Welcome to Sporting Sheffield
Celebrating and supporting the city of sport
Welcome to Sporting Sheffield, a charity established to support and encourage engagement in sport and other recreational activities which enhance health and well-being, social inclusion, education and training. An ever-evolving project, Sporting Sheffield centres around our city centre café, store and gallery space on Chapel Walk, and offers the visitor a unique place and opportunity to meet, relax, enjoy and learn about the city’s enviable sporting heritage and narrative. You’ll find beautiful gifts, apparel and art from local clubs and organisations that support that narrative and celebrate its influence on both local and wider culture.
The geography of Sheffield consists of many hills and valleys, which nestle on the east side of the Pennines. Approximately one-third of the city lies within the boundary of the Peak District National Park. Sheffield is also richly-blessed with parks, woodlands and gardens, with some 60% of its total area being green space. It is this beautiful environment which has provided a wealth of opportunities for sport and outdoor activities to flourish and be enjoyed since the height of the industrial revolution.
First and foremost, Sheffield is the home of football; the birthplace of the modern game. It is a city of inarguable football ‘firsts’. Sheffield FC, established in 1857, are officially recognised as the world’s first and oldest football club, and their contribution to to the world’s favorite game cannot be overstated. In the mid 19th century, against the city’s backdrop of forges, smoke and molten steel, the pioneering club created and documented the original rules and regulations of the game. Sheffield Rules’, as they were known, featured many innovations and ‘firsts’ that we take for granted today such as the throw-in, headers, free kicks and corners. ‘Sheffield Rules’ were central to those adapted and formalised six years later, in 1863, by the Football Association.
The city is also home to the world’s second oldest club, Hallam FC, formed in 1860. The club plays at Sandygate Road, the world’s oldest football ground. In 1860, HallamFC and Sheffield FC contested the world’s first inter-city football derby; ‘The Rules Derby’ – the original ‘El Clasico’!
Sheffield is also known as the ‘Outdoor City’ because of its focus on running, walking, climbing and riding. The city possesses many first-class sporting facilities including the English Institute of Sport, Ice Sheffield, Pond’s Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield Arena, Bramall Lane and Hillsborough; the homes of the city’s two biggest football clubs, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday.