‘This is proper football. The way it used to be’

Dear readers — you may, or may not be a football fan. But you can’t deny the game matters. A team’s triumphs, defeats, and ancient rivalries are, for many, the most important thing that happens on earth.

But no footballing rivalry is as ancient as the very first: between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC. The first two sides to play the game — under something approximating to the current rules — did so in 1860, at the world’s oldest football ground: Sandygate, in Crosspool.

Last night, this most hallowed fixture was played, once again, in front of a sellout crowd. In the modern game, where commercialism runs rampant and players are traded for astronomical sums, can we find a way out by going back to where it all started? Dan went along last night to find out.

To read the full piece, which is packed with insights about the birth of football and the occasionally violent history of the Rules Derby, you’ll need to be a member. Much like a non-league club, we entirely depend upon the support of committed locals getting out and backing us. But if you’re fed up with the commercialisation of news and local titles getting bought up by corporate behemoths, you’ve come to the right place. Press the button below and take a seat in the stands.

First, your mini briefing.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🏗️ Plans have been unveiled to build a second skyscraper in Castlegate. Last year planning permission was granted to the 39-storey Kings Tower on High Street, although construction has yet to begin. Now the same developer, the Shenton Group, says it wants to build an even taller skyscraper, Oppidian Tower, on nearby King Street.

However, some believe it may be wise to take such eye-catching plans with a pinch of salt. The Shenton Group say they are currently going through the costing and funding phases for their original Kings Tower project, which is another way of saying they have not yet found the money to build that one, let alone an even bigger building next door. Sheffield-based property expert Carl Lee questioned whether either development would ultimately take place. “I’ll not hold my breath,” he wrote on X.

🏡 While those developments are still up in the air, this project has a better chance of coming to fruition. Anyone who has ever been to Victoria Quays will have noticed The Straddle, a former grain warehouse that sits over the canal basin. The Grade II-listed building had been used as office space but recently became empty, and at the end of last year was sold at auction. Plans have now been submitted to Sheffield Council to turn the building into 27 flats, with the planning application proposing a mix of accommodation, from studios to three-bed family apartments.

🦸 The man behind the second biggest-grossing film of all time has been given a seat on the board of Sheffield United. Film director Joe Russo, who together with his brother Anthony has directed four Marvel films including Avengers: Endgame, which earned more than $2.7 billion worldwide, has been brought in by new owners COH Sports, whose takeover of the Blades was completed just before Christmas. Len Komorski, the former CEO of NBA side the Cleveland Cavaliers, and real estate businessman Terry Ahern, have also joined the club's board.

🌉 Tomorrow at Kelham Island Museum, join Macalloy, a global leader in tension rod and bar systems, for an insightful talk focusing on their work in modern bridge construction. Managing director Peter Hoy will highlight some iconic bridges where Macalloy systems were instrumental, including the Millennium Bridge and Jubilee Bridge in London, as well as Sheffield’s very own Park Square Bridge (aka the Supertram Bridge). The 45-minute talk is free and begins at 1pm.

‘This is proper football. The way it used to be’
By Dan Hayes

“F*** off Sheffield, the city is ours,” sing the Hallam fans as I walk into the ground. It’s not the kind of chant you would normally expect to hear at a non-league football ground, but this is no ordinary non-league football game. I’m at the Rules Derby, as games between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC are called. They are the two oldest football teams in the world and this is the world’s oldest football derby. Forget Barcelona vs Real Madrid, this is the real El Clásico.

It’s been a long time coming — this is the first time they’ve played each other in a competitive fixture in twelve years. The game is being played at Sandygate, the oldest football ground in the world. It is here that the first game between these two teams took place on Boxing Day, 1860. As I walk into the aptly-named 1860 Suite, the bar is standing six deep. Tonight’s game, the quarter-final of the Sheffield Senior Cup, is a complete sellout. With 1,496 fans packed into the tiny ground, it’s the biggest crowd Hallam FC has seen in many years.

This is the bottom of the football pyramid, but it’s where it all began. When the World Cup Final between France and Argentina was played in Qatar in December 2022, it was watched by 1.5 billion people. It seems astonishing to think that story starts in the Sheffield suburb of Crosspool, but it’s true.

On the touchline, I bump into Paul Greenhough, from Crookes, who says he comes to Hallam half a dozen times a season. He agrees to talk to me if I hold his two-pint plastic bucket of lager while he eats his Cornish pasty. “This is me tea,” he says, tucking in. Paul is a Wednesday fan but has sworn he won’t go again while “that idiot” is in charge, meaning the club's unpopular owner, Dejphon Chansiri. For Paul, watching Hallam is a welcome way of avoiding the dramas and frustrations of supporting one of Sheffield’s bigger clubs. “There is a really nice family atmosphere here,” he says. “This is proper football. The way it used to be.”

Stood next to the dugouts I find Graham Denton, from Woodhouse. Dressed in an orange puffer jacket and beanie, he’s stretching his legs in a vain attempt to keep warm. How long has he been coming down, I ask. “Since me son became the manager,” he replies. As it turns out, Graham’s son Craig has been the manager of Hallam FC for the last three years, during which the fortunes of the club have been in the ascendant. Promotion has brought in bigger attendances, and the club even takes away support now as well, with a few hundred making the journey to Frickley near Doncaster recently. Graham is also a Wednesday fan but now prefers watching Hallam, as spectators have more of a connection with the players. “You can speak to them and tell them ‘well done’,” he says. “It’s totally different to the professional game.”

Hyped-up fixtures often underwhelm, as players wilt under the pressure of the occasion. But once the whistle blows, neither team sits back. Just five minutes in, Hallam go ahead through James Cadman, the midfielder expertly prodding a through ball past Sheffield goalkeeper Niall Edge. But just six minutes later, Sheffield FC quickly peg them back to 1-1 with a well-taken goal from Connor Cutts.

The spectacle is gloriously non-league. The match was delayed a week due to snow, and the pitch has only half recovered from the deluge. The grass is thin and patchy, a far cry from the well-maintained green sward that Premier League players enjoy. And as a true Sheffield football pitch, it’s not flat,  sloping down from Sandygate Road end towards Fulwood. The team defending the bottom end has to battle not only against their opponents, but gravity as well.

The first match between these two clubs took place more than 164 years ago. A report in the Sheffield Independent majestically records that: “Notwithstanding the severe weather, the players mustered in good numbers, and the game was contested with great pluck and spirit…Eventually, the Sheffield club came off victorious, having obtained two goals, their opponents not having scored.”