Sheffield FC and the Football Association, 1863

Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle 05.12.63

The above is a letter from W. Chesterman, the Hon, Sec. of Sheffield Football Club which was read to the meeting of the Football Association held on December 1st 1863.  Mr Chesterman makes observations and suggestions. The Sheffield Rules had been in operation since 1857, and, as was to be the case with the Association Laws of the Game, were evolving on a year by year basis.
By 1877 the Sheffield and Association rules had converged completely.

The toss of a coin...

In the long history of the FA Cup only one tie has ever been decided in a hotel.
The hotel, pictured above, was The Raven in Shrewsbury. The match was a first round tie between Shropshire Wanderers and Sheffield FC in the 1873-74 season.
Having drawn 0-0 at Bramall Lane the sides replayed at Shrewsbury Race Course on 17th November 1873.
The replay also ended 0-0 (with Sheffield reduced to 9 men by injuries). It was then agreed to settle the match on the toss of a coin.

Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, 19.11.73

Interesting to note that the idea of deciding the match on a coin toss came up at the after match supper, rather than right away at the end of the game. Victorian match reports frequently included coverage of the hospitality arrangements, but on this occasion they were central to the outcome!
Some noteworthy individuals took part in this match- J.C. Clegg played in the first England XI and later served as both chairman and president of the Football Association. On the Shropshire Wanderers' side were Llewelyn Kenrick - founder of the Football Association of Wales and Wales' first captain and John Hawley Edwards, who represented both England and Wales in international football.

Sheffield v Newark, 1869

Nottinghamshire Guardian 10.12.69

Further evidence of the rather shambolic state of football in the 1860s. Newark short handed, unscientific in their play and a lack of clarity regarding the code.
We were somewhat surprised to find them not playing the Football Association Rules, inasmuch as the Sheffield Club are members of the Association... this comment by the (Nottingham) reporter reveals the confusion that persisted 6 years after the FA had set out to standardise the laws of the game. Sheffield, of course, was something of a special case- the Sheffield Association observed their own code of rules as they converged with those of the Football Association, eventually unifying  in 1878.
Newark Town, currently of the Central Midlands Football League: North Division proudly display the foundation year of 1868 on their club crest. 

Sheffield v Manchester 1868

Sheffield Daily Telegraph -  04.04.68

As we can see from the result (2 rouges to nothing) this was a game played under the Sheffield Rules. Whilst acknowledging the importance of the Sheffield Rules I avoid devoting too much space on this blog to Sheffield Football in the 1850s and 60s. As the subtitle says- Association Football around the world.

However, I found this brief snippet of interest for 2 reasons:

1-Manchester. We have seen how football really took hold in Lancashire in the 1870s and 80s, (50% of the original 12 League clubs were from Lancashire) and yet Manchester itself was not  represented until the emergence of Newton Heath and Ardwick, and then they did not consistently command high positions. 
2- Sheffield FC joined the Football Association in 1863, even though they retained their own code until the 'merger' of 1877. The Football Association was formed with the intention of unifying the various football codes. And here, 5 years on, a Sheffield journalist rues the absence of a general code of rules.

Sheffield and England in the 19th Century...

The City of Sheffield was a major centre of footballing development , and its influence on the evolution of the Association game cannot be overlooked.  There were Sheffield men present in the England XI right from the very start. Charlie Clegg played in the 5th 'Alcock International' and also in the first official international in 1872. Clegg, who went on to be a massively influential administrator, later complained about the snooty attitude of his southern teammates. 
During the 19th century 7 Sheffield based clubs had players capped by England:

Reverend John Robert Blayney Owen

Jack Hunter - in the 7 internationals in which he played England won only once and conceded 31 goals! He went on to lead Blackburn Olympic to FA Cup victory, being largely responsible for the professional approach they took to the game. 

Billy Mosforth-The Little Wonder, often described as England's first working class player (more on this matter in the near future) and the first player to represent both Wednesday and Sheffield United.

