Wingate & Finchley Football Club is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...

. The club are currently members of the and play at The Maurice Rebak Stadium in North London.

History

The club was established in 1991 by a merger of

Wingate Wingate may refer to: Places New Zealand * Wingate, New Zealand, a suburb of Lower Hutt United Kingdom * Wingate, County Durham * Wingate Quarry, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham * Old Wingate, County Durham * Wingate ...

and

. Although Finchley were the higher placed of the two clubs, the new club took Wingate's place in the Premier Division of the

South Midlands League The South Midlands League was a football league covering Bedfordshire and some adjoining counties in England. It was founded in 1922 as the Bedfordshire County League and merged with the Spartan League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands ...

and played at Finchley's Summers Lane ground, which was renamed after Harry Abrahams, a long time Wingate supporter. In 1994–95 they finished second in the league and joined Division Three of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

. After a second-place finish in 1998–99 they were promoted to Division Two, but were relegated back to Division Three at the end of the following season. After league reorganisation they were placed in Division One North for the 2002–03 season, but in 2004 were transferred to the Eastern Division of the Southern League. The club later returned to Division One North of the Isthmian League. In 2009–10 they finished third, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, in which they lost 3–2 to

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 333,587 in 2021. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Hig ...

. The following season the club won the Isthmian League Cup and the

London Senior Cup The London Senior Cup is the County Senior Cup of the London FA. The London Senior Cup was first won by Upton Park in 1882. Although the leading professional sides in London no longer compete, the Cup has been won in the past by the likes of ...

, and finished third again. After beating Harlow Town in the play-off semi-finals, they defeated Brentwood Town 3–2 after extra time in the final, earning promotion to the Premier Division - and securing an historic Treble. The club finished mid-table in its first season in the Premier Division, before surviving a relegation scare in 2012–13 with one match to spare. In 2013–14, the club were relegated on goal difference behind East Thurrock United despite a final day 5–0 victory. However the drama did not end there, as the resignation of

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The team play in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History Previous clubs The club claims it w ...

from the Northern Premier League gave Wingate & Finchley a much welcomed reprieve from relegation. The club finished the 2015–16 season in 13th position on 60 points. On 8 October 2018, the club pulled a coup by employing

Nicky Shorey Nicholas Robert Shorey (born 19 February 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left back or a defensive midfielder. After beginning his career at Leyton Orient, Shorey moved to Reading in 2001, where he made just un ...

and

Glen Little Glen Matthew Little (born 15 October 1975) is an English former footballer who played as a winger. Born in Wimbledon, London, he began his career in Northern Ireland with Derry City and Glentoran, before returning to England to play for Burnle ...

as managers. This was short-lived, as Nicky left on 29 October 2018.

Club identity

Wingate & Finchley are often perceived as a '

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

club', due to Finchley's sizeable Jewish community and a number of other factors, including sporting the

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

on the club's badge, having a number of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

on the committee of the club and being able to apply for special dispensation to move their games should they fall on

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

. One of Wingate & Finchley's predecessor clubs, Wingate, was established in order to aim to combat

anti-semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. The original Wingate club was named after

Orde Wingate Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (26 February 1903 – 24 March 1944) was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindits, Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory duri ...

, who had been involved in training the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

, the precursor to the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

Fans and rivalries

Wingate & Finchley have an ultras group called the BlueArmyUltras which was formed in 2016. Attendances are quite low for the league with Wingate only getting an average attendance of 141 in the 2017/18 season. Wingate & Finchley also have a few rivalries with other clubs. These include

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

& Haringey Borough as the bigger rivals and also Harrow Borough,

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882.Cockfosters Cockfosters is a suburb of north London to the east of Chipping Barnet, lying partly in the London Borough of Enfield and partly in the London Borough of Barnet. It is 10 miles (16 km) north of Charing Cross. Before 1965, it was in the count ...

may be considered rivals due to both sides commonly playing each other in the

. Former British Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

was a patron of Wingate & Finchley and played a key role in the formation of the club. Following her death in 2013, Wingate & Finchley held a minute's silence.

Ground

Wingate & Finchley play their home games at The Maurice Rebak Stadium, Summers Lane, Finchley, London, N12 0PD. The stadium used to be called Summers Lane when Finchley played there. After the merger it was renamed The Harry Abrahams Stadium after a life-long Wingate fan. In the summer of 2016, the stadium was renamed to its current name, The Maurice Rebak Stadium. It is named after the co-founder who died earlier that year. Wingate and Finchley also have an amazing youth team producing great talented players. They train at The Football Pad, Barnet Lane in Barnet.

Current squad

Records and honours

*Record attendance: 528 vs Brentwood Town,

Division One North play-off, 2011Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2020) ''Non-League Club Directory 2021'', p510 *Biggest victory: 9–1 vs Winslow United,

, 23 November 1991 *Heaviest defeat: 0–9 vs

Edgware Town Edgware & Kingsbury Football Club is a football club from Edgware, London Borough of Barnet, England. Originally established in 1939, the club was dissolved at the end of the 2007–08 season but reformed in 2014. They are currently members of ...

Division Two, 15 January 2000 *Most appearances: Marc Morris, 720 *Most goals: Marc Morris, 650 As Wingate & Finchley *

**League Cup winners 2010–11 *London Senior Cup **Winners 1994–95, 2010–11 **Runners Up 2004–05 As Finchley FC *Middlesex Senior Cup **Winners 1928–29, 1943–44, 1951–52 *London Senior Cup **Winners 1932–33, 1951–52, 1952-53 (Joint holders with Walthamstow Avenue) *Middlesex Charity Cup **Winners 1942–43, 1950–51 *Championship London League **Winners 1936–37 *London League Challenge Cup **Winners 1934–35 *London Intermediate Cup **Winners 1932–33 *Middlesex Intermediate Cup **Winners 1932–33 *Athenian League **Winners 1953–54 As Wingate FC *Herts County League Division One **Winners 1984–85

References

External links

*
Winggate & Finchley
at Soccerway {{DEFAULTSORT:Wingate and Finchley F.C. Association football clubs established in 1991 Football clubs in England Football clubs in London Jewish football clubs Jews and Judaism in England Sport in the London Borough of Barnet South Midlands League Isthmian League clubs Southern Football League clubs 1991 establishments in England Finchley Diaspora association football clubs in England