Hemsworth Colliery F.C.

The football club formed by and named for the men of Hemsworth Colliery in the mid-1920s, which played in the Doncaster Senior League and later the Sheffield and District League from a ground in the pit village of Kinsley, folded in 1980 with the colliery long gone, and was succeeded the following year by Hemsworth Miners Welfare.

The mining history in this record

By the 1920s Hemsworth already had a senior club in Hemsworth West End, which reached the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup in 1925-26. It was at exactly that moment, with the colliery employing over two thousand people and the West End club at its peak, that a colliery club was set up: Hemsworth Main Colliery Club was formed in the 1925-26 season and in January 1926 took over the fixtures of Harwood Main, who had withdrawn from the Doncaster Senior League. The club's ground was the recreation ground at Kinsley, next to the colliery.

The club outlived the pit. Hemsworth Colliery was merged into South Kirkby in 1967 and its surface plant cleared in the 1970s, but the club played on under the colliery name until 1980.

People

Unknown.

Legacy today

Hemsworth Miners Welfare Football Club was formed in 1981, the year after the colliery club folded, and still plays, nicknamed the Wells and based at a ground in Fitzwilliam, the village the colliery built. It is one of a large family of miners' welfare clubs across the Yorkshire coalfield that carry the name of an industry that has gone from the district entirely.

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.

• Hemsworth Main Colliery Club was formed in the 1925–26 season and in January 1926 took over the place of Harwood Main, who had withdrawn from the Doncaster Senior League. (documented fact, uncertain) ¹
• The club played as Hemsworth Colliery Football Club in the Sheffield and District Football League and Alliance, and was dissolved in 1980. (documented fact) ¹
• The club's ground was Kinsley Recreation Ground in Kinsley, West Yorkshire. (documented fact) ¹
• Hemsworth Miners Welfare F.C. was formed in 1981, the year after the colliery club folded, and plays at a ground in Fitzwilliam under the nickname the Wells. (documented fact) ^1,2
• Hemsworth West End was the town's senior club at the time, having reached the FA Cup fourth qualifying round in 1925–26 when the colliery club was set up. (documented fact) ¹
• Hemsworth Miners Welfare was formed in 1981 after Hemsworth Colliery F.C. disbanded the previous season. (documented fact) ^3,4

Mines

• Hemsworth Colliery — West Yorkshire
  The club was formed by and named for the workforce of Hemsworth Colliery in the mid-1920s, when the pit employed over two thousand people, and played from the recreation ground in the pit village of Kinsley beside it.

Regions

West Yorkshire

Real-world mining concepts used here

Colliery

Sources

1. (secondary) Hemsworth Colliery F.C. — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Hemsworth Miners Welfare F.C. — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) Hemsworth Miners Welfare - Springfield Training Stadium (The Wycombe Wanderer) — The Wycombe Wanderer (blog)
4. (secondary) Hemsworth Miners Welfare (Hopping all over the World) — Hopping all over the World (blog)
5. (secondary) Hemsworth Colliery (Hemsworth or Fitzwilliam Colliery and Kinsley Drift) — Northern Mine Research Society (read via a 2024 Wayback Machine capture)

Record created: 9 September 2026 · Last researched: 9 September 2026