Match Preview

Courtesy of Adrian Lynn

Few clubs have experienced the highs and lows of Histon FC, who visit Fresh Fountain Park in the Cambs Invitation Cup semi-final on Tuesday evening.
Only 15 years ago Histon, nicknamed The Stutes, were playing at the top level of non-league football and famously beating Leeds Utd in the FA Cup. But their decline was dramatic and they are now back at Step 5 in the UCL Premier Division South.
This season began poorly and resulted in the sacking of long-time manager Lance Key, their former goalkeeper. But there has been a significant improvement under new boss Chris Nunn.
The Stutes have lost just once in 2024 and won their last two in the league, including a 2-1 victory over Easington Sports on Saturday.
They reached the Cambs Invitation Cup semi-final with a 4-3 penalty shootout win at home to March following a 0-0 draw.

Recent history
In the 1999/2000 Histon won the Eastern Counties League Premier Division title under the management of former Cambridge United player Steve Fallon and were promoted to the Southern League Eastern Division.
The 2003/04 season saw the club finish second in the Eastern Division to claim promotion to the Premier Division. The following year Histon took on League Two side Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup first round proper, setting up a second round tie at home to Yeovil Town with a 2–0 victory. They lost to Yeovil, but clinched the Southern League Premier Division title on the last day of the 2004/05 season and were promoted to the Conference South. In their first Conference South season Histon finished fifth and reached the FA Cup second round.
On April 14, 2007, Histon beat Welling United 1–0 to go 19 points clear at the top of the Conference South and paving the way for promotion, the club’s fourth in seven years, to the highest point in the non-league pyramid.
Histon’s 2007/08 season in the Conference National saw them finish seventh. In the second season they finished third, qualifying for the play-offs, where they were defeated 2–1 on aggregate by Torquay United. In the FA Cup Histon reached the third round, losing 2-1 at home to Championship side Swansea City, after beating League One opposition in Swindon Town 1–0 at home in the first round and Leeds United 1–0 at home in the second round, the first time Leeds had lost to a non-league side.
But Histon’s fortunes declined as the money ran out. In November 2009 Gareth Baldwin ended his 17-year tenure as chairman and in January 2010 Fallon’s 10 years as manager came to an end. The club finished 18th in the Conference National in 2009/10 and bottom in 2010/11.
They finished their first Conference North season in 16th place and achieved Conference North safety on the last day of the 2012/13 season. Histon were now playing with a very young side largely drawn from the club’s youth structure. The 2013/14 season saw them relegated to the Southern Premier League. Brian Page kept them at that level in season 2014/15 but even the return of Fallon in October 2015 could not prevent further relegation to the Southern League Division 1 Central at the end of season 2015/16.
In October 2016 Fallon became Director of Football with ex-goalkeeper Lance Key returning to the club, this time as manager. Season 2016/17 saw yet another relegation, back to the Eastern Counties League. In 2018/19 Key led the side to promotion, claiming the league title with a 14-point margin. On returning to Step 4 the club was allocated a place in the Isthmian League for the first time in its 115-year history.
Histon were relegated back to Step 5 for the 2022/23 season and struggled in the UCL Premier Division South, where they remain.