2025–26 Cambridge United F.C. season

Cambridge United
2025–26 season
OwnerPaul Barry (75.01%),
Mark Green (24.99%)
ChairmanShaun Grady
Head CoachNeil Harris
StadiumAbbey Stadium
League Two9th
FA CupFirst Round
EFL CupSecond Round
EFL TrophyGroup Stage
Top goalscorerLeague:
Louis Appéré
James Brophy

All:
Louis Appéré (3)
Highest home attendance6,673
(vs Cheltenham Town, 2 August 2025, EFL League Two)
Lowest home attendance5,737
(vs Harrogate Town, 16 August 2025, EFL League Two)
Average home league attendance6,205

The 2025–26 season is the 114th season in the history of Cambridge United Football Club, and their first season back in League Two since the 2020–21 season following relegation from League One in the preceding season. In addition to the domestic league, the club will also participate in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy.

Transfers and contracts

In

Date Pos. Player From Fee Ref.
23 June 2025[a] RW England Ben Knight Free agent — [1]
1 July 2025[b] DM England Dominic Ball England Leyton Orient Bosman [2]
1 July 2025[c] CB England Zak Bradshaw England Lincoln City [3]
1 July 2025[d] GK Wales Ben Hughes Wales Swansea City [4]
1 July 2025[e] LB England Ben Purrington England Exeter City [5]
10 July 2025 GK England Jake Eastwood England Grimsby Town [6]
24 July 2025 DM Democratic Republic of the Congo Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu England Luton Town [7]
28 July 2025 RB Republic of Ireland Shane McLoughlin Wales Newport County [8]
29 July 2025 CF Scotland Louis Appéré England Stevenage Undisclosed [9]
  1. ^ The transfer was announced on 2 June, and would become official on June 23 when the squad returns for pre-season
  2. ^ The transfer was announced on 23 June, and would become official on July 1 when his contract at Leyton Orient had expired
  3. ^ The transfer was announced on 26 June, and would become official on July 1 when his contract at Lincoln City had expired
  4. ^ The transfer was announced on 20 June, and would become official on July 1 when his contract at Swansea City had expired
  5. ^ The transfer was announced on 23 June, and would become official on July 1 when his contract at Exeter City had expired

Out

Date Pos. Player To Fee Ref.

Loaned in

Date Pos. Player From Date until Ref.
18 August 2025 CF England Kylian Kouassi England Blackpool End of season [10]

Loaned out

Date Pos. Player To Date until Ref.

Released / Out of Contract

Date Pos. Player Subsequent club Join date Ref.
30 June 2025 GK England Louis Chadwick England King's Lynn Town 1 July 2025 [11][12]
DM England Paul Digby Scotland Dundee [11][13]
GK Slovakia Marko Maroši England Port Vale [11][14]
GK England Jack Stevens England Reading [11][15]
CM Jamaica Jordan Cousins England Eastleigh 15 July 2025 [11][16]
CF England Brandon Njoku England Sutton United 29 July 2025 [11][17]
LB England Danny Andrew England Stockport County 2 August 2025 [11][18]
AM England Dan Barton [11]
CM England Gary Gardner [19]
CF England Amaru Kaunda [11]
LB England Scott Malone [11]
CB Malawi Jubril Okedina [11]
CM England Ben Stevenson [11]
AM Wales George Thomas [11]

New Contract

Date Pos. Player Contract until Ref.
10 June 2025 LW Sierra Leone Sullay Kaikai 30 June 2027 [20]
10 June 2025 LB England Liam Bennett 30 June 2027 [21]

Pre-season and friendlies

On 15 May, Cambridge United announced their initial pre-season schedule, with games against Cambridge City, Northampton Town (BCD), Braintree Town and Cardiff City (BCD). A fifth friendly was later added against Charlton Athletic.[22]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