United's first international- Harry Lilley

 Michael Whitham

Raby Howell- the first Roma to play for England.

England's most famous 1 cap wonder? Billy Foulke

The Wednesday
Charles Clegg	Forward	1 cap	1872
William Clegg	Half Back	1 cap	1873
Billy Mosforth	Outside Left	5 caps	1877-82
Teddy Brayshaw	Centre Half	1 cap	1887
Billy Betts	Centre Half	1 cap	1889
Fred Spiksley	Outside Left	7 caps	1893-98
Tom Crawshaw	Centre Half	10 caps	1895-1904
Sheffield FC
John Owen	Forward	1 cap	1874
John Hudson	Half Back	1 cap	1883
Owlerton
William Carr	Goalkeeper	1 cap	1875
Heeley
Jack Hunter	Half Back	7 caps	1878-1882
Sheffield Albion
William Clegg	Forward	1 cap	1879
Billy Mosforth	Outside Left	4 caps	1879-80
Thursday Wanderers
Thomas Heathcote Sorby	Forward	1 cap	1879
Sheffield United
Harry Lilley	Left Back	1 Cap	1892
Michael Whitham	Right Back	1 Cap	1892
Ernest Needham	Half Back	16 Caps	1894-1902
Raby Howell	Right Half	1 Cap	1895
Billy Foulke	Goalkeeper	1 Cap	1897
Tommy Morren	Centre Half	1 Cap	1898
Harry Thickett	Right Back	2 Caps	1899

London v Sheffield 1866

The Kentish Chronicle 14.04.66

The Football Association was concerned primarily with the unification of the codes of football and the promotion of their own rules. This agenda is illustrated by the exchanges with the Sheffield Football Club during the 1860s. Sheffield, as we have seen, had their own established set of rules but would compromise in order to play other clubs. In 1866 Mr Chesterman, Secretary of Sheffield FC,  wrote to the FA requesting a game against one of the clubs affiliated to the Association. The FA interpreted this as a challenge to an FA Selection and therefore the match played on  31st March 1866 at Battersea Park was the first FA representative match. 

The FA XI (aka London) was drawn from 4 clubs:

A. Pember (N.N.'s)
 The first president of the Football Association (1863-1867)

Kinnaird  (Wanderers)
(Lord)  Kinnaird went on to play in 9 FA Cup Finals (plus two replays), and was on the winning side 5 times.In 1873 he represented Scotland against England and was president og the FA (1890-1923).

C. W. Alcock  (Wanderers) 

E.D. Elphinstone (Civil Service)

D.M O'Leary (Barnes)

J. A. Barnes (Barnes)- (in some sources J.K Barnes)

A.J. Baker (N.N.'s) 

-Tebbut (N.N.'s)

E.C Morley (Barnes)
The Football Association's first secretary and second President.

-Martin (Wanderers) 

R. W. Willis (Barnes)
  He was the second Secretary of the FA1866–1868, the man who accepted the challenge


London won by 2 goals and four touchdowns  to nil. Sheffield FC invited the Football Association to a return match in Sheffield, to be played under the Sheffield Rules.
The FA however, in keeping with their object of unifying the codes, would only entertain playing under Association rules, and it was 5 years before another representative match took place. 

The Football Association Amateur Cup, 1900s

Crook Town

1901
Crook Town of County Durham took the Cup north again. They drew 1-1 with  King's Lynn at Harwich & Parkeston's Dovercourt ground and won the replay at Ipswich, 3-0.

1902
Bishop Auckland reached the final once more, but on this occasion Surrey based Old Malvernians were too strong for them, winning the final at Headingley 5-1.

1903
Further success for the North East as Stockton overcame Oxford City 1-0 at Feetham's (Darlington) following a goalless draw at Reading.

Sheffield

1904
The 1904 FA Amateur Cup was won by Sheffield- the 'World's oldest football club'- who beat London side Ealing 3-1 at Bradford City's Valley Parade.

