 Higdon with St Mirren | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1983-09-02)2 September 1983 (age 42) | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2007 | Crewe Alexandra | 81 | (10) |
| 2007–2009 | Falkirk | 62 | (15) |
| 2009–2011 | St Mirren | 61 | (18) |
| 2011–2013 | Motherwell | 72 | (40) |
| 2013–2014 | NEC Nijmegen | 32 | (14) |
| 2014–2016 | Sheffield United | 15 | (2) |
| 2015 | →Oldham Athletic (loan) | 11 | (5) |
| 2016 | Tranmere Rovers | 9 | (2) |
| 2016–2017 | Bangor City | 3 | (0) |
| Total | 346 | (106) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Michael Higdon (born 2 September 1983) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as aforward.
He began his career withCrewe Alexandra where he came through the youth team before making the break into their first eleven in 2003. In 2007, he joined Scottish sideFalkirk and thenSt Mirren in 2009 andMotherwell in 2011. After being a regular goal scorer in the Scottish Leagues, Higdon then moved to Dutch sideNEC Nijmegen where he spent one season before signing forSheffield United.
Higdon was born inLiverpool. progressed from theCrewe Alexandra youth team into their first team in 2003. He was originally used as a midfielder, but due to his height and physical presence, he was converted into a striker by managerDario Gradi. Higdon's most famous moment for Crewe came againstCoventry City in the last game of the 2004–05 season, where Crewe had to win to have a chance of staying up. They went 1–0 down but Higdon scored the equaliser to set upSteve Jones to score the winner which kept Crewe Alexandra in the Championship.[1]
Higdon joinedScottish Premier League clubFalkirk in June 2007 on a free transfer.[2] He had been offered a contract by Crewe, but chose to turn the offer down as he felt he was unlikely to get into the team ahead ofLuke Varney andNicky Maynard.[3] He scored twice on his Falkirk debut againstGretna.
In the final SPL game of2008–09 for Falkirk, Higdon scored the winning goal to save Falkirk fromrelegation and thus relegatingInverness Caledonian Thistle.
Higdon joinedSt Mirren on 24 June 2009 and scored his first goal for St Mirren against Ayr United in theCo-Operative Insurance Cup .[4] On 12 December 2009, he scored a spectacular long-range strike against his former club,Falkirk, much to the delight of the home fans.
Higdon found his scoring boots in the 2010–11 season, scoring his first hat-trick in a 3–1 win overHamilton Academical on 2 April 2011. In the 2010–11 season, Higdon notched a total of 15 goals in 33 appearances for St Mirren.
On 3 June 2011, Higdon left St Mirren to sign for fellowSPL sideMotherwell.[5] He made his debut appearance for Motherwell on 23 July, againstInverness Caledonian Thistle atFir Park.[6] Higdon scored his first goal for Motherwell in a 4–0League Cup win overClyde atBroadwood,[7] and his first league goals in a 4–2 win overDunfermline Athletic.[8] On 22 February 2012, Higdon scored his first Motherwell hat-trick in a 4–3 win overHibernian at Fir Park, which included a stunning overhead kick.[9]
Higdon got his first goal of the 2012–13 season at Fir Park in anSPL game where he opened the scoring in a 1–1 draw against former clubSt Mirren with a well placed goal into the corner with his weak foot. Higdon scored frequently during the 2012–13 season, becoming the top Motherwell goalscorer in a season since the Second World War. He ended the season with 26 league goals, including aclub record twohat-tricks, to finish as the league's top scorer. He was votedPFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year for the 2012–13 season.
On 27 June 2013, Higdon indicated through his agent that he would not return to Motherwell for pre-season training.[10]
On 8 July 2013, Higdon signed a two-year contract withNEC Nijmegen. NEC technical director, Carlos Aalbers, cited his target-man qualities and his ability "to score goals at the highest level" as reasons for the signing.[11] Higdon made his competitive debut for NEC on the opening day of the league season, in a 4–1 home loss toGroningen.[12] Higdon scored his first goal for NEC, which came from the penalty spot in a 2–2 home draw againstRKC Waalwijk.[13] Higdon netted a second equaliser for NEC in a 3–2 home defeat toVitesse on 29 September.[14] Higdon scored in a 4–3 defeat atGo Ahead Eagles on 5 October.[15] Higdon hit a double in 2–1 home win overSC Heerenveen on 25 October,[16] and then fired in an early winner in 1–0 defeat ofFC Eindhoven in theKNVB Cup on 29 October.[17] Higdon would then go on a run of scoring eight goals in 11 league games, beginning with goals in 1–1 draws with Vitesse (away) on 26 January[18] and Go Ahead Eagles (at home) on 2 February.[19] and then scoring the third in 3–1 victory at RKC Waalwijk on 15 February.[20] During his run of eight goals in 11 league games, he next hit four in four league games; 3–3 draw atPEC Zwolle (1 March),[21] 3–1 defeat atRoda JC (8 March),[22] and home ties withFC Utrecht (16 March)[23] and Heerenveen (22 March)[24] that both finished 2–2. And his final goal during this run came in 2–1 home defeat toHeracles Almelo (29 March), despite Higdon opening the scoring.[25]
On 4 August 2014, Higdon returned to play in England, joiningSheffield United for an undisclosed fee on a two-year deal with the option of a third year.[26] On 9 August 2014, Higdon scored on his début againstBristol City. Higdon netted his second goal for the Blades in a 1–0 win at Leyton Orient to send them through to the fourth round of the League Cup. On 28 October 2014, Higdon netted a late brace in a 2–1 away victory overMilton Keynes Dons, which sent United to the last eight of theLeague Cup in the fifth round.[27] In early November, Higdon was ruled out for a month after hepulled hishamstring during training.[28] On 1 February 2016, the club cancelled the striker's contract after Higdon left by mutual consent.
On 23 September 2015, Higdon joinedOldham Athletic on a three-month loan deal. He played 13 games, scoring five goals, before returning toSheffield United upon the completion of his loan.[29]
Crewe Alexandra Youth Academy
St Mirren
Individual