5 July 2025 Friendly Cambridge City 1–3 Cambridge United Sawston
13:00 BST
  • Salako 22'
 Report
Stadium: FWD-IP Community Stadium
8 July 2025 Friendly Northampton Town 0–3 Cambridge United Moulton
12:00 BST Report
Stadium: Moulton College
Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)
15 July 2025 Friendly Braintree Town 0–3 Cambridge United Braintree
19:45 BST Report
Stadium: Cressing Road
18 July 2025 Friendly Cardiff City 5–1[23] Cambridge United Vale of Glamorgan
13:00 BST
Report
Stadium: Cardiff City Training Ground
Attendance: 0 (Behind-closed-doors)
26 July 2025 Friendly Cambridge United 1–1 Charlton Athletic Cambridge
15:00 BST
Report
Stadium: Abbey Stadium
Attendance: 2,003 (330 away fans)
Referee: Neil Hair

Competitions

Overall record

Competition First match Last match Starting round Record
Pld W D L GF GA GD Win %
League Two 2 August 2025 May 2026 Matchday 1 4 2 1 1 6 5 +1 050.00
FA Cup November 2025 First round 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !—
EFL Cup 12 August 2025 First round 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 100.00
EFL Trophy September 2025 Group stage 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !—
Total 5 3 1 1 8 5 +3 060.00

Last updated: 20 August 2025
Source: Soccerway

League Two

Main article: 2025–26 EFL League Two

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
7 Bromley 4 2 2 0 6 3 +3 8 Qualification for League Two play-offs
8 Harrogate Town 4 2 2 0 6 4 +2 8
9 Cambridge United 4 2 1 1 6 5 +1 7
10 Fleetwood Town 4 2 1 1 7 7 0 7
11 Walsall 4 2 0 2 4 4 0 6
Updated to match(es) played on 20 August 2025. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences[24]

Results summary

Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
4 2 1 1 6 5  +1 7 1 1 0 2 1  +1 1 0 1 4 4  0

Last updated: 19 August 2025.
Source: Soccerway

Results by round

Round1234
GroundHAHA
ResultWLDW
Position512159
Points3347
Source: EFL
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Matches

On 26 June, the League Two fixtures were announced, with Cambridge hosting Cheltenham Town on the opening day.[25]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

2 August 2025 1 Cambridge United 1–0 Cheltenham Town Cambridge
15:00 BST
Report
Stadium: Abbey Stadium
Attendance: 6,673 (301 away fans)
Referee: Craig Hicks
9 August 2025 2 Swindon Town 3–2 Cambridge United Swindon
15:00 BST Drinan 32'
Smith 34'
Oldaker 53'
Munroe Yellow card 82'
Butterworth Yellow card 90+6'		 Report Brophy 4' Yellow card 90+6'
Kaikai 64'		 Stadium: County Ground
Attendance: 8,862
Referee: Edward Duckworth
16 August 2025 3 Cambridge United 1–1 Harrogate Town Cambridge
15:00 BST Appéré 18'
Knight Yellow card 70'		 Report Evans Yellow card 17'
Duke-McKenna 52'		 Stadium: Abbey Stadium
Attendance: 5,737
Referee: Kirsty Dowle
19 August 2025 4 Colchester United 1–2 Cambridge United Colchester
19:45 BST Read 13'
Payne Yellow card 44'
Tovide Yellow card 67'		 Report Jobe Yellow card 39' 45+2'
Brophy 45'
Ball Yellow card 56'
Watts Yellow card 68'
Bennett Yellow card 90+3'		 Stadium: Colchester Community Stadium
Attendance: 6,834 (1,501 away fans)
Referee: Richard Eley
23 August 2025 5 Bristol Rovers v Cambridge United Horfield
15:00 BST Stadium: Memorial Stadium
30 August 2025 6 Cambridge United v Newport County Cambridge
15:00 BST Stadium: Abbey Stadium
6 September 2025 7 Cambridge United v Oldham Athletic Cambridge
15:00 BST Stadium: Abbey Stadium
13 September 2025 8 Grimsby Town v Cambridge United Cleethorpes
15:00 BST Stadium: Blundell Park
20 September 2025 9 Cambridge United v Fleetwood Town Cambridge
12:30 BST Stadium: Abbey Stadium
Note: Fixture was originally scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off, but was moved live Sky Sports broadcasting.[26]
27 September 2025 10 Tranmere Rovers v Cambridge United Birkenhead
15:00 BST Stadium: Prenton Park
4 October 2025 11 Cambridge United v Crawley Town Cambridge
15:00 BST Stadium: Abbey Stadium
11 October 2025 12 Shrewsbury Town v Cambridge United Shrewsbury
15:00 BST Stadium: New Meadow
18 October 2025 13 Cambridge United v Bromley Cambridge
12:30 BST Stadium: Abbey Stadium
Note: Fixture was originally scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off, but was rescheduled for live Sky Sports broadcasting.[27]
25 October 2025 14 Notts County v Cambridge United Nottingham
15:00 BST Stadium: Meadow Lane
8 November 2025 15 Salford City v Cambridge United Kersal
15:00 GMT Stadium: Moor Lane
15 November 2025 16 Cambridge United v Barnet Cambridge
15:00 GMT Stadium: Abbey Stadium
22 November 2025 17 Barrow v Cambridge United Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 GMT Stadium: Holker Street
29 November 2025 18 Cambridge United v Crewe Alexandra Cambridge
15:00 GMT Stadium: Abbey Stadium
9 December 2025 19 Cambridge United v Chesterfield Cambridge
19:45 GMT Stadium: Abbey Stadium
13 December 2025 20 Milton Keynes Dons v Cambridge United Denbigh
15:00 GMT Stadium: Stadium MK
19 December 2025 21 Cambridge United v Accrington Stanley Cambridge
19:45 GMT Stadium: Abbey Stadium
Note: Fixture was originally scheduled for 20 December, but was following an agreement between the two sides.[26]

