Harefield United F.C.

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Harefield United
Harefield United F.C. logo.png
Full nameHarefield United Football Club
NicknameThe Hares
Founded1868;158 years ago (1868)
GroundPreston Park, Harefield UB9 6NE
Capacity1,200 (150 seated) [1]
ChairmanGary South
Manager Richard Pacquette
League Combined Counties League Premier Division North
2024–25 Combined Counties League Premier Division North, 4th of 20

Harefield United Football Club are an English football club based in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The club is the oldest in Middlesex. [2] The club is affiliated to the Middlesex County Football Association. [3] They are currently members of the Combined Counties Premier North Division as of the 2022–2023 season, having left the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division at the end of the 2021–2022 season. [4]

Contents

History

The club was formed in 1868 and in their early years played under several names including Harefield Victoria (circa 1891) and Breakspear Institute (circa 1903–1922), and played in the local Uxbridge Leagues. [5] [6] In 1934 the club merged with Harefield FC to become Harefield United, and played in the Uxbridge & District League. [2]

After the war the club moved to the Great Western Combination in 1947, winning the league once in the 1950–51 season. [7] After the Great Western Comibuination league the club played in the Parthenon League in 1964, and winning the league in their debut season. [6] Two seasons later they joined the Middlesex league in 1966. [5] During their 5 seasons in the Middlesex league the club went on to win the league title four times and the league cup twice. [2]

In the 1971–72 season the club then joined the Spartan League – Senior Section, staying there for four seasons, while also making their Debut in the FA Vase in the 1974–75 season, before joining division two of the Athenian league for the start of the 1975–76 season. [8] The club made their debut in the FA Cup in the 1979–80 season. [9] After nine seasons in the Athenian league the club joined the Isthmian League Division Two North for two seasons before switching to Division two south. [10] The club then spent seven seasons in Division Two South, which was renamed to just Division two in 1991, suffering relegation at the end of this period to Division three. [8] The club then remained in Division three until the 1996–97 season when they left the Isthmian league to join the Spartan league, due to a lack of funds to carry out necessary ground improvements required for the Isthmian league. [6] [8]

A season after joining the Spartan league, they became founder members of the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division South, when the London Spartan League and the South Midlands League merged. [11] A season later after another league re-organisation they were placed in the Senior Division, which after three seasons was renamed division one. [8] The club in the newly named Division one finished as runners-up that year, and won the League Cup. [2] [12] With the club for the 2002–03 season now in the premier division, they competed in the Premier League Cup, finishing as runners-up at their first attempt. The club also had more success that year by winning the Challenge trophy beating Dunstable Town 4–1 over two legs. [6] Further cup success continued the following season with the club winning the Premier League Cup, overcoming Brook House in the final and getting beaten 2–1 (aet) by Wealdstone in the Middlesex Senior Charity Cup. [13]

The club remained in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division up to season 2022-23 finishing runners-up twice, in the 2006–07 season and the 2008–09 season where they lost out on goal difference against Biggleswade Town. [14]

Manager Ian Crane left to join A.F.C. Hayes in the summer of 2012, and he was replaced by Uxbridge reserve boss Phil Granville. However, Granville left in the summer of 2015 to become Hanwell Town's manager and he was replaced by Jason Shaw in May 2015. [15]

In the 2018–19 season, Jason Shaw led Harefield United to promotion from the Spartan South Midlands League Division One with five games to spare in his fourth season with the club. [16] [17] The club won the league, winning all but two matches, and going invincible, not losing a single league game. [18]

For the 2022–23 season the Hares joined the Combined Counties League playing at Step 5 in the Premier Division North. Jason Shaw and his staff left at the end of that season, and in September 2023 the Hares appointed Wayne Carter as the new manager. At the time of Wayne Carter joining, the club was winless and bottom of the table, but Carter guided the Hares to a midtable finish, with some decent results along the way, including a 2–0 away win at eventual champions Flackwell Heath.

