| Sean Highdale | |
| Birth Date: | 1991 3, df=y[1] |
| Birth Place: | Liverpool, England |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Youthyears1: | 2000–2008 |
| Youthclubs1: | Liverpool |
| Years1: | 2008–2011 |
| Clubs1: | Liverpool |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2010 |
| Clubs2: | → Oldham Athletic (loan) |
| Caps2: | 0 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2011 |
| Clubs3: | → Newtown (loan) |
| Caps3: | 4 |
| Goals3: | 1 |
| Years4: | 2011 |
| Clubs4: | Vauxhall Motors |
| Caps4: | 7 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2011 |
| Clubs5: | Burscough |
| Years6: | 2013 |
| Nationalteam1: | England Under-16 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2016 |
| Nationalteam2: | Great Britain Paralympic |
Sean Highdale (born 4 March 1991) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.
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.
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. It resulted in the removal of a kidney and being in a coma for five days.[4]
After intensive rehabilitation supported by Liverpool, he went on a youth loan to Oldham Athletic[5] beforea 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 joined Vauxhall Motors,[7] before moving 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]