FA Cup

Main article: 2025–26 FA Cup

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

EFL Cup

Main article: 2025–26 EFL Cup

Cambridge were drawn away to Bristol Rovers in the first round[28][29] and at home to Charlton Athletic in the second round.[30][31]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

12 August 2025 First round Bristol Rovers 0–2 Cambridge United Horfield
19:45 BST Conteh Yellow card 23' Appéré 29'
Brophy Yellow card 68'
Loft 75'		 Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Attendance: 2,681
Referee: Oliver Mackey
26 August 2025 Second round Cambridge United v Charlton Athletic Cambridge
19:30 BST Stadium: Abbey Stadium

EFL Trophy

Main article: 2025–26 EFL Trophy

Cambridge were drawn against Barnet, Luton Town and Brighton & Hove Albion U21 in the group stage.[32]

Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L2 Barnet 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to Round 2
2 L2 Cambridge United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 L1 Luton Town 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 ACA Brighton & Hove Albion U21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: EFL

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

23 September 2025 South Group H Cambridge United v Brighton & Hove Albion U21 Cambridge
19:00 BST Stadium: Abbey Stadium
7 October 2025 South Group H Cambridge United v Luton Town Cambridge
19:00 BST Stadium: Abbey Stadium
21 October 2025 South Group H Barnet v Cambridge United Edgware
19:00 GMT Stadium: The Hive Stadium