In 2024–25, Carter's first full season, Harefield United reached the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, matching their best ever run, beating Beckenham Town and Sandhurst Town, then upsetting Lewes on penalties, [19] before losing 1–0 at Hastings United, with Davide Rodari scoring a free kick in added time. [20] In the same season, the Hares also had their highest league finish since their promotion back to Step 5, finishing fourth and reaching the playoffs. They won their playoff semifinal after a late comeback at Amersham Town, scoring two goals in the last ten minutes to win 2–1, but lost 3–1 away to Bedfont Sports in the final. Carter then resigned at the end of the season to take up the management of Harrow Borough, where several Harefield United players joined him.

After Wayne Carter's departure in the summer of 2025, Harefield United appointed former invincible Richard Pacquette as player manager. [21] The club looked very different at the start of the 2025–26 season, with all but a few players leaving over the summer. The club sat in midtable in January 2026, after a shaky start to the season, but some decent form at the end of 2025.

Ground

Harefield United play their home games at Preston Park, Breakspear Road North, Harefield UB9 6NE.

In 2010 the ground won the Steps 5 and 6 National Award for Groundsman of the year. [22]

In January 2026, the club announced plans to improve Preston Park with a 3G pitch. [23]

Managerial history

Source: [24]

Notable former players

For all Harefield United F.C. players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Harefield United F.C. players

Club honours

League honours

Cup honours

Club records

References

  1. ↑ Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p763 ISBN   978-1-869833-77-0
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Club History". Harefield united. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Charter Standard Clubs". www.middlesexfa.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "StackPath".
  5. 1 2 Bernard, Rob (7 November 2011). "Hopping all over the World Two: Harefield United". Worldgroundhoptwo.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Clubs". Goalrun. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Non League Tables for 1950-1951". NonLeagueMatters. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Harefield United at the Football Club History Database
  9. ↑ RussWWFC (26 September 2012). "The Wycombe Wanderer: Harefield United - Preston Park". Footygrounds.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Isthmian League 1980-1990". Nonleaguematters.net. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Spartan South Midlands League 1997-2004". Nonleaguematters.net. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Spartan South Midlands Football League Information And Contacts | Goalrun". Spartansouthmidlands.goalrun.com. 23 April 2010. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 "Football Club History Database - Middlesex County Cups Summary". Fchd.info. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  14. ↑ "Football Club History Database - Spartan South Midlands League 2008-09". Fchd.info. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "New First Team Manager and Assistant Announced".
  16. 1 2 Middlesex FA ⚽️ [@middxfa] (2 April 2019). "Congratulations to @harefieldutd who have won the @SpartanSMFL Division 1 title this evening. Still unbeaten in the league all season a fitting tribute for their 150 year anniversary! 🏆 👏👏👏👏" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021– via Twitter.
  17. ↑ Cllr Jane Palmer [@CllrJanePalmer] (2 April 2019). "Congratulations to @harefieldutd League Champions! Fantastic result for all involved, and the village #Harefield" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021– via Twitter.
  18. ↑ Team, The Non-League Football Paper (30 April 2019). "Harefield United complete unbeaten league campaign". The Non-League Football Paper. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  19. ↑ "How Lewes suffered an FA Cup-set at hands of step five minnows Harefield United". SussexWorld. 4 September 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  20. ↑ Townsend, Ian. "Highlights: Hastings United 1 Harefield United 0". The Pitching In Isthmian League. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  21. ↑ "Management Team For 25/26". www.harefieldunited.com. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  22. ↑ Saturday, 17 July 2010 (17 July 2010). "TheFA.com - Groundsman of the Year Awards". Nav.thefa.com. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ↑ "BREAKING NEWS". www.harefieldunited.com. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  24. ↑ "StackPath".
  25. ↑ "Results".
  26. ↑ "Hanwell Town Put Their Name on the Senior Cup".
  27. ↑ "Apr 27, Harefield United 3 Hatfield Town 1 | Spartan South Midlands Football League".

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