Match Preview | Morpeth Town v Sheffield F.C.

Date: Saturday 16^th February 2019

Venue: Craik Park, Morpeth Common, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2YX

Kick Off: 3pm

Competition: Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One East

Match Coverage: Twitter

The Highwaymen will look to maintain their unbeaten run on Saturday when they entertain Sheffield F.C.

History

In 1855, members of a Sheffield cricket club organised informal kick-abouts without any official rules. Subsequently, two members, Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, formed the Sheffield Football Club.

The inaugural meeting of the club took place on 24 October 1857 at Parkfield House in the suburb of Highfield. The original headquarters was a greenhouse on East Bank Road lent by Thomas Asline Ward, father of the first club president Frederick Ward, and the adjacent field was used as their first playing ground. Initially, Sheffield FC games were played among club members themselves and took the format of “Married v Singles” or “Professionals v the Rest”.

Creswick and Prest were responsible for drawing up the club’s rules of play, which were decided upon at the club’s AGM on 21 October 1858. They were referred to as the Sheffield Rules, and were the first official set of rules and laws for the game of football. At the time, before the formation of the Football Association (FA), many different kinds of football were popular in England. For example, each of the various public schools played football according to their own individual rules, and these varied widely. The Sheffield Rules were later adopted by the Sheffield Football Association when it was formed in 1867.

Sheffield’s near neighbour, Hallam, was formed in 1860 and in the same year the two clubs first met each other in a local derby which is still contested today. By 1862 there were 15 clubs in the Sheffield area.

In 1873 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, their first ever tie in the competition, against Shropshire Wanderers, being decided after a replay by a coin toss; the only time in the history of the competition that a tie has been decided in this way. They would reach the 4th Round of the competition in 1877–78 and 1879–80.

Their reluctance to play against local clubs led to the formation of Thursday Wanderers in 1876, a team of players registered to Sheffield who wished to play in the Sheffield Challenge Cup. The Wanderers operated from 1876 to 1879, winning the cup in their final year.

Sheffield’s decline from the top echelon of football began with the introduction of professionalism in July 1885, with the amateurs of Sheffield failing to compete with professional teams, losing heavily that year to Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Notts County. After the legalisation of professionalism, the staunchly amateur Sheffield suggested to the FA the creation of a cup exclusively for amateur clubs. The FA Amateur Cup was inaugurated in 1893 and Sheffield themselves won the competition in 1904.

They joined their first league competition in 1889 when entering the Midland League, but left after just one season when they finished bottom of the table. They were also founder members of the original Yorkshire League in 1898, but again they spent just a single season in the competition.

2007 was a momentous year for Sheffield F.C. as they entered their 150th year. They finished as runners-up in the league to secure promotion to the Northern Premier League (NPL) for the first time. In October 2007, FIFA president Sepp Blatter attended the club’s anniversary dinner, and the following month the club played anniversary celebration matches against Internazionale and Ajax at Bramall Lane. Football legend Pelé was guest of honour at the first game and was introduced to the teams and the fans before the game. The match ended 5–2 to Inter, with 18,741 supporters attending the match. Inter’s side included World Cup winner Marco Materazzi and a young Mario Balotelli. As part of his visit, Pelé opened an exhibition which included the first public showing in 40 years of the original hand-written rules of football.

Last Match

Morpeth made the relatively short trip to Pickering Town last weekend and came back with a valuable point in their quest for promotion. The hosts were ahead in the first when Ryan Blott put them ahead from the edge of the area. Morpeth hit back in the second half when Ben Sayer crashed the ball home from inside the 6yd box.

Sheffield won an entertaining game with Tadcaster Albion by a 4-3 scoreline. Ash Grayson opened the scoring for the hosts before Declan Bacon doubled the lead. Joe Lumsden halved the deficit for the hosts deep into stoppage time. James Gregory restored the lead moments into the second half. Lumsden once again grabbed a goal back for Tadcaster. Harry Coates grabbed the equalizer on the hour mark. The Club though grabbed the winner when Adam Chapman scored an outrageous volley.

Manager

Gavin Smith – Enjoyed an illustrious playing career at Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End and went on to ply his trade in Non-League at Gainsborough Trinity, Bradford Park Avenue, Worksop Town and Sheffield FC before moving into coaching and management. Took over the role in May 2018 after impressing in a caretaker role.