Wingate & Finchley Football Club is an English football club based in Finchley in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest London boroug ...

. 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 Finchley. 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 Midla ...

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 men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

. 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 156,858 in 2018. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield ...

. 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 A ...

, and finished third again. After beating

Harlow Town Harlow Town Football Club is an English football club based in Harlow, Essex. The club is a former member of the and plays at The Harlow Arena. The club is best known for its exploits in the 1979–80 FA Cup, in which it reached the fourth r ...

in the play-off semi-finals, they defeated

Brentwood Town Brentwood Town Football Club is a football club based in Brentwood, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Brentwood Centre Arena. History A Brentwood Football Club was established in the 19th century, and played ...

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 East Thurrock United Football Club is a football club based in Corringham, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Rookery Hill. History The club was founded on 27 April 1969 by a group of fans who felt that the area around ...

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. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First cl ...

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 ...

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

Club identity

Wingate & Finchley are often perceived as a '

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

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 generally recognized symbol of 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'', which was used for decorat ...

on the club's badge, having a number of

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

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 (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...

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

anti-semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

. The original Wingate club was named after

Orde Wingate Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (26 February 1903 – 24 March 1944) was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory during the Burma Campaign of the Second World ...

, who had been involved in training the

Haganah Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the Is ...

, 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 ( ...

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 Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

& Haringey Borough as the bigger rivals and also

Harrow Borough Harrow Borough Football Club is an English football club based in Harrow, London. They were founded in 1933 and compete in the . Harrow Borough's home ground is Earlsmead Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,070. Harrow Borough moved into Earlsme ...

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. In 2022 the population wa ...

due to their close proximity and competitive similarities. To an even lesser extent,

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. Before 1965, it was in the counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. Origins and ...

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 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

was a patron of Wingate & Finchley and played a key role in the formation of the club. Following her death in 2013, Wingate & Finchley were the only football club in the United Kingdom to hold a minutes silence to mark her passing.

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

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,

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

Club websiteWinggate & Finchley
@ Soccerway.com {{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