Spalding United

The club took its nickname, the Tulips, from the bulb fields that once defined the town. Spalding United won the United Counties League five times between 1954 and 2004, and stepped up a level when it took the Northern Premier League Midland Division in 2023/24. Two runs to the FA Cup First Round, in 1957/58 and 1964/65, remain the high-water mark in the national competition; the FA Trophy brought a Third Round appearance in 1974/75.

The largest crowd the club has drawn, 6,972, came for an FA Cup qualifier against Peterborough United in 1952. Off the pitch, the years from 2004 to 2011 brought eight changes of manager, and in 2023 former chairman Christopher Toynton was convicted of fraud. Marcus Maddison arrived in 2021 by a different route.

Matches are still played at Sir Halley Stewart Field on Winfrey Avenue, a ground that holds a fraction of the record crowd it once let in, in blue and yellow.