Sheffield the home of football
I have been researching English football history for over 10 years and as a Sheffielder I became increasingly perplexed as places such as Lancashire, London and Zurich all laid claim to the ownership of the birth of Association Football. Meanwhile in Sheffield itself we seem content not to shout about our footballing achievements from the rooftops, but hopefully that will change as momentum grows in the city to talk more about our unique footballing heritage.
To prove that Sheffield is the home of football I recently produced the following roll call of footballing accolades held by Sheffield:
Oldest Football Club in the World: Sheffield FC
Oldest Club Rules in the World: Sheffield FC
Second Oldest Football Club in the World: Hallam FC
Third Oldest League Football Club in the World: Sheffield Wednesday FC
Oldest ground in the World still to be hosting Association Football: Sandygate
Oldest stadium in the World still to be hosting professional Association football: Bramall Lane
Oldest Knockout Cup in the World: Youdan Cup
Second Oldest Knockout Cup in the World: Cromwell Cup
Oldest County Football Association in England: Sheffield Football Association
Oldest English County Knockout Cup: Sheffield Challenge Cup (Jointly with Birmingham F.A.)
Oldest English Charity Knockout Cup: Wharncliffe Charity Challenge Cup
World’s first use of Floodlights at a football match: Bramall Lane
World’s first League Club to be called ‘United’: Sheffield United FC
Oldest Church Team in the World: Heeley FC
Oldest ‘State’ School Football Club in the World: All Saints’ Night School FC
Oldest School Tournament in the World: Clegg Shield
Oldest Pub Team in the World: Garrick FC
Oldest Player Insurance Scheme in the World: Sheffield
First ever Chairman of the Football Association: Sir Charles Clegg
First ever F.A. Cup: Made in Sheffield by Martin, Hall & Co.
The facts above to my mind prove incontrovertibly that Sheffield is the home of football a fact further confirmed by my 2017 book ‘A History of Sheffield Football 1857-1889… ‘Speed, Science and Bottom.’ which is available to purchase here http://bit.ly/2qYw0r0
