23.11.14

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.