Samuel George Frederick Habergham (born 20 February 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. A product of the Norwich City academy, he later slipped into Non-League football and made his senior debut at semi-professional level for Tamworth. He moved to

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

where he was part of the 2016 side that were beaten in the National League semi-finals, before following manager

Danny Cowley Danny Cowley (born 22 October 1978) is an English professional football coach who was most recently manager of EFL League One side Portsmouth. He has previously managed Concord Rangers, Braintree Town, Lincoln City, Huddersfield Town and P ...

to Lincoln City in 2016. Whilst at Sincil Bank he won both the National League title and the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

, as well as being part of Cowley's Imps side that reached the FA Cup quarter finals during the 2016–17 season. Spells at Grimsby Town and in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

with

Peninsula Power Peninsula Power is an Australian soccer club from Redcliffe, Queensland. It was formed in 2000 following a merger of the Redcliffe City and Margate clubs. It competes in the National Premier Leagues Queensland. History Redcliffe City Soccer ...

followed before joining Wealdstone ahead of the 2022–23 campaign. This ended with an eventual switch to fellow National League club,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

in June 2023.

Club career

Habergham joined the Norwich City youth academy at the age of seven. He was promoted to the first team in 2009 which was managed by Bryan Gunn. In 2011, he joined Tamworth where he managed to make 35 appearances for the club. In the summer of 2011, Habergham was released by Norwich City. Subsequently, he joined Football Conference club

along with former ''Canary'' player

Josh Dawkin Joshua George Dawkin (born 16 January 1992) is an English-born Welsh footballer who plays as a midfielder for St Ives Town, having signed for them in the summer of 2016. Career Born in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, Dawkin has represented Wales at u ...

. He was signed by the club as a replacement for Aswad Thomas who left Braintree for Grimsby Town. The club manager Alan Devonshire said that he was impressed by Habergham when he watched him play for Tamworth the previous season. In 2015–2016 season, Habergham was a part of the Braintree squad that reached the promotion play-offs only to be defeated by Grimsby in the semi-final. At the end of the season, he rejected a contract extension proposal by the club. He instead signed a two-year contract with Lincoln City. He won the National League with the club in his first season and won promotion to

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. Habergham made his debut in the 2017–2018 season in an

match against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

replacing

Neal Eardley Neal James Eardley (born 6 November 1988) is a former Wales international footballer who last played for Cymru Premier champions Connah’s Quay Nomads. He represented Wales at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels, before winning the fir ...

in the squad. Habergham would win the EFL Trophy that season with Lincoln City on the club's first ever trip to Wembley, but he only played three more times before succumbing to the effects of a serious knee injury. He had surgery in 2019, but was released when his contract expired having not played a game during the 2018–19 season. On 6 January 2021, Habergham joined Grimsby Town on trial and was added to the clubs starting line up for their U23 fixture against

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. On 8 January 2021, Habergham signed for Grimsby on a six-month deal. On 12 May 2021 it was announced that he would leave Grimsby at the end of the season, following the expiry of his contract. On 10 July 2021, Habergham linked up with his former Lincoln coach

by joining Portsmouth on trial, where he featured in Pompey's 5-2 pre-season victory over Havant & Waterlooville. In February 2022 he joined Australian side

. On 11 July 2022 Habergham signed for National League side Wealdstone. He made his debut as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat away to Eastleigh. On 19 June 2023, Habergham agreed to make the switch to fellow National League side,

, signing a one-year deal. On 26 April 2024, it was announced that Habergham would leave Woking at the end of his contract in June.

International career

Habergham was called to the England under 17 team for

2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the eighth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship since it was renamed from the original under-16 event, in 2001. Germany hosted the championship, during 6 to 18 May 2009, in thir ...

. He played once in the tournament, in a group stage defeat against Turkey. He has also played for the England C twice in 2016.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Lincoln City * National League: 2016–17 *

: 2017–18

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Habergham, Sam Living people 1992 births Men's association football defenders English men's footballers Norwich City F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Woking F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in Australia Footballers from Rotherham Peninsula Power FC players