Statistics

Appearances and goals

As of match played 19 August 2025

Players with no appearances are not included on the list

No. Pos Nat Player Total League Two FA Cup EFL Cup EFL Trophy
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK England ENG Jake Eastwood 5 0 4+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
2 DF England ENG Liam Bennett 5 0 4+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
3 DF England ENG Ben Purrington 4 0 4+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
4 MF England ENG Dominic Ball 5 0 4+0 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
5 DF England ENG Michael Morrison 3 0 3+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
6 DF England ENG Kelland Watts 5 0 4+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
7 MF England ENG James Brophy 5 2 4+0 2 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
9 FW Scotland SCO Louis Appéré 5 3 4+0 2 0+0 0 1+0 1 0+0 0
10 FW Democratic Republic of the Congo COD Elias Kachunga 4 0 1+2 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
11 FW Sierra Leone SLE Sullay Kaikai 5 1 4+0 1 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
14 FW England ENG Ben Knight 4 0 3+0 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
16 DF England ENG Zeno Ibsen Rossi 1 0 0+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
17 MF Democratic Republic of the Congo COD Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu 5 0 1+3 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
18 FW England ENG Ryan Loft 3 1 0+2 0 0+0 0 0+1 1 0+0 0
20 FW England ENG Kylian Kouassi 1 0 0+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
21 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Shane McLoughlin 5 0 3+1 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
22 DF England ENG Zak Bradshaw 1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
23 DF England ENG Mamadou Jobe 4 1 1+2 1 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
26 DF England ENG James Gibbons 3 0 0+2 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
38 MF England ENG George Hoddle 2 0 0+1 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0

References

  1. ^ "Ben Knight joins the U's". Cambridge United FC. 2 June 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Dom Ball arrives at the U's". Cambridge United FC. 23 June 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Zak Bradshaw bolsters defence". Cambridge United FC. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  4. ^ "Hughes added to ranks". Cambridge United FC. 20 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  5. ^ "Ben Purrington signs". Cambridge United FC. 23 June 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  6. ^ "Eastwood becomes latest signing". Cambridge United FC. 10 July 2025. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu lands at United". Cambridge United FC. 24 July 2025. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  8. ^ "McLoughlin Joins The U's". Cambridge United FC. 28 July 2025. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Louis Appere Joins Attack". Cambridge United FC. 29 July 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Kylian Kouassi pens loan deal". Cambridge United FC. 18 August 2025. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "2025 Retained List Published". Cambridge United FC. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  12. ^ "Goalkeeper Louis Chadwick joins Lynn". King's Lynn Town. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  13. ^ "Digby is a Dee". Dundee F.C. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  14. ^ "Marko Maroši is a Valiant!". Port Vale FC. 30 June 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Jack Stevens signs for the Royals". Reading F.C. 25 June 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  16. ^ "Official: Cousins joins the Spitfires". Eastleigh F.C. 15 July 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  17. ^ "Official: Brandon Njoku Puts Pen To Paper On Permanent Switch". Sutton United F.C. 29 July 2025. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  18. ^ "Experienced defender joins on short-term contract". Stockport County FC. 2 August 2025. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  19. ^ "Gary Gardner leaves the U's". Cambridge United FC. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  20. ^ "Sullay Kaikai signs new deal". Cambridge United FC. 10 June 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  21. ^ "Liam Bennett pens new contract". Cambridge United FC. 10 June 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  22. ^ "U's to host Charlton in pre-season". Cambridge United FC. 2 June 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  23. ^ Two 60-minute games were played. Cardiff won the first game 3-1 and the second game 2-0
  24. ^ "EFL Regulations Section 3 – The League; subsection 9 – Method of Determining League Positions". EFL. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  25. ^ "League Two 2025/26 fixtures, dates, schedule & how to watch: Barnet host Fleetwood in opening day clash live on Sky". Sky Sports. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  26. ^ a b "Fleetwood game selected for Sky Sports+, Accrington moved to Friday night". Cambridge United FC. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  27. ^ "Bromley fixture moved to 12:30pm". Cambridge United FC. 29 July 2025. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  28. ^ "Carabao Cup Round One confirmed". English Football League. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  29. ^ @CambridgeUtdFC (4 July 2025). "Our Carabao Cup tie against Bristol Rovers will take place on Tuesday 12 August, 7:45pm" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 July 2025 – via Twitter.
  30. ^ "U's to host Charlton in Carabao Cup Round Two". Cambridge United FC. 13 August 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  31. ^ "Tickets on sale for Carabao Cup clash". Cambridge United FC. 15 August 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  32. ^ "Under-21 teams and Group Stage draw confirmed for 2025/26 Vertu Trophy". English Football League. 25 June 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.