Sheffield F.C.

Sheffield
Full name	Sheffield Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Club
Founded	October 24, 1857
Ground	Coach and Horses Ground, Dronfield, England (Capacity 1,500)
Chairman	Richard Tims[1]
Manager	Dave McCarthy
League	NPL Division One South
2006-07	NCEL Premier Division, 2nd
Home colours 　 Away colours

Sheffield Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Sheffield FC or Sheffield, is an English non-professional football club from Sheffield, Yorkshire. The club are most noted for the fact that they are the world's oldest football club, founded in 1857. They currently play in the Northern Premier League Division One South. As well as being recognised as the oldest club in the world by FIFA, the international governing body of football, the club are also noted for particpating in the world's oldest footballing rivalry. Sheffield competed against Hallam in the world's first inter-club match during 1860, the two have been arch-rivals since and because Hallam are also from Sheffield it set the precident for all local football derbies, it is known as the "Sheffield" or "Rules" derby. The team was originally based on various grounds around Sheffield, including Bramall Lane, now home of Sheffield United. The club has no connection to either of the two local professional teams, Sheffield United or Sheffield Wednesday, other than the hometown and the pitches played on. Despite long having lost its status as Sheffield's top team to them, the original Sheffield club has been able to survive thanks to their fans' dedication and their heritage.

History

First ever Sheffield squad shot.

In 1855, members of a Sheffield cricket club organised informal kick-abouts without any official rules.^[2] On October 24, 1857 Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest formed the Sheffield Football Club. The Sheffield club is officially recognised by FIFA as the oldest football club in the world. ^[3] It is also the oldest documented club, in any code of football, in England. Creswick and Prest were responsible for drawing up the club's rules of play in 1857, a code referred to as the Sheffield Rules. At the time, before the formation of the Football Association (FA), many different kinds of football were popular in England. For example, each of the various public schools played football according to their own individual rules, and these varied widely. The first Sheffield Rules were distinctive. For example, there was no offside rule, opposing players could be pushed, and a player catching the ball would get a free kick. Australian rules football, which began to develop the following year, resembles the original Sheffield code in all of these respects. The similarities probably resulted from the common influence of earlier codes such as the Cambridge Rules). Initially, Sheffield FC games were played among club members themselves and took the format of "Married v Singles" or "Professionals v the Rest". Sheffield's near neighbour, Hallam, was formed in 1860 and in the same year the two clubs first played each other in a local derby which is still contested today. By 1862 there were 15 clubs in the Sheffield area who all adhered to the Sheffield Rules. These rules were later adopted by the Sheffield Football Association when it was formed in 1867. By this time the club had decided only to play teams outside Sheffield in order to seek a bigger challenge. They became members of the FA in December 1863. On 31 March 1866, there was a match between a team representing Sheffield and one representing London clubs, at Battersea Park. Rules that differed only slightly from the FA rules were used. However, Sheffield continued to play by their own rules, with modifications, until they adopted the FA rules in 1878.

Thursday Wanderers

Thursday Wanderers were a team founded by Sheffield F.C. players who wished to play in the Sheffield Challenge Cup. Sheffield Club had decided not to play in any local matches, so many of their players started playing on Thursdays. The team operated each season from 1876-77 until 1878-79, winning the Cup in their final year. The side was briefly revived in the early 1880s.^[4]

Decline

Its decline from the top echelon of football began with the introduction of professionalism in July 1885, with the amateurs of Sheffield failing to compete with professional teams, losing heavily that year to Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Notts County. After the legalisation of professionalism Sheffield Club suggested to the FA the creation of a cup exclusively for amateur clubs. This would become the FA Amateur Cup and gave Sheffield their first ever cup success in 1904.

League history since World War II

Sheffield joined the Yorkshire League in 1949, remaining in that competition until it merged with the Midland League to form the Northern Counties East League in 1982. During their 33-year stay in the Yorkshire League, their only divisional title was the Division Two crown in 1975-76. After joining the new league, initially in the lower divisions, they twice won the Division One title in 1988-89 and 1990-91, and held Premier Division status continuously from 1991 to 2007. In 2006-07, they finished second in the Premier Division, their highest position ever, and subject to the latest round of restructuring of the National League System should be accepted into the Northern Premier League Division One for 2007-08.

150th anniversary onwards

Pelé at Sheffield's 150th anniversary match v Inter Milan

Sheffield F.C. are now based at the Coach and Horse Ground in Dronfield, Derbyshire, the first ground they have owned themselves. They play in the Northern Premier League Division One South, which is directly below the Northern Premier League Premier Division in the National League System. There are now 2 senior teams, 9 junior teams, 1 women's team (formed by a merger with Norton FC) and 1 disability team. They have recently started a membership drive, notable members are Sven-Göran Eriksson, Sepp Blatter and Michael Vaughan. They have also enjoyed links with Real Madrid since both clubs received the FIFA Order of Merit and there were plans to play a match against them to celebrate their 150th Anniversary. Sheffield FC's opponents for the 150th anniversary were Italian side Internazionale; Brazilian legend Pelé was also guest of honour and was introduced to the teams and the fans before the game. The match ended 5-2 to Inter, with 18,741 supporters attending the match at Bramall Lane, Inter's side included World Cup winner Marco Materazzi. The day of the anniversary was marked with a church service and gala dinner attended by Sepp Blatter and Geoff Thompson among other major figures in the sport.^[5]

F.A. Competitions

The club have had their fair share of success in national competitions, with an FA Amateur Cup win in 1903-04, and a Wembley appearance in the 1976-77 FA Vase final (although they lost the replay at the City Ground, Nottingham to Billericay Town. In the more senior FA Cup, they have not graced the competition proper since the 1880s, but they did make the quarter finals on three occasions in the 1870s.

Current squad 2007-08 Season

No. Position Player GK Jamie Holmshaw GK Martin Kearney DF Jon Boulter DF Gavin Smith DF Paul Smith DF Tom Jones DF Karl Colley DF Andy Taylor MF Darryl Winter MF Miles Thorpe MF Asa Ingall MF Pete Davey

No. Position Player MF Darren Holmes MF Matt Roney MF Tom Carney MF Chris Dolby FW Stewart Copnell FW Leon Wainman FW Rob Ward FW David Wilkins FW Gary Townsend FW Vill Powell

Grounds

Sheffield club have played at a number of grounds around Sheffield. Initially they played at Strawberry Hall Lane Park.^[6] However, like all of the early grounds they played at, it wasn't owned by the club. In the following years they would play at Newhall Athletic ground, Old Forge ground and a ground near Hunters Bar on Ecclesall Road.^[7] There was much reluctance from the owners of Bramall Lane to see the pitch be used for football. They didn't relent until a charity match between Sheffield and Hallam was suggested in late 1862. The ground was used by Sheffield F.C. for its more important fixtures but relations with the owners remained strained. They collapsed altogether in 1875 when the club vowed never to play at the ground again. Eventually Sheffield settled at Abbeydale Park with occasional forays to Owlerton Stadium. During the 1990s they played at Hillsborough Park, Owlerton Stadium and Don Valley Stadium before purchasing some land next to the Coach and Horses pub in Dronfield that was previously being used by the Coach and Horses pub team.

Honours

Other Awards

FIFA Order of Merit awarded in 2004. (Real Madrid is the only other club in the world to receive this award)

References

External links

• Official site
• "Behind the Flag", a large fan site
• The original football club