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Sheffield has a long history of involvement in Sport . Although Cricket was the first organised sport, it has gradually been suplanted by Football . Both the main two local football teams grew out of cricket teams. Sheffield can claim many firsts in football the most famous one being Sheffield F.C. being the worlds first and oldest football club. Today it has a club in every major team sport in England. Sheffield became the first UK National City of Sport in 1995 and is now home to the English Institute Of Sport (EIS). Today the city boasts two League Club s ( Wednesday and United ), top flight Ice Hockey ( Sheffield Steelers ) and Basketball ( Sheffield Sharks ) and a Premier League Speedway team ( Sheffield Tigers ). Sheffield Eagles is the main Rugby League club and operates a level below the Super League . There are two Boxing world champions from Sheffield, Clinton Woods and Johnny Nelson . David Sherwood is a top ten british Tennis player from the city and the England cricket captain, Michael Vaughan , was brought up and lives in Sheffield. Joe Simpson , a famous climber also comes from the city. The largest stadium is Hillsborough Stadium the home of Sheffield Wednesday that holds just under 40,000. Don Valley Stadium is currently the largest Athletics stadium in the United Kingdom . Bramall Lane is the worlds oldest major football ground and Sandygate, home to Hallam F.C. , is the oldest football ground. The World Snooker Championships has been held at the Crucible Theatre since 1977. FOOTBALL History By the 1850s the city had several cricket clubs, mainly played during the summer. Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest wanted to start a team that could keep the players together during the winter and formed Sheffield F.C. In 1857 they decided to write the first rule book for football called Sheffield Rules . By 1860 there was 15 football clubs in the city. The teams continued to play under the Sheffield Rules after the formation of the FA known locally as the ''London FA''. They formed their own association in 1867 and played the first ever competitive football competition, the Youdan Cup , in the same year. Another significant event was the formation of Sheffield Wednesday football club. The first inter-association football match between Sheffield FA and London (the FA) was played at Bramall lane. Sheffield won the match 3-1. More such matches were played during the 1870s with the home side dictating which rules they should play under. This led to a merger of the two set of rules in 1878 . Sheffield United F.C. were formed in 1889 . In the same year Sheffield Wednesday turned profesional and applied for membership of The Football League . This was denied so they became founding members of the Football Alliance and won it in the first season. Both the clubs were accepted into the Football League in 1892 . Wednesday into division 1 and United into the newly formed second division. At the turn of the century the city enjoyed huge success starting with Sheffield Wednesday winning the FA Cup in 1896 . United then won the league in 1898 , the FA Cup the following year, and again in 1902 . Wednesday the won the league twice in a row in 1903/4 and 1904/5. Sheffield F.C. also won their first cup, the FA Amateur Cup , in 1904 . The following decades saw intermitent success for both clubs, including another brace of league titles for Wednesday in 1928 - 1930 . The last FA Cup was won in 1935 by Wednesday. Both clubs then went into decline after the Second World War. Wednesday sank to the third division in 1974 and United were relegated as far as the fourth division by 1981 . In 1989 , Sheffield Wednesday's home ground at Hillsborough was the scene of tragedy when 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in an FA Cup semifinal in the infamous Hillsborough Disaster . This prompted a series of safety improvements at football grounds around the country, with terraced stands converted to all seated accommodation. The early 1990s saw an upsurge in the fortunes of both clubs starting with Wednesday winning the League Cup in 1991 . The two teams then met in the FA Cup semi-final in 1993 . Wednesday won the match 2-1 but went on to lose both the final and League Cup final, both to Arsenal . However the optimism ebbed away as both teams were relegated from the top flight and have suffered from financial difficulties in recent years. Today There are two Derbies played in the city. Sheffield United and Wednesday contest the Steel City Derby in the league or sometimes as a pre-season friendly if they aren't in the same division. Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. still play the worlds oldest derby. They are currently both in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division. Existing Clubs
