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| Full name | Histon Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Stutes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1904 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Bridge Road, Impington (Capacity 3,800) |
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| Chairman |  Gareth Baldwin |
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| Manager | Steve Fallon |
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| League | Conference National | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-07 | Conference South, 1st | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Histon Football Club is an English football club based in the twin villages of Histon and Impington, approximately 5 kilometres (3 miles) north of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. In the 2007-08 season they compete for the first time in the Conference National, after having won and been promoted from the Conference South in 2006-07, the highest level that the club has ever reached in the English football league system. 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. The rose in Histon's crest signifies the field that was given to them by Chivers to build their ground, the field was covered in Roses so the Founder of Histon F.C thought it would be appropriate to include the Rose in their crest. Their current manager is Steve Fallon. They play in their traditional red and black, with red jerseys, black shorts and black socks. Histon's traditional rivals used to be Ely City, but the clubs have not met in recent years and Histon now consider nearer neighbours Cambridge City and Cambridge United as current-day rivals, as they are now in the same division as United and one above City. Histon played their first ever televised game on 20th September against Oxford United, live on Setanta, winning 1-0.
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History
20th Century
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The club was formed in 1904 as Histon Institute F.C. and played for many years in the Cambridgeshire Football League. 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 despite this they couldn't tempt key players in Lance Key the club goalkeeper and Shaun Sowden out of a move to Sheffield Wednesday. This along with another loss a couple of months later of Guillano Maiorana to Manchester United heralded a tough couple of years for Histon. They were relegated to Division One in 1995 but were promoted back up just two years later. The 97-98 season saw Neil Kennedy establishing a club record by scoring 46 senior goals in the season and winning the golden boot for the League, it was a fairly successful season with Histon finishing 3rd but the most succesful years were still to come. In the 1999-00 season they won the Premier Division title and were promoted to the Southern Football League. It was also the season Cambridge United legend Steve Fallon was appointed manager and made a immediate impact by securing Histon the Eastern Counties League.
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 experianced 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 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 Premiership club Middlesbrough if they had won. Nonetheless the second round replay saw 3,077 people at Bridge Road, the highest attendance of the whole season. The 2004–05 season saw Histon take 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. The season was also notable for a 5-0 win against local rivals Cambridge United, for many years the "big" club in the region, in the FA Trophy On the 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 scored the winner in the 89th minute. Just two days previously, officials from the Conference had passed Bridge Road as fit for Conference football, paving the way for promotion - the club's 4th 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. Histon's recent successful period has been under the managership of Steven Fallon and John Beck, both former Cambridge United players. Along with bought-in players such as Antonio Murray and John Kennedy, Fallon's team draws its foundations from local players that have risen through the ranks, such as captain Jamie Barker and Neil Andrews. Histon's record home attendance was achieved on January 1 2008 when the Stutes hosted local rivals Cambridge United in a Conference match before a crowd of 3,721.[1]
Leagues
- 1960 - Delphian League
- 1963 - Athenian League Division Two
- 1965 - Eastern Counties League Premier Division
- 1995 - Eastern Counties League Division One
- 1996 - Eastern Counties League Premier Division
- 2000 - Southern League Eastern Division
- 2004 - Southern League Premier Division
- 2005 - Conference South
- 2007 - Conference National
Ground
Histon play at the 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 which will also contain headquarters for the Cambridgeshire FA. It is due to be 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.
Reserves
Histon's reserve team are unusual in that they play at a high level of the National League System, only 4 divisions below the 1st team. They joined the Eastern Counties Football League Division One in 2001 and achieved second place in 2002. They are currently members of the Eastern Counties Football League Premier Division.
Club honours
- Conference South
- Champions 2006-07
- Southern Football League
- Premier Division champions 2004-05
- Eastern Division, Runners-up 2003-04
- Merit Cup winners, 2003-04
- Eastern Counties League
- Premier Division Champions 1999-00
- Division One Champions 1996-97
- League Cup winners 1990-91
- Professional Cup winners 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04
- Invitation Cup winners 1977-78, 1979-80, 1984-85, 1996-97, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2004-05
- Non League Fair Play Award, Winners, 2003/04
Players
Current squad
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Sources
- Histon at the Football Club History Database
References
- ^ Cambridge United v Histon match report. Cambridge United FC. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
- ^ Histon. FootballSquads. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
External links
- Histon F.C. Official website
- BBC Cambridgeshire Review of the Season 05/06
- Official Histon F.C Fans Messageboard
- Histon FC: Champions Gallery
- Unofficial Website of Histon Football Club
