played against Thetford Town in a rearranged game we held on to win 2-1. The hastily arranged final against Newmarket resulted in a 0-2 loss but an excellent season for the team

The 24/25 season saw the 1st team finish in 5th just outside the play offs, however what was pleasing was seeing the team debut 6 players from the u18 team, who are all looking to establish regular 1st team football in the coming seasons.

2025 has been an incredible year for Mulbarton Wanderers Football Club. This season we put out more than 30 teams, more than 600 players, retained our 3-star FA accreditation. Our U6 “Mulbarton Meerkat” setup started in early January. Our PAN Disability Comets team has continued to flourish. The Comets proudly finished their season as champions in the new Norfolk FA superhero league. For our mixed youth setup, the opportunities to play have never been greater with 26 teams participating across all possible ages from u7s to u18s in the Norfolk Combined Youth Football League. This year has also seen our development pathway come to life with players coming through the progressing into our more advanced regional teams (u15 to u18) that play in the Eastern Junior Alliance and Thurlow Nunn Leagues. For the girls, we have teams in every age group but one, with many girls also playing in the mixed youth sides.

For the 1st team the 25/26 is our most successful yet, an excellent run in the F.A. Cup the 1st team reached the 2nd round qualifying for the 1st time knocking out 2 step 4 sides. The Thurlow Nunn League title was won in convincing style 21 pts ahead of the runners up, including an unbeaten run of 19 games containing a run of 11 games with clean sheets. the League Cup followed and a remarkable treble was completed when the Norfolk Senior Cup was won in a thrilling final at Carrow Road, a day that will live long in the memories of the club and the wonderful support we had that day

So now, for the 1st time in the clubs history, we move up to step 4 into the Pitching In Isthmian League including appearing in the F.A. Trophy for the 1st time. The adventure continues.


14	Takeley	16	11
15	Sudbury	15	15
16	Canvey	15	13
17	Mulbarton Wanderers	13	11
18	Grays	13	14
19	Buckhurst Hill	11	13
20	Brightlingsea	11	14

Mulbarton Wanderers

Match Outlook

North Division