Entries by Martin Westby

Sheffield and the Rugby code: How Alfred Cattell (Lord Mayor & S.U.F.C. chairman) eventually introduced rugby to the town in 1884, following a long resistance to the ball-carrying code.

By Graham Williams and Martin Westby Graham Williams is the author of ‘The Code War: English Football Under the Historical Spotlight’. Martin Westby is the author of‘‘A History of Sheffield Football 1857-1889: Speed, Science and Bottom’ and ‘England’s Oldest Football Clubs 1815-1889: A new chronological classification of early football (Folk, School, Military, County, Rugby, & […]

John Charles Clegg was born 170 years ago : Athlete, England international and chairman of Wednesday FC, the Sheffield Football Association and the Football Association

Charles Clegg was firstly an ‘Eminent’ athlete: Charles and William Clegg were the sons of William Johnson Clegg who established the family legal business Clegg and Sons in 1868. The family legal firm would merge over the years and is still represented in Sheffield today in the guise of Wake Smith Solicitors. Charles (as he […]

Sir Leslie Ward (‘Spy’) : Famous cartoonist for ‘Vanity Fair’ and the ‘Graphic’ who drew an iconic early representation of the Eton Wall Game in 1874

I have searched for a long time for an original copy of Leslie Ward’s drawing of the Eton Wall Game that first appeared in the ‘Graphic’ newspaper on 29th January 1876, I recently found the same image in the American newspaper ‘Harper’s Weekly’ (February 26th 1876) on Ebay and purchased it. Other football drawing had […]

The International Football Conference of 1882: the story of the short-lived National Football Association and the creation of the International Football Association Board (IFAB)

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an incredibly influential organisation yet the vast majority of football fans know nothing about it. This is the organisation that recently gave the world of football VAR and only this month approved a temporary rule change that will allow each side up to five substitutes per match to protect […]

Sheffield v Scotland : The Inter-City games 1874-1960

‘There can be no shadow of doubt that the two cities who did the most to further the development of football were Glasgow and Sheffield. Following the first international between Scotland and England in Glasgow on 30th November 1872 the Sheffielders were upset at the English selection claiming that it was nominally London with a […]

Neath Rugby Football Club: A foundation date of 1864, 1871 or 1872?

On this site I have concentrated on the history of English football clubs but coming across this tankard made me investigate this Welsh club further. From their official site https://neathrfc.com/the-rugby/ I see that they claim a foundation date of 1871 but when I checked the Charles Alcock Football Annuals I found a contradictory date in […]