Preston Colliery F.C.

The North Shields football club played as Preston Colliery from 1918 to 1928, the last seven seasons in the North Eastern League, before relegation and a return to the town's name.

The mining history in this record

The club was founded in 1896 as North Shields Athletic and played in the North Eastern League before the First World War. In 1918 it changed its name to Preston Colliery, after the colliery on the west side of North Shields, and when football resumed it played the 1919-20 season in the Tyneside League and the next in the Northern Alliance.

In 1921 it was readmitted to the North Eastern League, where success proved elusive: in seven seasons as Preston Colliery it finished no higher than tenth, twice in that place, and in 1927-28 it came nineteenth of twenty. Relegated to the league's new Division Two, the club changed its name to North Shields for 1928-29 and won the division at the first attempt.

Legacy today

The club has played as North Shields ever since, reaching the first round of the FA Cup in 1933-34 and winning the FA Amateur Cup at Wembley in 1969. Preston Colliery itself closed in September 1929, a year after the club gave up its name.

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 North Shields club, founded in 1896 as North Shields Athletic, changed its name to Preston Colliery in 1918. (documented fact) ^1,2
• After the First World War the club emerged as Preston Colliery and played the 1919-20 season in the Tyneside League and 1920-21 in the Northern Alliance. (documented fact) ³
• Preston Colliery played in the North Eastern League from 1921-22 to 1927-28, finishing no higher than tenth. (documented fact) ^1,3,2
• Relegated to the league's Division Two in 1928, the club changed its name to North Shields and won that division at the first attempt. (documented fact) ^1,3
• The club's name was taken from Preston Colliery, North Shields. (reasonable inference) ¹

Mines

• Preston Colliery — Tyne and Wear
  The North Shields club played under this colliery's name from 1918 to 1928, while the pit was still working.

Real-world mining concepts used here

Colliery

Sources

1. (secondary) Preston Colliery — Football Club History Database
2. (secondary) England - North Eastern League — RSSSF
3. (secondary) North Shields F.C. — Wikipedia

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026