Rainworth Miners Welfare F.C.

Rainworth Miners Welfare, the Wrens, was founded in 1922 as Rufford Colliery F.C., the team of the Nottinghamshire pit whose houses, welfare and football ground made the village of Rainworth. It took the welfare's name in the 1970s and then had a decade unlike any other welfare club's: six Notts Alliance championships in a row from 1977 to 1983 and, in 1982, an FA Vase final at Wembley -- the only miners' welfare side ever to reach one.

The mining history in this record

Rufford Colliery F.C. Rufford Colliery was sunk from 1911 and worked until 1993. It provided housing for some 400 families at Rainworth along with leisure facilities including a football ground and a lido, and the Miners' Welfare. The football club was founded in 1922 as Rufford Colliery F.C. and kept that name until the 1970s, when it became Rainworth Miners Welfare; the welfare remains open and is still affiliated with the football team and the bowls club.

Wembley, 1982 Rainworth appointed Tony Porter as its first manager -- the first Notts Alliance club to make such an appointment, a move others copied -- and in 1976 replaced him with Brian Phillips, a former Middlesbrough and Mansfield Town centre half. Phillips took the side to second place in 1976 and then to six consecutive league championships, with two Notts Senior Cups and a run of League Cup success alongside. In 1982 the club won the league, the League Cup and the Senior Cup, and in only its third entry to the FA Vase reached the final, losing 3-0 to Forest Green Rovers at Wembley before an official crowd of 12,500 of whom some 10,000 had travelled from Nottinghamshire. The home leg of the semi-final drew 5,071 to Kirklington Road for a 2-1 win over Barton Rovers, two goals from Dave Hallam; the club records it as a competition attendance record outside the final.

People

Brian Phillips, manager from 1976, formerly a centre half with Middlesbrough and Mansfield Town, who won six consecutive championships and reached Wembley; he died in 2012 aged 80. Tony Porter, the club's first manager. Dave Hallam, who scored both goals in the 1982 semi-final at Kirklington Road.

Legacy today

The club's own history notes that it was only the second true amateur side, paying subscriptions to play, and the only miners' welfare team, to reach an FA Vase final. Three more Notts Alliance titles came in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, under Rudy Funk and Bill Millar, three promotions took Rainworth to step four -- by one local account the first side still carrying a miners' welfare name to play in the eighth tier of English football. Floodlights went up at the Kirklington Road welfare ground in 1991, with cover and seating following. Relegation from the United Counties League in 2025-26 took the club into the Nottinghamshire Senior League.

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 1922 as Rufford Colliery F.C. and was styled that way until the 1970s, when it became Rainworth Miners Welfare. (documented fact) ^1,2,3
• Rufford Colliery provided housing for about 400 families in Rainworth together with leisure facilities including a football ground and a lido, and the Miners' Welfare remains affiliated with the football club. (documented fact) ⁴
• Rainworth won the Notts Alliance ten times, including six in succession between 1977 and 1983, and reached the 1981-82 FA Vase final, losing 3-0 to Forest Green Rovers at Wembley. (documented fact) ^1,2
• The club's history records it as only the second true amateur club, and the only miners' welfare team, to reach an FA Vase final. (later recollection, uncertain) ²

Mines

• Rufford Colliery — Nottinghamshire
  The club was founded in 1922 as Rufford Colliery F.C. and played under that name until the 1970s; the colliery built the village of Rainworth around it, including the football ground and the Miners' Welfare the club is named after.

Sources

1. (secondary) Rainworth Miners Welfare F.C. — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) History — Rainworth Miners Welfare F.C.
3. (secondary) Rainworth Miners Welfare - The Little Big Club — the Nottingham Sport
4. (secondary) Rainworth — Wikipedia

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