Shirebrook Miners Welfare F.C.

The football club of the Derbyshire colliery town of Shirebrook was formed as Shirebrook in 1911, joining the Notts & Derbyshire League and finishing third in its first season. It won the Central Alliance in 1913-14 and, after moving to the Midland League in 1925, reached the first round of the FA Cup in 1927-28 and 1928-29, losing to Tranmere Rovers and then to Mansfield Town. In 1953 the club renamed itself Shirebrook Miners Welfare, the name it carried until it last entered the FA Cup in 1961.

The mining history in this record

Shirebrook Shirebrook grew from a village into a town around its colliery, sunk in the 1890s, and the football club took the town's name when it was formed in 1911. In its first season it joined the Notts & Derbyshire League, finished third, and won the subsidiary competition; the next year it moved to the Central Alliance and first entered the FA Cup.

Cup and league Shirebrook won the Central Alliance in 1913-14 and were runners-up in 1914-15; after the First World War they were runners-up again in 1920-21. They left the league in 1924 and joined the Midland League in 1925. Their two FA Cup first-round appearances came in 1927-28, when they lost to Tranmere Rovers, and 1928-29, when they lost to Mansfield Town.

The welfare name In 1953 the club changed its name to Shirebrook Miners Welfare, aligning itself with the miners' welfare movement that ran recreation grounds in the colliery districts out of the Miners' Welfare Fund. Under that name it continued in the FA Cup, its records there running from 1953-54 to 1961-62.

People

Unknown.

Legacy today

Shirebrook Miners Welfare last entered the FA Cup in 1961 and did not survive as a senior side. Football in the town is now carried by Shirebrook Town, a separate and later club, so the miners' welfare club belongs to the era when the colliery was the centre of the town's life.

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 formed as Shirebrook in 1911, joining the Notts & Derbyshire League and finishing third in its first season. (documented fact) ¹
• Shirebrook won the Central Alliance in 1913-14 and were runners-up in 1914-15 and 1920-21. (documented fact) ¹
• The club reached the first round of the FA Cup in 1927-28, losing to Tranmere Rovers, and in 1928-29, losing to Mansfield Town. (documented fact) ¹
• In 1953 the club renamed itself Shirebrook Miners Welfare, and its FA Cup records under that name run from 1953-54 to 1961-62. (documented fact) ^1,2

Mines

• Shirebrook Colliery — Derbyshire
  The club was the football side of the Shirebrook colliery town and in 1953 took the name Shirebrook Miners Welfare, tying it to the pit and the miners' welfare movement.

Sources

1. (secondary) Shirebrook Miners Welfare F.C. (Wikipedia) — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Shirebrook Miners Welfare (Football Club History Database) — Football Club History Database

Record created: 23 September 2026 · Last researched: 23 September 2026