Gymnasium F.C.

Gymnasium F.C. are a football club from Douglas on the Isle of Man. They compete in the Isle of Man Football League. They wear a blue and white striped shirt, black shorts, black socks and play their home games at Tromode Park in Douglas.
History.
Gymnasium AFC was founded in 1890 by a group of men who wanted to keep fit. They met at the old Douglas Gymnasium and initially played rugby before making the switch to football. Gymns were one of eight teams that initially made up the official Manx Football League. 
They have been Isle of Man Football League champions seven times, including four consecutive championships from 1902–03 to 1905–06. They have won the Manx FA Cup ten times. 
The club experienced an internal power struggle during 1987, resulting in the resignation of a section of the committee and players to form spin off club , who even took gymnasiums coloursDouglas Royal, who even copied the Gymns kit of the time and to this day consider themselves rivals (despite being in the lower leagues).
In 2001–02 they were relegated to Division Two but were promoted again the following season as runners-up. However they spent just one season back in the First Division finishing the season winning just two games. And yet again the following season, 2004–05, they were immediately promoted as runners-up. Since that time the club has consolidated its position within the top tier and continues to climb the table each season.
In addition to the Senior team, the club has a reserve team that play in the Isle of Man Football Combination
Thanks to links with a prominent Premier League club, Gymns were donated a playing kit for the 2002–03 season. Unfortunately a mix-up in communication resulted in blue/white stripe shirts being provided instead of the club's traditional all-white. As a result, Gymns altered the club colours that season to reflect this new kit, later switching the shorts and socks from blue to black and thus creating the home strip worn today.
During the 2008–09 season, the club achieved The Football Association Charter Standard status, the FA's kitemark scheme for quality assurance.
The club then experienced a lean spell and have been back in the second division for a number of years.
The club has attracted a lot of new players for season 2020-21 and there is more competition for places than for many years. There are a lot of younger players now competing for places in addition to the 21 year olds Nick Clague and Ross Crawford who have been regulars for the past four seasons. Results have been familiarly inconsistent but the future should be bright as the new players bed in. Unfortunately the Covid epidemic has again caused major issues with months of games being lost and it remains to be seen if the season will be completed.
Partnerships.
Gymnasium FC continue to be sponsored by Celtic Associates as at the start of the 2020-21 season. 
The club is also a member of the Cronkbourne Sports & Social Club, which also includes the Cronkbourne Cricket Club and the Cronkbourne Bacchanalians Hockey Club. This partnership enables the CSSC pavilion facilities to be used during the football season to provide a further level of comfort to home and visiting players.