With my last post being in relation to 150 years of The Wednesday you may be thinking this is a sporting website, however, it is purely that as a proud Sheffielder I must mention when a momentous occasion in our City’s history occurs.
It is 160 years ago to this very day that Messers Creswick & Prest first established Sheffield Football Club under the Sheffield Rules. I knew of Creswick and Prest from their days at Sheffield Cricket Club and to hear they had started a Football Club under codified rules was surprising.
I was not convinced it was to be a success as their rules did not allow for certain aspects of the game such as Hacking, something I used to enjoy both when I played as a young man and when I spectated. It was to be fine for the club to play under these rules for inter club matches, as was the norm, but it would not be something I would be watching, or so I felt. However, they began playing other clubs shortly afterwards and once Hallam FC was founded in 1860 (in my own Sandygate area) I began to see how these afternoonified set of rules made for a good spectacle.
It was certainly a bricky move by all those involved in Sheffield FC but 160 years on and with Association Football rules heavily influenced by those originally produced in the Country’s Finest City one must admit to being wrong (in this case)! Let us all hope for many more years for a great and historic club.
Charles’ expressions explained:
Afternoonified – brand new, smartened up
Bricky – brave and daring