Histon F.C.

Histon
Full name Histon Football Club
Nickname(s) The Stutes
Founded 1904 (as Histon Institute)
Ground Bridge Road, Impington
Ground Capacity 4,300 (1,700 seated)
Chairman Russell Hands (Non board member)
Manager Lance Key
League Southern League Division One Central
2015–16 Southern League Premier Division, 22nd (relegated)

Histon Football Club is an English football club based in the village of Histon, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. The club currently compete in the Southern Football League Division One Central, after having been relegated from the Football Conference at the end of 2010–11, and then relegated from the Conference North at the end of 2013-14.

Histon are nicknamed "the Stutes", originating from the club's previous name Histon Institute, and they play their home matches at Bridge Road in Impington. Histon's crest features a rose, the flower representing the rose-covered field given to the people of Histon & Impington in perpetuity for sporting activities in the community by local firm Chivers and Sons. Histon play in red and black, their traditional colours, with red and black striped jerseys, black shorts and black socks.[1] Their current away kit is sky blue shirts, royal blue shorts and sky blue socks. The club is currently managed by Lance Key.

History

20th century

The club was formed in 1904 as Histon Institute F.C. and played for many years in the Cambridgeshire Football League. John Chivers, the chairman of the major employer in Histon & Impington, the jam company Chivers and Sons, helped to found the Histon Institute in 1903, from where the football club has its origins.[2] The company donated a field, then covered in roses, for the club to play on, which is commemorated in the rose on Histon's crest.

In 1960 the club (which by now had dropped the "Institute" from their name) joined the Delphian League, but just three years later this league disbanded. Histon, along with most of the other member clubs, joined the Athenian League. In 1966 they switched to the Eastern Counties League, where they were to play for nearly twenty-five years. When the ECL adopted a two-division format, in 1988, Histon were placed in the Premier Division. In the 1989–90 season Histon won the Jewson League Cup, but lost players Lance Key and Shaun Sowden to Sheffield Wednesday and Giuliano Maiorana to Manchester United.

In 1993 a new club committee was formed and the recovery started. They were relegated to Division One in 1995 but were promoted back up two years later. During this time manager Graham Daniels departed for Cambridge City, and this meant the arrival of Simon Allen and once again the standards were raised. He guided the first team back from the Eastern Counties League Division to the Premier Division. The 1997–98 season saw Neil Kennedy establish a club record by scoring 46 senior goals in the season, winning the golden boot for the League, and Histon finished 3rd.[3] The club also won the Fair Play award for the third season running. In the same season, Sean Audley also established a club record by scoring the most goals recorded to date in one season. He scored a record 79 goals in the reserve side, and by doing so he earned himself the golden boot for the League top scorer. The following season produced another manager in Trevor Collins who took over the role and by doing so took the team to 4th in the league. But in the 1999–2000 season they won the Premier Division title under the management of another manager, former Cambridge United player Steve Fallon, and were promoted to the Southern Football League. The title was won on the last day of the season with a 2–1 defeat of Gorleston.[3]

21st century

The start of the 21st century for Histon was slow, and in the first three seasons Histon managed 4th spot twice and a disappointing 10th which momentarily halted the fast rise they had experienced with Steve Fallon up the non-league pyramid. The 2003–04 season saw Histon finish 2nd in the Southern League's Eastern Division to claim promotion to the Premier Division, and they followed this up by winning the Premier Division championship at the first attempt, and with it promotion to Conference South, the highest level at which the club had ever played. In the same season, Histon took on League Two side Shrewsbury Town in the F.A. Cup 1st Round Proper, setting up a 2nd Round tie at home to Yeovil Town with a 2–0 victory. They lost to Yeovil in the 2nd Round, but it did not affect their league performances as they clinched the Southern League Premier Division title on the last day of the season.

Bridge Road, viewing back of Main Stand and Cambridgeshire F.A. Stand.

In their first season at this level Histon finished in 5th place, enough to secure a place in the play-offs for promotion to the Conference National. They won their first game away at Farnborough Town 3–0, but lost 2–0 in the play-off final at Broadhall Way against St. Albans City.

In the FA Cup they managed to reach the second round proper after beating Hednesford Town in the first round. The team managed a draw away at Nuneaton Borough but were defeated in the replay at Bridge Road 2–1. They would have played Premier League club Middlesbrough if they had won. The second round replay saw 3,077 people at Bridge Road,[4] the highest attendance of the whole season.[5] The season was also notable for a 5–0 win against local rivals Cambridge United in the FA Trophy.

The two mainstands under snow cover.

On 14 April 2007, the Stutes beat Welling United 1–0 at Bridge Road to secure promotion to the Conference National for the first time in their history, Adrian Cambridge scoring the winner in the 89th minute. Two days previously, officials from the Conference had passed Bridge Road as fit for Conference football, paving the way for promotion—the club's fourth in 7 years—to the highest point in the football league pyramid reached in the club's history. In the same season striker Neil Kennedy got his 300th goal for the club with a hat-trick against Havant & Waterlooville.

In Histon's first season in the Conference National the Stutes played their first televised game, Setanta broadcasting their 1–0 home win against Oxford United. Later in the season the club broke their record home attendance when a crowd of 3,721 saw Histon beat local rivals Cambridge United 1–0 on 1 January 2008.[6] Histon finished the season in 7th, two places and 9 points away from the play-offs,[7] and bade farewell to the club's record goalscorer, Neil Kennedy. He played his last competitive game against Forest Green Rovers on the last day of the season in a substitute appearance.[8]

Histon's second season of Conference started well, and the Stutes were top of the division during November.[9] They finished third in the league season, qualifying for the play-offs, where they were defeated 2–1 on aggregate by Torquay United in the semi-final.[10] In the FA Cup, Histon reached the third round for the first time after beating Football League opposition in Swindon Town 1–0 at home in the first round,[11] and Leeds United 1–0 at home in the second round, the first time Leeds had lost to a non-league side.[12] They lost 2–1 to Swansea City at home in the third round.

