PROUD links forged deep underground through the mining industry has led to a little known team from the English lower tiers sporting Cowdenbeath colours.

Cotgrave FC, who play in the Nottinghamshire Senior League, took to the pitch wearing the Scottish League Two side's strips from last season.

Their club secretary and manager, Mark Turner, said: "Cotgrave FC are proud and delighted to be associated with the Cowdenbeath community and are extremely grateful for the generous gesture of donating last season's away kit."

Cotgrave is a small town six miles south of Nottingham which saw a large mining community settle there in the 1960's when the colliery commenced production.

There were a sizeable number of families from the Cowdenbeath and Fife area who moved to Cotgrave and still have a presence in the town.

Cotgrave FC replaced Cotgrave Colliery FC after the colliery closed in 1994.

More recently the club have enjoyed winning some honours with a league championship trophy in 2007/08 and the league cup in 2015/16.

Followers of Cowden's fortunes in the town are closely associated with Nottingham Supporting The Miners, a regular match sponsor of Cowdenbeath FC.

Cowdenbeath secretary David Allan said: "We were delighted to be able to help and to link up with Cotgrave FC in this way.

"We prize our mining roots and our links to so many other real mining communities where Cowdenbeath miners settled."