Sean Highdale
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 4 March 1991[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2008 | Liverpool | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008–2011 | Liverpool | 0 | (0) |
| 2010 | → Oldham Athletic (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Newtown (loan) | 4 | (1) |
| 2011 | Vauxhall Motors | 7 | (0) |
| 2011 | Burscough | ||
| 2013 | Widnes Vikings | ||
| International career | |||
| England Under-16 | |||
| 2016 | Great Britain Paralympic | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Sean Highdale (born 4 March 1991) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.
Early career[edit]
Highdale joined Liverpool's youth team set up aged 9, and captained the Under-18 side, including being named in the team for the 2007 FA Youth Cup final games. After his last game for Liverpool's academy, Highdale was told he would be moving as a full-time professional to Melwood, the club's main training facility in April 2008.
Accident and subsequent football career[edit]
He was a passenger in a car crash in Liverpool which resulted in the death of two of his friends,[2][3] and left him with critical injuries which included a bleed on his brain, three of the four main ligaments in his right knee being snapped, a broken neck and ankle. It resulted in the removal of a kidney and being in a coma for five days.[4]
After intensive rehabilitation supported by Liverpool, he went on a youth loan to Oldham Athletic[5] before a further loan period with Welsh Premier League club Newtown at the beginning of 2011.[6] At the end of the season, he was released by Liverpool and in July 2011 joined Vauxhall Motors,[7] before moving to Burscough.[8]
In 2013, he was playing in the Liverpool County Premier League for Old Xaverians.[9] Later that season he was awarded a compensatory payout of millions of pounds, which recognised the potential earnings he could have earned in his football career.[10]
In August 2013 he registered as a player for North West Counties Football League club Widnes Vikings.[11]
Paralympian football[edit]
In 2016, he was named in the Great Britain team to compete in the football tournament at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Brazil,[12] eligible as a result of an acquired brain injury from the car accident in 2008.[13] He made his Paralympics debut for the team in a match against Brazil.[14]
External links[edit]
- Sean Highdale at Soccerway
- GB Paralympics profile
References[edit]
- ^ "Athlete Profile: Sean Highdale". British Paralympic Association. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "Young Liverpool FC star Sean Highdale critically ill after road crash". The Mirror. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Former Liverpool FC starlet Sean Highdale: how brain injury destroyed my Anfield dreams". Liverpool Echo. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Rio 2016 Paralympics: Ex-Liverpool junior Sean Highdale is heading to Rio". BBC Sport. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Dickov's delight at first impression". Oldham Chronicle. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Football: Highdale snapped up by Robins". County Times. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Football: Vauxhall Motors sign ex-Liverpool Youth skipper Sean Highdale". Chester Chronicle. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Burscough add two to squad". Non-league Pitchero. October 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "West Everton Xav's reclaim pole in race for Liverpool County title". Liverpool Echo. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Liverpool star wins payout for lost career". Liverpool Echo. 25 May 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Player Movements This Week". North West Counties Football League. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "Great Britain names football 7 team for Rio". Official website of the Paralympic Movement. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Local Lads to take on the World at Rio Paralympics". Liverpool FA. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Paralympics 2016: Great Britain football team beaten by Brazil on opening day". The Independent. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- 1991 births
- Living people
- English men's footballers
- Men's association football midfielders
- Liverpool F.C. players
- Burscough F.C. players
- Vauxhall Motors F.C. players
- Newtown A.F.C. players
- England men's youth international footballers
- Cymru Premier players
- Footballers from Liverpool
- Widnes F.C. players
- Paralympic 7-a-side footballers for Great Britain
- 7-a-side footballers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics