Sean Highdale (born 4 March 1991) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1991-03-04) 4 March 1991 (age 31)[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 | ||
| National team | |||
| England Under-16 | |||
| 2016– | Great Britain Paralympic | 2 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 06:51, 3 September 2016 (UTC) | |||
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.
The next day 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 and resulted in the removal of a kidney and being in a coma for five days.[4]
After intensive rehabilitation over the next two years, 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 he joined Vauxhall Motors.[7] before moving in October 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]
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]