Grimethorpe Miners Welfare F.C. was an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Grimethorpe Grimethorpe is a large village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 4,672 at the 2011 census. Grimethorpe is located to the east of Barnsl ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

History

The club was formed as Grimethorpe Rovers prior to the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and after the end of hostilities changed name to Grimethorpe Athletic. In 1959 (a year after changing name again - to Grimethorpe Miners Welfare), the club joined the Yorkshire League, winning the Division Two title (and with it promotion) at the first attempt, and also the prestigious

Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup The Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup is a county cup competition involving teams within the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association. Originally named the Sheffield Challenge Cup, it is the 5th oldest surviving cup competition i ...

by beating Denaby United in the final. They spent three years in the top flight before being relegated back to Division Two in 1963. Two years later the club resigned from the league and returned to local football. By the mid-1970s Grimethorpe were playing in the

Doncaster & District Senior League The Doncaster Saturday Football League is a football competition for clubs in the Doncaster area of England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north ...

, winning the Division One title in 1977 before winning back-to-back Premier Division titles in 1978 and 1979. In 1980 they rejoined the Yorkshire League, entering Division 3 and winning promotion at the first attempt. In 1982 the Yorkshire League merged with the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

to form the

Northern Counties East League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively. History Th ...

(NCEL), and Grimethorpe were among the founder members of the new competition. They entered the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

for the first time in 1982, and won back-to-back promotions in the mid-1980s (despite finishing 7th and 12th) to reach the NCEL's Premier Division. They were relegated back to Division One after three years, but resigned from the league part way through the 1990–91 season. In 1993 they joined the

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League The Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior Football League is an English football league that was founded in 1983 by the merger of the former Sheffield Association League and Hatchard League. The league has three divisions – the Premier Divis ...

(S&HCSL), winning two successive promotions to reach the Premier Division by 1995. After finishing 3rd in the S&HCSL's top flight, they joined the

Central Midlands League The Central Midlands Football League is an English football league covering the northeast-central part of England. Formed in 1971 as the South Derbyshire League, changing name initially to the Derbyshire League before changing to its current nam ...

(CMFL), winning promotion in their debut season to reach the CMFL Supreme Division. After four years in the CMFL, they resigned and seemingly disbanded again. In 2002 the club was reformed in the S&HCSL, but would only last a further year before dissolving for good.

League and cup history

Honours

League

* Yorkshire League Division Two **Promoted: 1959–60 (champions) * Yorkshire League Division Three **Promoted: 1980–81 *

Division One **Promoted: 1986–87 *

Division Two **Promoted: 1985–86 *

Premier Division **Promoted: 1996–97 *

Division Two **Promoted: 1993–94 (champions) *

Division One **Promoted: 1994–95 (champions) *

Premier Division **Champions: 1977–78, 1978–79 *

Division One **Promoted: 1976–77 (champions)

Cup

**Winners: 1959–60 **Runners-up: 1995–96

Records

*Best

performance: 3rd Round, 1982–83

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in South Yorkshire Yorkshire Football League Doncaster & District Senior League Northern Counties East Football League Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior Football League Central Midlands Football League Sheffield Association League Barnsley Association League Mining association football teams in England