Harry B. Higginbotham (27 July 1894 – 3 June 1950) was a professional footballer who played mainly as an inside forward.

Career

Born in New South Wales, Australia, Higginbotham emigrated to Scotland with his family in 1900, initially living in the Edinburgh area before moving to Glasgow. He represented Scotland at junior international level while playing for

Kilsyth Rangers Kilsyth Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire. Nicknamed ''The Wee Gers'', they were formed in 1913 and play at Duncansfield Park, which used to be one of the bigger ''non-league'' f ...

, then signed for St Mirren in 1916. After playing regularly as an outside right for the ''Buddies'' for two seasons during World War I (the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

continued during the conflict for morale reasons) he made no appearances in a third campaign despite still being contracted to the Paisley club; this was possibly related to wartime commitments elsewhere, and he made guest appearances for several clubs including Hibernian and Third Lanark in Scotland and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and Millwall in London. In 1919 Higginbotham joined Football League Second Division side

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. He made seven league appearances for the club before moving to Luton Town the following year. He spent three seasons with the Bedfordshire club, scoring 25 goals in 80 league games.Harry Higginbotham
Hatters Heritage. Retrieved 3 January 2022. In February 1923, Higginbotham signed for Clapton Orient and went on to score once in 19 appearances for the team. A year later, in February 1924, Higginbotham was signed by Nelson as the team battled to avoid relegation from the Second Division. He made his debut on 23 February 1924 in a 2–0 defeat away at Bury. Higginbotham went on to make three more league appearances for Nelson, including a 1–0 win against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

on 8 March. He left at the end of the 1923–24 season and subsequently joined Reading. During a single season with the ''Royals'', he played 24 league matches and scored three goals. Higginbotham then had spells in Welsh football with Mid Rhondda and Pontypridd before returning to Scotland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higginbotham, Harry 1894 births 1950 deaths Soccer players from Sydney Footballers from Glasgow People from Springburn Scottish men's footballers Australian men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Gateshead A.F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Reading F.C. players Mid Rhondda F.C. players Pontypridd F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scotland men's junior international footballers St Mirren F.C. players Kilsyth Rangers F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Fulham F.C. wartime guest players Millwall F.C. wartime guest players Australian emigrants to Scotland