Norton Woodseats 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, but based for most of their existence in

Dronfield Dronfield is a town in North East Derbyshire, England, which includes Dronfield Woodhouse and Coal Aston. It lies in the valley of the River Drone between Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield and Sheffield. The Peak District National Park i ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

History

Formed in 1912, in their early years the club competed in local Sheffield leagues before entering the

Sheffield Amateur League The Sheffield Amateur League was a football competition for clubs in the Sheffield area of England. For many years it was behind only the Sheffield Association League in terms of seniority in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Football Association ...

and then the

Sheffield Association League The Sheffield Association League was an English association football league based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. History The league was founded in 1897 to fill the void left by the disbandment of the Sheffield & District Football League, which ...

, winning the latter in 1928. They entered the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...

for the first time in 1926 and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

a year later. They won the Association League again in 1938, and a year later reached the semi-finals of the Amateur Cup, losing to Willington at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in the Ayresome area of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the club joined the Yorkshire League, gaining promotion to Division 1 in 1950. They finished as high as league runners-up in 1955, but were relegated back to Division 2 in 1964. Although they won promotion back to the Yorkshire League's top flight after two seasons, they struggled in the lower echelons of Division 1 for four years before being relegated again. In 1974 they were relegated to Division 3, but won promotion back to Division 2 at the first time of asking, and when the Yorkshire League merged with the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

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 English football pyramid respectively. ...

in 1982, Norton Woodseats were accepted into the new competition. They remained members of the NCEL until 1991 (being known as Dronfield United from 1984 to 1991), when they resigned from the league. A year later they joined the

Central Midlands League The Central Midlands Alliance 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 the Central Midlands L ...

before resigning from this league too after just three years and disbanding. Although the club was reformed to enter the

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior Football 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 Divisi ...

in 1994, the club was on its last legs, and dissolved for good in 1999.

Notable former players

Players that played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

either before or after being with Norton Woodseats: * Wilfred Adey *

Cec Coldwell George Cecil Coldwell (12 January 1929 – 9 November 2008) was a professional footballer who played for Sheffield United from 1951 to 1968. He played in the position of right-back. Playing career Coldwell signed for Sheffield United in Septe ...

* David Frain * Harry Gooney * Howard Johnson *

Ben Shearman Benjamin W. Shearman (2 December 1884 – October 1958) was an English footballer who played as an outside left. Born in Lincoln he came to the fore with Rotherham Town before having spells with Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion and Nottingha ...

League and cup history

Honours

League

* Yorkshire League Division One **Runners-up: 1954–55 * Yorkshire League Division Two **Promoted: 1950–51, 1965–66 (champions) * Yorkshire League Division Three **Promoted: 1974–75 *

**Champions: 1927–28, 1937–38 *

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 Divi ...

Division 2 **Champions: 1998–99

Cup

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 ...

**Winners: 1937–38 **Runners-up: 1943–44, 1966–67, 1967–68

Records

*Best

performance: 4th qualifying round, 1948–49, 1957–58 *Best

performance: Semi-final, 1938–39 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

performance: 4th round, 1980–81

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in South Yorkshire Dronfield Sheffield Association League Yorkshire Football League Sheffield Amateur League Northern Counties East Football League Central Midlands Football League Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior Football League Defunct football clubs in Derbyshire Association football clubs established in 1912 Association football clubs disestablished in 1999