Gedling Miners Welfare F.C.

The football club of Gedling Colliery, near Nottingham, founded in 1919 as the pit's works team and revived by the colliery in 1941 to help wartime production. In the 1950s it was Nottinghamshire's leading amateur side, drawing 10,000 to Plains Road for an FA Amateur Cup tie, and it plays on as Gedling Miners Welfare.

The mining history in this record

Gedling Colliery began producing coal in 1902. Its works football team was founded as Gedling in 1919 and elected to the Notts Alliance, finishing third in its first season and beating Sneinton 1-0 to win the league cup; it took the name Gedling Colliery for 1923-24. From 1929-30 it played as Mapperley St Jude's and later Mapperley, and it lapsed in 1935 for lack of support. In October 1941, in a bid to raise production during the Second World War, the colliery revived the club as Gedling Colliery, and from 1942 it played at Plains Road, Mapperley, where the ground had a pavilion with a dance floor, canteen, offices and baths.

The post-war years were its best. It won the Notts Alliance League and Cup double several times, went three seasons unbeaten, and was named by the national press as Nottinghamshire's leading amateur team by the mid-1950s. In the FA Amateur Cup over 7,000 watched it play Pegasus at Plains Road in 1954, and two seasons later 10,000 saw Bishop Auckland win there 4-1, a ground record. Its nickname changed with its names: the Colliers as Gedling Colliery, the Saints as Mapperley St Jude's and the Miners as Gedling Miners Welfare.

Legacy today

The club has played at Plains Road since 1942 and competes in the United Counties League. Its badge shows the wheel of a headstock. Gedling Colliery closed in 1991, and in the club's centenary year, 2019, it was sponsored by Keepmoat Homes, which was redeveloping the colliery site; the club said that for most of its hundred years it had had strong links to the colliery.

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 was founded in 1919 as the works team for Gedling Colliery. (documented fact) ^1,2
• In October 1941 the mine revived the club as Gedling Colliery in a bid to increase production during the Second World War. (documented fact) ¹
• At the start of 1929-30 the club changed its name to Mapperley St Jude's. (documented fact) ^1,3
• About 10,000 watched Bishop Auckland beat Gedling 4-1 at Plains Road in the FA Amateur Cup, two seasons after a crowd of over 7,000 for Pegasus in 1954. (later recollection) ^3,2
• The club's badge depicts the wheel of a headstock. (documented fact) ¹
• In its centenary year the club was sponsored by Keepmoat Homes, which was regenerating the former colliery site. (contemporary account) ²

Mines

• Gedling Colliery — Nottinghamshire
  Founded in 1919 as Gedling Colliery's works team and revived by the colliery in 1941 to raise wartime output; it plays on as Gedling Miners Welfare (Wikipedia; club history; Mapperley People).

Sources

1. (secondary) Gedling Miners Welfare F.C. — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Gedling Miners Welfare FC — Mapperley People
3. (secondary) Club history — Gedling Miners Welfare FC (Pitchero)

Record created: 19 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 October 2026