Wingate F.C.

Wingate Football Club was an English football club based in Hendon, Greater London. Established in 1946, the club merged with Finchley in 1991 to form Wingate & Finchley.

Wingate
Full nameWingate Football Club
Founded1946
Dissolved1991
GroundHall Lane, Hendon
1990–91South Midlands League Premier Division, 8/20

History

The club was formed in 1946 by Maurice Rebak, Harvey Sadow, Frank Davis, George Hyams and Asher Rebak, who aimed to create a Jewish club with the aim of fighting anti-semitism.[1] It was named after Orde Wingate, who had been involved in training the Haganah, the precursor to the Israeli Defense Forces.

They started playing in the Middlesex Senior League, and were founder members of the Parthenon League in 1951, winning the league in its first season.[2] In 1952 they joined the Premier Division of the London League, where they remained for ten years until joining the Delphian League in 1962.[3] Their first season in the league saw the league programme abandoned due to the weather and an emergency competition arranged, in which they finished seventh out of eight clubs. At the end of the season the league merged with and became Division Two of the Athenian League. During their time in the Athenian league the club represented Great Britain in the Maccabiah Games.

In 1972, the club's Hall Lane ground was demolished to make way for an extension of the M1 motorway, and they moved to Finchley's Summers Lane ground. In 1975, they merged with Leyton to form Leyton-Wingate.

In 1984, the club was re-established and joined Division One of the Herts County League. They won the division at the first attempt, and were promoted to the Premier Division.[4] In 1989 they joined Division One of the South Midlands League, and after finishing second in their first season, were promoted to the Premier Division.

After one season in the Premier Division they merged with Finchley to form Wingate & Finchley. The new club took Wingate's place in the South Midlands League, but played at Finchley's ground, which was renamed the Harry Abrahams Stadium in honour of a long-term Wingate supporter.

Honours
  • Parthenon League
    • Champions 1951–52
  • Herts County League
    • Division One champions 1984–85

References
  1. History Wingate & Finchley FC
  2. Parthenon League 1951–1966 Non-League Matters
  3. Wingate at the Football Club History Database
  4. Wingate (Herts) at the Football Club History Database
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.