Hucknall Town F.C.

Hucknall Town of Nottinghamshire began life as Hucknall Colliery Welfare, the welfare club of the town's colliery, and kept that name for some forty years. It dropped the pit from its title in 1987, the year after Hucknall Colliery closed, and went on to have the best run of its history as Hucknall Town: champions of the Northern Counties East League in 1998 and of the Northern Premier League in 2004, refused promotion to the Conference National because its Watnall Road ground was not up to standard, and runners-up in the FA Trophy at Villa Park in 2006.

The mining history in this record

A colliery welfare side The club was founded as Hucknall Colliery Welfare. Its own history gives 1943 and its 75th anniversary was marked in 2018-19, which agrees; Wikipedia's article on the club gives 1946 and Wikipedia's article on the town gives 1945. All three accounts agree on what it was: a colliery team, carrying the name of the Hucknall pits, which the Hucknall Colliery Company had sunk on Watnall Lane in 1861 and Portland Road in 1866.

Up the pyramid as Hucknall Town Progress came through the Bulwell and District League and the Spartan League to the Notts Alliance in 1970, where the club won Division Two at the first attempt and the senior division in 1976 and 1977. It was renamed Hucknall Town in 1987 -- the town's Wikipedia article puts the change down to the closure of the pit, which came in October 1986 -- and promptly won the Notts Alliance again in 1988 and 1989 before moving to the Central Midlands League and taking that title in 1990 and 1991. Promotion carried it into the Northern Counties East League, which it won in 1998, and then into the Northern Premier League. Hucknall won the Premier Division in 2003-04 but was refused promotion to the Conference National because Watnall Road did not meet the standard, and took a place in the new Conference North instead.

People

Dean Barrick, player-manager, who took the club to the 2006 FA Trophy final and was BBC Radio Nottingham's Sports Personality of the Year in 2005.

Legacy today

The club reached the FA Trophy final in 2005-06 under player-manager Dean Barrick, drawing 1-1 with Grays Athletic at Villa Park and losing 6-5 on penalties after extra time; Barrick was voted BBC Radio Nottingham's Sports Personality of the Year for the run. Relegations in 2009, 2011 and 2013 and repeated financial trouble took the club down to the Central Midlands League, which it won in 2018-19, the year of its 75th anniversary. It left Watnall Road in October 2022 -- 806 spectators for the last league game and 290 for a Nottinghamshire Senior Cup tie four days later -- for a new ground off Aerial Way, and won the Nottinghamshire Senior Cup for a seventh time in May 2025.

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 as Hucknall Colliery Welfare F.C., the welfare side attached to the Hucknall pits. (documented fact) ^1,2,3
• Its founding year is given as 1943 by the club itself, 1945 by Wikipedia's article on the town and 1946 by Wikipedia's article on the club; the club's 75th anniversary in 2018-19 fits 1943. (documented fact, disputed) ^1,2,3
• The club was renamed Hucknall Town in 1987, which Wikipedia's article on the town attributes to the closure of the colliery. (documented fact) ^1,2,3
• Hucknall won the Northern Premier League Premier Division in 2003-04 but was refused promotion because Watnall Road did not meet Football Conference standards, and reached the FA Trophy final in 2005-06, losing on penalties to Grays Athletic at Villa Park. (documented fact) ^1,2

Mines

• Hucknall Colliery — Nottinghamshire
  The club began as Hucknall Colliery Welfare, the welfare side of the Hucknall pits, and dropped the colliery from its name in 1987, the year after Hucknall Colliery closed.

Sources

1. (secondary) Hucknall Town F.C. — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Club History — Hucknall Town F.C.
3. (secondary) Hucknall — Wikipedia

Record created: 19 September 2026 · Last researched: 20 September 2026