In November 2009, Gareth Baldwin ended his 17-year tenure as chairman of the club when he was replaced by Tony Roach, citing "ill-health and stress" as the reason he was standing down.[13] Weeks later, he joined Cambridge United in a commercial capacity.[14] In January 2010, a unanimous vote from the board of directors saw Steve Fallon sacked as Histon manager, and he was replaced by Alan Lewer.[15] A year later the club were fined £5,000 and docked 5 league points after pleading guilty to "submitting misleading financial information". David Livermore then managed Histon until the end of the season.[16] They finished the season bottom of the league[17] and were relegated, being allocated a place in the Conference North for 2011–12.[18] Histon finished their first Conference North season in 16th, and manager Livermore left the club. He was replaced by Dennis Greene. The club avoided relegation at the end of 2012-13 on goal difference, by a single goal, but finished the 2013–14 season one from bottom and were relegated to the Southern League.

Ground

View from main grandstand at Bridge Road. Since taken, the terrace opposite has been modified with seats put in.

Histon play at Bridge Road, also known as the Glassworld Stadium for sponsorship purposes. Due to the club's fast rise up the non-league system, the stadium has had to undergo major transformations, the latest being a new 500-seat stand that contains headquarters for the Cambridgeshire FA. It was finished in late 2007, bringing the ground's seated capacity to over 1,000. Plans are also in place to build a new away stand due to the Football League regulations that require a 1,500 stand.[19] The ground was graded as an A grade Non-League stadium on 7 January 2008 when delegates from The Football League passed it fit to play Football League Two football, should Histon become eligible through promotion.[20] Further ground improvements were started in early March 2008. Covered terracing for the whole of the 'Rec End' and a seated stand running the length of the pitch opposite the Main Stand are also now complete.

Reserves

Histon's reserve team were unusual in that they played at a high level of the National League System, only four divisions below the 1st team. They joined the Eastern Counties League Division One in 2001 and achieved second place in 2002. They are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Premier Division, after escaping relegation at the end of the 2007–08 season by winning 7 of their final 8 games,[21] finishing two points above relegated Swaffham Town.[22] The side has been managed by former players Neil Kennedy and Ossie Mintus since May 2008 when they took over from Ian Hart.[23] However, they withdrew from the league at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Former players

See Category:Histon F.C. players to see a list of Histon players, past and present.

League Memberships

1960 Joined Delphian League.
1963 Moved to Athenian League Division Two.
1965 Joined Eastern Counties League Premier Division.
1995 Relegated to Eastern Counties League Division One.
1997 Promoted to Eastern Counties League Premier Division.
2000 Promoted to Southern League Eastern Division.
2004 Promoted to Southern League Premier Division.
2005 Promoted to Conference South.
2007 Promoted to Conference National.
2011 Relegated to Conference North.
2014 Relegated to Southern League Premier Division.
2016 Relegated to Southern League Division One Central.

Source:[24]

Honours and achievements

The list of honours that Histon have achieved is as follows:[note 1]

League

Cup

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Histon Football Club were champions of each League or Cup, unless stated otherwise.

References

  1. ↑ "Stutes earn their stripes". Cambridge News Online. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  2. ↑ A. P. M. Wright & C. P. Lewis (Editors) (1989). "A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 9: Chesterton, Northstowe, and Papworth Hundreds". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  3. 1 2 "About Histon Football Club". www.histonfc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  4. ↑ Rae, Richard (15 December 2005). "Angus sends Nuneaton through". London: Guardian online. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  5. ↑ "Past season results". Histonfc.net. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  6. ↑ "Histon". www.conferencegrounds.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  7. ↑ "Final league table for season 07/08". Official Histonfc Homepage. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
  8. ↑ "Kendo Day". Official Histonfc Homepage. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
  9. ↑ "Histon 5–2 Oxford Utd". BBC Sport Online. 22 November 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  10. ↑ Maiden, Phil (4 May 2009). "Histon 1–0 Torquay (Agg: 1–2)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  11. ↑ "Histon 1–0 Swindon". BBC Sport. 8 November 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  12. ↑ Rae, Richard (1 December 2008). "Postman's winner seals Histon's red-letter day". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  13. ↑ "Tony Roach new chairman of Histon Football Club". Histonfc.co.uk. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  14. ↑ "Gareth Baldwin aiming for Cambridge United stability". BBC Sport. 2 April 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  15. ↑ "Steve Fallon Relieved of Managers role". Histonfc.co.uk. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  16. ↑ "Histon hit with points deduction and transfer embargo". BBC Sport. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2001.
  17. ↑ Gooding, Matthew (5 May 2011). "Histon hoping for better next season". Cambridge First. Retrieved 25 May 2001.
  18. ↑ "Histon to play in Blue Square Bet North". BBC News. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2001.
  19. ↑ "Ground swell". Cambridge Evening News. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  20. ↑ "Glassworld set for go-ahead". BlueSqFootball.com. Retrieved 17 January 2008.
  21. ↑ "Histon Reserves Fixtures/Results 07/08". Histonfc Homepage. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  22. ↑ "Eastern Counties Football League Premier Division Table". Ridgeons Football League. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  23. ↑ "New partnership at the Glassworld". Histonfc Homepage. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  24. ↑ "Football Club History: Histon". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 25 May 2011.

External links

Coordinates: 52°14′31.39″N 0°06′51.33″E / 52.2420528°N 0.1142583°E / 52.2420528; 0.1142583

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