Sheffield FC

[tommy]

Sotheby’s have announced the sale on 14 July 2011 in London of the earliest rules of club football, being sold as part of the historic archive of the world’s oldest football club, Sheffield FC (established 1857), which is estimated at £800,000 - £1,200,000*. This extraordinary and unique piece of sporting history, which represents a crucial step towards the evolution of the modern game of association football, is the earliest set ofrules ever likely to come to the market. The lot includes both the original handwritten draft rules (1858) and the only known surviving copy of the printed Rules, Regulations, & Laws of the Sheffield Foot?Ball Club (1859). In its entirety, the archive documents the club’s earliest years in astonishing detail and provides a fascinating insight into British sporting and social history.

Chairman of Sheffield Football Club, Richard Tims, commented: “The sale of this remarkable piece of sporting history will allow Sheffield Football Club to develop its facilities and secure its future as the home of grass?roots football. The club is incredibly proud of its long history, and it is fitting that the club has until now provided a home for the oldest recorded rules of club football. But together with its instrumental role in the evolution of the game we know and love today, the club has always placed a particular focus on developing the game for future generations.”

The Contents of The Rules of Club Football
The 1858 rules promoted a passing game played with the feet, and included the free kick, throw?in, goal kick, restrictions on handling the ball, and the banning of “hacking or tripping”. The code built on earlier football rules (most importantly from Cambridge University and certain public schools) but developed independently, had a huge impact on the development of the game in the twenty years that followed.

Further Highlights of the Archive
The archive comprises club minute books from the 1850s and 60s, a volume of match reports from the early 1860s, the unique copies of two versions of the printed rules (1859 and 1862), and other material. It sheds light on the world’s first vibrant football culture – that of Sheffield in the 1860s. These show how regular inter?club matches became established as well as the culture surrounding the games, including descriptions of football strips, the game’s early evolution as a spectator sport, and even crowd trouble at a local derby in December 1862.

Sheffield Football Club and its Innovations
Established in 1857, Sheffield Football Club is acknowledged by FIFA and the FA (which it predates by five years) as the world’s oldest football club. Prior to its foundation, organised football was exclusively played within Britain’s public schools and universities according to widely varying sets of rules.

The early success of Sheffield FC encouraged the development of other football clubs in the region playing by the rules agreed by Sheffield, and the rapid development of the world’s first football culture. Sheffield v Hallam FC in December 1860 is the first recorded inter?club football match. The first inter?club competition, the Youdan Cup, was fought out in 1867 in Sheffield, by Sheffield Rules.

Sheffield FC continued to develop its rules throughout the 1860s and 70s, and among the club’s innovations were the free kick, the corner kick and the solid crossbar. The aerial game first developed under Sheffield rules and the first floodlit match took place at there in 1878.

Sheffield FC was associated with the Football Association from 1863, the year of its foundation. The Sheffield rules were a major influence on the FA laws as they developed in the 1860s, but the FA was initially a London organisation and for most of the 1860s far more clubs played under the Sheffield code than the FA code. The fruitful symbiosis of the Sheffield game, based on years of practical playing experience, with the rules of public schools and universities, led to the modern association game. Many aspects of today’s game were innovations of Sheffield FC, and there is a direct line from the basic laws agreed upon by a group of likeminded Yorkshire sportsmen in the 1850s to the global game enjoyed hundreds of millions of people today.

* Estimates do not include buyer’s premium

[WileBrownAstle]

Intresting read, thanks for putting it up.
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Please check out my wants list

[sharrowblade]

Personally I find this very sad.

I never thought they'd sell them.

[surfinjim]

sharrowblade wrote:

Personally I find this very sad. I never thought they'd sell them.

Agreed.

Think they have some master plan to get into the conference or better.



Jim
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26th December 1979

Bolder, Blackhall, Williamson, Smith, Pickering, Hornsby, King, Johnson, McCulloch, Mellor, Curran.

Scorers; Mellor, King, Curran, Smith (pen)

GODS EVERY ONE OF THEM!

[Wulfrunian]

Surely the FA should have stepped in and purchased these before they went to auction, but then again when have the FA done anything rational.
Hope they stay in this country, and it would be nice if they went to a museum where they could be seen by everyone.
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FPC Predictor Cup Winner 2013

"You only have one life, I gave mine to the Wolves" - Stan Cullis 1916 - 2001

[sharrowblade]

surfinjim wrote:

Think they have some master plan to get into the conference or better. Jim

There's no harm in ambition Jim.

Unfortunately, with two large football clubs on your doorstep and after having to endure years of a nomadic existence it's hard to see how much further they could go.

I can only assume it's to finance the proposed move back to Sheffield (olive grove).

It's a shame, there's not many grounds where your actively encouraged to leave the ground at half time and go to the pub for a pint, then come back in when you want.

They are struggling financially, they are unrecognisable as a team this season from the previous season with the loss of many players, some to team's further down the football pyramid, who are paying the players twice as much. Chris Dolby, the manager walked out because players he'd brought in were being allowed to leave earlier this season.

There's also the suggestion, allegedly that maybe there's been a wee bit of overspending on the foreign jaunts, the Club have undertaken?

[sharrowblade]

Wulfrunian wrote:

Surely the FA should have stepped in and purchased these before they went to auction, but then again when have the FA done anything rational. Hope they stay in this country, and it would be nice if they went to a museum where they could be seen by everyone.

According to some internet threads, FIFA would be looking to purchase them and then leave them with Sheffield.

www.s24su.com/showthread.php?22996-Sheffield-FC-to-sell...

[behindtheflag]

Hi Guys

For answers and a better insight into the Rule sale, can I suggest you take a look at the following site:

www.behindtheflag.info

The site is run by Sheffield FC fans and has inside information regarding the sale.

To answer a couple of points. The FA and UEFA where both offered the rules, neither took up the offer.

Also the selling is not there to fund Olive Grove but to simply keep the club afloat. At present it costs between 40k-50k in running costs for the 1st team alone. Our average attendances are 150-200 per game. Adults pay £6 and concessions £3, so work that out and you will see over time a massive short fall.

Rich