HONOURS AND HISTORY

Linby have had their share of glory on the national stage, though you would have to go back to the late 1940s and early 1950s, to recall those heady days. Their are still supporters who can reminisce about the time when they were Nottinghamshire's most successful non-league club, playing under the guidance of former Arsenal professional Tim Coleman. During that era they won the Notts Senior Cup three times in five years, in the days when the final was played in front of five figure gates at Meadow Lane. The jewel in the crown was in 1950 when, as members of the then very strong Central Alliance (now the Midland Regional Alliance), they battled through to the first round proper of the FA Cup, before losing 4-1 at home to Gillingham at their former Gatehouse Ground headquarters in Hucknall, before a crowd of 6,300.

Sadly, with the loss of the Colliery, that historic ground has also gone, indeed it looked a woe-begotten place soon after the club vaccated it. After all that success they went into decline for many years, but long serving manager Dave Ingram has gradually brought about a resurgence in their fortunes, and while it is unlikely that those former glories will ever be re-captured, they are a team very much on the up.

They were promoted as Division Two runners up in 1994 and won the Notts Intermediate Cup a year later, but those were the first honours since 1954. Reformed after the second world war, they won the Spartan League Cup in 1947, the Notts Alliance and Notts Intermediate Cup in 1948, the Central Alliance in 1950, the Central Alliance League Cup in 1951, and the Notts Senior Cup in 1950, 1953 and 1954.

After the loss of the Gatehouse Ground they spent a short time at Annesley Welfare before moving to their current Church Lane site, where they are one of only two Senior Division clubs with covered spectator accommodation. These days there is no evidence that a colliery ever existed, and Linby is now a pretty and idylic village of rural charm. The old colliery site is now covered by an industrial estate.

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