CRICKET Sheffield United Cricket Club was formed in 1854 , so called because it was made up of the uniting of several local sides. It was the first club to be named United. Yorkshire County Cricket Club was also formed in the city in 1863 and had its headquarters at Bramall Lane until 1893 . The last cricket match to be played there was in 1973 . Sheffield still has a number of local cricket teams, including Sheffield United Cricket Club. Most of which play in the South Yorkshire Cricket League . ICE HOCKEY Sheffield Steelers are an Ice Hockey who play their home matches at Sheffield Arena . They were formed in 1991 and rapidly rose up the leagues to the British Premier League (now called the Elite League). They then won it in their second season and again in their third. In total they have one the top flight title 4 times. The city also has a several other ice hockey teams. The Sheffield Scimitars , who play in the English Premier League. The Sheffield Spartans playing in the English National League North,a premier league women's team called the Sheffield Shadows and the Sheffield Ice Tigers who play Recreational level hockey.All of these teams play out of Ice Sheffield. BASKETBALL Sheffield Sharks are a Basketball team who play at Ponds Forge . They were formed in 1994 and won the British Basketball League in their first season. They have won it a total of 3 times. The City Of Sheffield Arrows play in the English Basketball League . Their home is at the English Insitute Of Sport . Sheffield Hatters are a women's basketball team who also play at Ponds Forge. They have dominated the National League winning it every year from 1991 to 2002 . However other teams have caught up in recent years. BOXING Sheffield has enjoyed huge success in Boxing mainly due to the Wincobank gym run by Brendan Ingle . During the 1990s several world champions were produced including Naseem Hamed , Herol 'Bomber' Graham and Paul 'Silky' Jones . Current IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Clinton Woods and WBO Cruiserweight Johnny Nelson also come from the city. OTHER SPORTS Other notable clubs are the Sheffield Eagles Rugby League club based at Don Valley Stadium who won the Rugby League Challenge Cup in 1997. Sheffield Tigers is a local Speedway team based at Owlerton Stadium . Namesake Sheffield Tigers and Sheffield RUFC are local Rugby Union sides based at Dore . In 2005 the city hosted the finish of Stage 3 of the Tour Of Britain cycle race. In 2004 and 2005 the city also played host the start and finish of the Roger Albert Clark Rally. The 2004 World Superbike champion, James Toseland , comes from Sheffield. As does the climber Joe Simpson . SPORTS FACILITIES The city has a huge number of athletics facilities largely as a legacy of the £147 million pound investment for the World Student Games held in 1991 . These include Don Valley Stadium , Ponds Forge and Sheffield Arena . Further venues have been added with the investment as part of the English Institute Of Sport . There is also a Snooker venue and training centre due to be built. As well as the World Snooker Championships , the Crucible Theatre has a Squash court installed yearly for the English Open. Sheffield Ski Village is Europe's largest artificial ski resort. It has a total of 5 slopes and serveral short training slopes. There currently plans to add the country's largest indoor snow resort next to it. There is also 2 indoor climbing centres. Owlerton Stadium hosts regular Greyhound racing as well as Sheffield Tigers home ties. It has also previously been home to Sheffield F.C., now based at the Coach and Horses Ground in Dronfield . There is a number of Golf courses in sheffield varying from pitch and putt up to at least 15 full size courses. Lee Westwood from nearby Worksop mainly uses Sheffield courses for practice. Argubly the most impressive is Hallamshire Golf Course based at Sandygate , which overlooks the city of Sheffield to the east and the Peak District to the west. English Institute of Sport In 1998 it was annouced that Sheffield would host national headquarters of the UK Sports Institute with an atticipated investment of £40-£60 million pounds. However, in October 1999 it was decided that a national headquarters should be scraped in favour of a decentralised structure. Despite this the largest investment so far is in the £23,540,000 English Institute Of Sport - Sheffield (EISS), opened in December 2003 . The £15.7 million IceSheffield , opened in May 2003, is also part of the project. Placed between the already existing Sheffield Arena and Don Valley Stadium, this creates one of the most concentrated areas of sports facilities in the country. MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS REFERENCES |
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