1905
West Hartlepool beat Clapton 3-2 at Sheperds Bush. The full title of the club was West Hartlepool Amateur Football & Athletic Company Limited. They went out of business just five years after this, their biggest achievement.

1906
Oxford City made a more productive visit to the North than they had in 1903. On this occasion they beat Bishop Auckland 3-0 at Stockton.


1907
Clapton won the first of  their 5 FA Amateur Cups- beating Stockton 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

1908
Stockton were again runners up, beaten 2-1 by Depot Battallion Royal Engineers at Feetham's.

1909
Clapton thrashed Teesiders Eston United 6-0 in the final at Ilford. In the Clapton team was Walter Tull.

1910
Another success for the military, as R.M.L.I (Gosport) beat  South Bank 2-1 at Bishop Auckland.

Association v Sheffield

I don't want to get too drawn into writing about the prehistory of Association football, but it would be unthinkable to overlook the Sheffield Rules, which predated Association and thrived alongside it in the 1860s. 
Sheffield FC were present at early FA meetings and subsequently joined the FA in December 1863 , but they didn't adopt the FA rules fully until 1877. In the interim there was a certain amount of cross pollination and horse trading between the Sheffield Club and the FA that gave Association Football many characteristics both in terms of rules and execution that persist to this day. Of the twelve changes that were made to the FA rules in the 1860s eight originated in the Sheffield Rules. During this period Sheffield Rules was the dominant form of football in the north of England and the midlands. The influence of the FA was concentrated around London.

Time- the concept of a game of 90 minutes and a half time break both came from the Sheffield Rules.
Goals- Sheffield goals were initially only 4 yards wide, which unsurprisingly meant a lot of low scoring matches. However, Sheffield introduced the cross bar.
Handling-  Until 1867 Sheffield permitted touching the ball but not catching or running with it.
Corner kicks- adopted by the FA in 1872, Sheffield introduced corner kicks in 1867.*
Free kicks- free kicks for foul play originate in the Sheffield Rules. Sheffield had proposed the introduction of penalty licks for fouls within 2 yards of goal in 1872, but the FA rejected it.
Offside- initially there was no offside in Sheffield Rules. When they did adopt an offside rule it was a more lax version (similar to Queen's Park's) requiring only one defender to be between the attacker and the goal, rather than the three favoured by the FA.  Sheffield conceded to the FA on this matter, adopting the stricter rule.
Throw ins- according to FA rules the ball could be thrown in in any manner, but it had to travel at a right angle to the touch line like a Rugby throw in. Sheffield allowed the throw to be made in any direction  but it had to be thrown two handed and overhead- like the modern football throw in. Sheffield also introduced the convention of the throw in being awarded against the team who put the ball out of play, rather than the throw being taken by the first player to touch the ball down after it crossed the touchline.
Physical contact- Sheffield Rules were laxer on this- pushing an opponent was permitted, whereas it was proscribed by the FA 1863 laws.

Tactics, formations and technique- Sheffield teams generally played a 2-2-5-1 formation- the lone forward not being so hampered by offside law staying up field to chase 'kick throughs'.
Sheffield teams were noted for their 'combination play' involving moving the ball by inter passing. 
They also provided some novelty value with the development of aerial passing and heading the ball.
Another art that seems to have it's origins in the north was 'corkscrew play'- the practice of curling the ball.


In 1866 Sheffield F.C. requested a match with an FA club. The FA picked a select team and the two met on  31st March 1866 at Battersea Park. The fact that the FA side won by two goals and four touchdowns to nil show that the rules being used at the time had , albeit briefly, adopted the Sheffield idea of 'rouges'. The two associations  played 16 inter-association matches under differing rules; the Sheffield Rules, the London Rules and Mixed Rules before Sheffield joined the FA fold completely in 1877, by which time the FA's Laws of the Game had a distinctly Sheffield flavour.



*Previously they had had a system of scoring by touchdowns. There were flags four yards each side of the goal and if the ball was touched down in this area a 'rouge' was recorded. These 'rouges' were used to settle drawn games.