Washington Colliery F.C.

Washington Colliery F.C. is a football club originally formed by the local miners at the local "F-Pit" Colliery in Washington, Tyne & Wear.

History

Little is known of the club prior 1926/27 when the club became a founder member in division 2 of the North Eastern League. Prior to this it was known the club did exist but mainly in playing friendlies against other local pits such as Usworth Colliery. A notable player from the early era was Ronnie Starling, who went on to Captain Sheffield Wednesday to the FA Cup and won two caps for England.

The club won the Division 2 title in the 1927/28 season and were promoted to division one but didn't enjoy much success. This period however did produce their most famous son, a gentleman known by the name of Jimmy Hagan, who went on to represent England (winning one full international cap against Denmark in Copenhagen in 1948). He later managed the famous Benfica team that won three successive Portuguese championships between 1971 and 1973. He was also briefly manager of Sporting Lisbon during the 1976/77 season.

After the war the club were reformed as Washington Colliery Mechanics and joined the Washington and District football league (known as the Durham Alliance league from 1996), with the club managing a great amount of success in the 50's including winning the league title 5 years in a row and the coveted Durham Trophy.^{[citation needed]} The Colliery stayed in the league until 1964 when the moved to the Northern Alliance League. Their tenure in that league lasted only one year where then club secretary Billy Benson was successful in applying to become a member of the Wearside league under the name Washington F.C. whose greatest moment was in reaching F.A Cup 4th qualifying round where they were defeated 3-1 by professional league team Bradford Park Avenue. Currently Washington F.C play in the Northern league and are semi professional with paid players.

In 2007, Secretaries Michael Walker and Mark Wallis of local pub team Washington New Tavern, following a player vote (several players with family mining links) decided to change their name to Washington Colliery F.C. to carry on the tradition. The club were awarded F.A charter standard in 2007 and were promoted from division 4 to division 3 in the 2006/07 season. Washington Colliery play in the Durham Sunday League for the 2007/2008 season and be accessed via [1]

Achievements

• 1927/28: North Eastern League Division 2 Champions
• 1955/56: Washington & District Football League, Champions, League Challenge Cup Winners
• 56/67: League Champions
• 57/58: League Champions
• 58/59: League Champions, League Challenge Cup Winners
• 59/60: League Champions
• 60/61: League Runners Up, League Challenge Cup Winners, Aged Peoples Trophy Winners
• 61/62: League Champions, Aged Peoples Trophy Winners
• 62/63: League Champions, Aged Peoples Trophy Winners
• 64/65: League Challenge Cup winners, Aged Peoples Trophy Winners
• 65/66: Aged People Trophy Winners

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  Washington Colliery 1917/18 season

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  Washington Colliery logo 2007

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  Washington Colliery 2006/07 season

Sources: Football Club History database, Audrey Fletcher (photo)