Highgate United F.C.
 | |||
| Full name | Highgate United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Gate | ||
| Founded | 1948[1] | ||
| Ground |
The Coppice Shirley Solihull | ||
| Capacity | 2,000 | ||
| Chairman | Gary Bishop | ||
| Manager | Lee Adams | ||
| League | Midland Football Alliance | ||
| 2012–13 | Midland Football Alliance, 19th | ||
| |||
Highgate United F.C. is an English football (soccer) club based in the Highgate area of Birmingham but currently playing in the Shirley district of Solihull. The club joined the Worcestershire Combination Division Two in 1964 and is currently a member of the Midland Football Alliance.
History
Formed in 1948, Highgate joined the Worcestershire Combination in 1964, initially in Division Two. Promoted to Division One at the first attempt the club has remained in the league's top division ever since, an unbroken run of over forty seasons.
The most successful period in the club's history was the mid-1970s. The club won the league championship (by now known as the Midland Combination for three consecutive seasons between 1972 and 1975 and also experienced its best runs in the FA Cup, FA Amateur Cup and FA Trophy within this three-year period. Since then, the club has failed to recapture this level of success and in fact has only finished in the top half of the table twice in the last fifteen seasons.[2]
Tony Allden
In 1967, Highgate played Enfield in the quarter-finals of the FA Amateur Cup. Midway through the first half, which was being played in heavy rain, a lightning strike saw several players collapse. One player, the Highgate centre half Tony Allden, did not recover consciousness and died the next day in hospital.[3] As a gesture of goodwill and sympathy, Aston Villa agreed to host the replay of the game concerned. They donated a new set of Aston Villa kit to Highgate United to use in the match, which ended with a 6–0 victory for Enfield. The replayed game was that it drew an attendance of some 31,000 at Villa Park.[citation needed] He is commemorated by one of the Midland Combination's cup competitions, the Tony Allden Memorial Cup.[4]
Club records
- Best league performance: 18th in the Midland Alliance 2010–11
- Best FA Cup performance: 4th qualifying round, 1973–74
- Best FA Amateur Cup performance: Semi-finals, 1972–73
- Best FA Trophy performance: 3rd round proper, 1974–75
- Best FA Vase performance: 2nd round proper, 2004–05
References
- ↑ Midland Combination website
- ↑ Highgate United at the Football Club History Database
- ↑ Official FIFA website
- ↑ Midland Combination website
Coordinates: 52°23′20.52″N 1°50′45.01″W / 52.3890333°N 1.8458361°W