South Normanton Athletic FC

General information

Football was first played at lees lane in the 1926/27 season playing under the name of South Normanton Miners Welfare, and progressed to the Central Alliance Football League and after into the Sutton and Skegby League.

The nickname ‘Shiners’ derives from the mid 1750’s when South Normanton was at the heart of the ribbed stocking industry. The people involved in this craft worked long hours sitting at there windows on wooden stools, so much so, that the backsides of there trousers became very shiny making them instantly recognisable as coming from the South Normanton area since then local people have been referred to and called ‘Shiners’.

Under the new name South Normanton Athletic joined the Central Midlands Football League in the 1990/91 season. The clubs first major success came in the 1993/94 season when the finished runners up in the premier division. This gained them promotion to the supreme division. The club made there first entry into the F.A Vase in the 1994/95 season.

In the 1996/97 season disaster struck when the old changing rooms where destroyed by fire. The clubs future lay in the balance and with limited time available members of the committee virtually worked round the clock to convert a derelict building into suitable changing rooms, which at the time were intended to be for a temporary period only the leagues deadline for completion was accomplished with little time to spare.

At the end of the 1996/97 season, the club was relegated due to the 3 year flood light installation rule not being met; funds set aside to complete this project had been spent in establishing new changing rooms. The floodlights were completed in 1998 and the club was reinstated back into the supreme division.

The teams best position being 3rd which was a promotion place. The club was promoted to the NCEL for the start of the 2003/2004 season where they played till the club decided to fold at the end of the 2007/08 season due to an ageing committee and no new blood coming to the club.

We have now reformed the club with a new committee, management and players. In a long time there is an air of optimism and expectancy of big and better things to come at lees lane. As one of the old committee members said “its just nice to see football being played here again”.