Dr Pit Colliery Welfare F.C.

A works welfare football club named directly after Bedlington's Doctor Pit, which joined the North East Alliance League in 1935 and played in the Miners Welfare League in the 1940s and 50s, folding some time between 1963 and 1968, the year the pit closed.

The mining history in this record

The Bedlington Coal Company opened the Doctor Pit Welfare Park in 1927, when its chairman of directors, H. C. Embleton, performed the opening; the park covered five acres with a bowling green, tennis courts, a children's playground, a quoits ground and a putting green, and parks were laid out at three other pits in the company's system. Clubs were formed to play there almost at once: a Doctor Pit bowling club was in the North East Coast Welfare League by 1929, a tennis tournament was started in 1934 and the Doctor Pit Welfare football club joined the North East Alliance League in 1935, against teams such as Chevington Comrades, Morpeth Town, Wallaw United, Hirst Hippodrome and Stobswood Red Rovers.

Doctor Pit itself was sunk from 14 July 1854 and opened in 1855, and closed on 2 March 1968; it was owned by the Bedlington Coal Company until nationalisation in 1947, and at its peak employed over 1,200 people. The club was called Dr Pit Colliery Welfare F.C. A local forum thread identified an old team photograph as the club, playing in the Miners Welfare League in the 1940s and 1950s, and one contributor described it as the only Bedlington side to play in stripes. Recollections differ on when it began and ended: one says it played competitively from about 1927 and ceased about 1968, when the Bedlington Mechanics moved to Welfare Park; another, who was in Bedlington in 1965-67, says the Welfare were not then playing at the park; and a quoted club history has the original Welfare team folding at the end of 1962-63.

It was a different club from the Bedlington Mechanics, formed in 1949, who became Bedlington Terriers. The Mechanics disbanded in 1963 and reformed in 1965 as Bedlington Colliery Welfare, and moved to the Doctor Pit Welfare Park probably for 1968-69.

People

H. C. Embleton, chairman of the directors of the Bedlington Coal Company, who opened the Welfare Park in 1927.

Legacy today

The Doctor Pit Welfare Park is still open. Bedlington Terriers played on its football ground until 2025, when Northumberland County Council took the ground back. A local history forum keeps the old team photograph, with some of the players named, and a contributor's notes on Bedlington's football clubs.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The club took its name directly from Doctor Pit (Bedlington 'D' Colliery) and played in the Miners Welfare League through the 1940s and 1950s, folding around 1968, the same year the colliery closed. (contemporary account) ¹
• The Doctor Pit Welfare Park was opened in 1927 by H. C. Embleton, chairman of the directors of the Bedlington Coal Company; parks were laid at three other pits in the system at the same time. (documented fact) ²
• The Doctor Pit Welfare football club joined the North East Alliance League in 1935, playing teams such as Chevington Comrades, Morpeth Town, Wallaw United, Hirst Hippodrome and Stobswood Red Rovers. (documented fact) ²
• The Dr Pit Colliery Welfare FC played in the Miners Welfare League throughout the 1940s and 1950s. (later recollection) ¹
• The Welfare started playing football competitively in about 1927 and ceased around 1968, when the Bedlington Mechanics moved to Welfare Park. (later recollection, disputed) ¹
• A quoted club history has the original Welfare team folding at the end of the 1962-63 season, and a contributor in Bedlington in 1965-67 recalls the Welfare not playing at Welfare Park. (later recollection, disputed) ¹
• The Welfare were the only Bedlington team to play in stripes. (later recollection, uncertain) ¹
• The club's name, Dr Pit Colliery Welfare, is the colliery's nickname, Doctor Pit, for Bedlington's D Pit. (documented fact) ^3,2
• Doctor Pit was sunk from 14 July 1854, opened in 1855 and closed on 2 March 1968; the Bedlington Coal Company owned it until 1947, and at its peak it employed over 1,200 people. (documented fact) ^3,4
• Bedlington Terriers began in 1949 as Bedlington Mechanics, disbanded in 1963, reformed in 1965 as Bedlington Colliery Welfare and later moved to the Doctor Pit Welfare Park; they were a different club from the Dr Pit Welfare team. (documented fact) ^1,5

Mines

• Bedlington 'D' Colliery — Northumberland
  The pit the club was named after: Doctor Pit, D Pit of Bedlington Colliery, beside whose welfare park the club played.

Sources

1. (observational) Dr Pit Colliery Welfare FC — Bedlington.uk (History Hollow forum)
2. (secondary) Bedlington Doctor Pit Welfare Park (North East Heritage Library) — North East Heritage Library
3. (primary) Bedlington Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Bedlington Colliery Doctor Pit — North East Heritage Library
5. (secondary) Bedlington Terriers F.C. (Wikipedia) — Wikipedia

Record created: 1 September 2026 · Last researched: 30 September 2026