‘Sheffield – The Home of Football’ by Keith Hackett
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from our Honorary Patron! Luckily, Keith has been in touch and he has written an article about his hometown Sheffield.
SHEFFIELD THE TRUE HOME OF FOOTBALL
Keith Hackett FIFA REFEREE 1981-91
100th FA CHALLENGE CUP FINAL REFEREE
I was recently sent a draft document by John Wilson who is leading the charge for Sheffield to be recognised as the ‘HOME OF FOOTBALL’.
The document gives great detail of the strategy and along with many others in our city want to see the suggested action plan come to fruition.
It highlights and underpins the role that Penistone played in the history of our great game.
Even before the founding of Sheffield FC, in 1857, there was a vibrant footballing culture in the southern part of Yorkshire and north Derbyshire. For example, football was popular in Penistone and Thurlstone and in 1845 Thurlston issued a challenge against local opponents insisting that it should be: “a game of foot-ball and not hand-ball” (Neill, Curry and Dunning, 2018:127).
I was a small child when my Dad, a steelworker, started to take me to games to watch Sheffield Wednesday our local team at the north end of the city.
In the ‘Steel City’ of Sheffield, we had two professional teams in United and Wednesday and there is no doubt that local derby games were played with special intensity in front of full stadiums.
On Saturday afternoon at around 1pm, we would set off on the three-mile walk to the stadium, passing other supporters on the way and taking a pub stop on the way. Little did I think that years later (in 1960), I would put on a uniform and start my refereeing career after playing for a number of years.
The City of Sheffield, a northern steel town where Stainless Steel was invented and the cutlery industry thrived has a massive history in our great game. I want to share with you some of those historical facts that are only now beginning to be brought to the attention of the world.
THE WORLD’S OLDEST EXISTING ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL CLUB. SHEFFIELD FC 1857
In 24 October 1857, Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest founded Sheffield FC. This is recorded in Creswick’s diary which states that: ‘I have established a foot ball club to which most of young Sheffield come and kick.’ To acknowledge its contribution to football, the ‘Club’ received the FIFA Order of Merit in 2004. This award has only been presented to one other club – Real Madrid.
THE WORLDS SECOND OLDEST EXISTING ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL CLUB – HALLAM FC 1860
Hallam Cricket Club were founded in 1804 and by 1859 had more than 300 members. In 1860, it would appear that John Charles Shaw and Captain T. Vickers (who was a member of Sheffield FC) formed Hallam and Stumperlowe FC to keep the players together during the winter months. Hallam FC is the second oldest existing football club (Steele, 2010).
THE WORLD’S THIRD OLDEST RULES – ‘THE SHEFFIELD RULES’ 1858
The 1858 Sheffield Rules represent a codification of the game which pre-date those of the Football Associations from 1863. Earlier rules of the game were formulated by John Hope in Edinburgh in 1833 and the Cambridge Rules in 1848. The Sheffield Rules also contributed to the development of the FA Rules and Sheffield’s resistance to hacking and the carrying of the ball lead to the divergence of football and rugby.
THE WORLD’S OLDEST FOOTBALL GROUND – SANDYGATE
Guinness World Records officially recognise Sandygate as the ‘World’s oldest football ground.’ The first game was played on Boxing Day, 26 December 1860 between Hallam and Sheffield FC with a victory for Sheffield 2 – 0.
OLDEST EXISTING DERBY GAME
The oldest existing derby game is the one held between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC which is known as the ‘Rules Derby’. The first encounter was on Boxing Day 26 December 1860 at Sandygate resulting in Hallam 0 Sheffield 2.
THE WORLD’S OLDEST FOOTBALL TROPHY
On 5 March 1867, Hallam FC beat Norfolk (two rouges to nil) to win the world’s first football trophy at Bramall Lane. Guinness World Records acknowledge its pre-eminence: “The oldest soccer trophy is the Youdan Cup, won in 1867 by Hallam FC in Sheffield South Yorkshire, England. The trophy was sponsored by local theatre owner and soccer enthusiast, Thomas Youdan.”
SECOND OLDEST LEAGUE CLUB – SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY FC
The Wednesday Cricket Club was established in 1820 and in 1867 some of the members formed the Wednesday Football Club. They were called ‘Wednesday’ because many of the players were free to play on that day. The club was renamed Sheffield Wednesday in 1929. In 1868 they won the Cromwell Cup and were founding members of the Football Alliance in 1889 becoming champions in its inaugural season. They are the second oldest Football League club after Nottingham Forest, who were established in 1865.
THE FIRST FOOTBALL LEAGUE TEAM CALLED ‘UNITED’
Sheffield United FC’s home is Bramall Lane and they are the world’s first League Club to be called ‘United’. Sheffield United hold the record as the only club to field 10 England internationals in a league match (8 times in one season). (Westby 2018)
OLDEST PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL STADIUM – BRAMALL LANE
Bramall Lane was originally opened as a cricket ground in 1855 and hosted its first football match on 29 December 1862 between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC to raise money for the Lancashire Distress Fund. Both Bramall Lane and the Oval share the distinction of hosting England internationals, an FA Cup final and a test match. In 1901, Bramall Lane was also the first commission outside of Scotland for football stadium architect Archibald Leitch and civil engineer Harry Davies.
FIRST USE OF FLOODLIGHTS – BRAMALL LANE
On Monday 14 October 1878, the first floodlit game of football was held at Bramall Lane and was enabled by John Tasker’s engineering company. The two teams, one in blue and one in red, were captained respectively by Charles and William Clegg with the Blues winning 2 – 0. The diesel generators from the first floodlit game are now in the Naval Museum in Malta.
OLDEST CHURCH TEAM IN THE WORLD
Heeley (Christchurch) FC (1862 – 1899) was the first team to be founded in association with a church. Heeley Parish Church was established in 1846 from part of St Mary’s parish in Bramall Lane (Westby, 2018). Buried in Heeley Parish Church’s graveyard is Nathaniel Creswick. Heeley FC was the predecessor of many well-known teams which were linked to churches including Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers, Celtic, Everton, Fulham, Manchester City, Southampton, and Tottenham Hotspur,
INTRODUCTION OF A CROSSBAR
In many of the early football games, there were just two posts positioned in the ground and a goal could be scored at any height if it went between the posts. It was not always clear whether a goal had been scored and for this reason, the 1856 Cambridge Rules specified the use of a “string.” A string was not always practical and so the 1862 Sheffield Rules stated:
‘The dimensions of the goal were specified, with two “goal sticks” 12 feet (4 yards) apart, and a crossbar 9 feet from the ground’
CORNER KICK
In 1869, Sheffield introduced the use of the corner kick. This rule was proposed to the Football Association who incorporated it on 17 February 1872. Prior to this, balls kicked beyond the goal line had various rules including in the Sheffield game the scoring of a ‘rouge’ if there was a touchdown by the attacking team.
PENALTY KICK
The concept of penalties originated in Sheffield as a form of punishment for fouls that had caused a goal to be missed. The Sheffield solution was not to award a penalty kick but to award a penalty goal. The concept of a penalty goal for fouls within 2 yards of the goal was suggested at a Sheffield Football Association meeting in 1879:
REFEREES WHISTLE AND SHIN PADS
The earliest reported use of a referee’s whistle was in 1874 in a game between Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Norfolk in 1874. The whistle replaced the use of a white flag. During the same match, Nottingham Forest’s Sam Widdowson was the first to wear shin pads to protect his legs and avoid injury so that he could also play cricket for Nottinghamshire
FIRST RADIO BROADCAST OF A FOOTBALL GAME
The first radio broadcast of a football match was aired on 22nd January 1927. It was a First Division match between Arsenal 1 v Sheffield United 1. To assist the listeners, the Radio Times produced a plan of the pitch divided into eight numbered rectangles. The expression: “back to square one” originated from the commentary for football matches on the radio.
Given this huge history of football connection with the city of Sheffield, I was delighted to play just a small part by been a former FIFA International Referee born in this city.
About Author
