Legacy

Sheffield City  4  Silkstone United  3

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League – Division One

Admission / Programme – No / Online

If I can be frank, the first Saturday of January for me is a right royal pain in the backside.

Work have come up with this idea that all staff at all levels have to be in the branches for what has been quirkily coined as “All In Saturday”. This is largely because of the levels of activity that are anticipated after a campaign that takes advantage of peoples boredom / relationship break downs that happen during the festive period.

Anyway, I won’t bore you with the minutiae of the details, but it basically means I have to rock up in a branch on the said Saturday, do what I do, and then hope for an opportunity to make a getaway to get to football. That’s fine, I can work around it, but it is quite restrictive in terms of your options in the sense that you have to stay reasonably local. Last year for example I ended up going to Staveley Miners Welfare on the plastic after my preferred game in the Hope Valley League at Dronfield Woodhouse fell by the wayside, but this year I’d got a slightly more adventurous plan.

Moorside Rangers in the Manchester League, which was ok but two factors had to be considered, firstly I would have to leave no later than 12.30 to make it, but secondly, the weather was an issue. It had banged it down with rain and I had my doubts as to whether it would take place. So, I was sat on the Friday night trying to look for Plan B’s when I spotted something that very much caught my eye, but before I do the full reveal and all that, you need the back story!

A few months ago while giving Alan Oliver a lift from Walshaw Sport to Bury Bus Station, he dropped in that he’d heard about a team in Sheffield who were going to be playing at the Olympic Legacy Park. Now I was familiar with the OLP because it was built on the site of the old Don Valley Stadium, and a few Summer’s ago I’d gone along to watch a rugby league game between Sheffield Eagles and Featherstone Rovers. I wasn’t overly impressed with it if I was honest. It was very limited and looked to have been done on the cheap.

I forgot about my conversation with Alan, but then not so long ago as I was in the car with Steve going to Bracknell Town, he bought the subject up but furbished me with more detail, in terms of who the club was (Sheffield City) and where he’d read about it (Tony Kempster Forum). I had a quick look and yes, it was all there, but the plan was to move in at the start of the 2023-24 season.

I then subsequently spotted that a one off game took place before Christmas, but, as I said, the night before the day at work, I spotted on Twitter that they had another ‘one off’ game, this time against Silkstone United, and it was a 3pm kick off.

Plan B was sorted, I told Steve, he had got Moorside as Plan A as well, but then as Saturday morning progressed, we had a conversation that swung us both towards Sheffield City. Nothing was coming out of Moorside about the game being on (it was subsequently called off), but, they also had a number of midweeks in early April, which would have been a much easier and safer bet.

So, unanimously it was going to be Sheffield City at the Olympic Legacy Park, but was it a better venue than I remembered it?

I’m no expert in the politics surrounding the hosting of the Olympic Games in 2012, but it seems one of the caveats of awarding the games to London was that some of the loot raised by the event was that sports facilities around the UK would be upgraded / constructed for future generations, ie a legacy. Hence Olympic Legacy Park.

So, the stadium built in the Attercliffe area (where the brothels used to be, apparently) for the World Student Games, known as the Don Valley Stadium, a venue I have seen Sheffield FC, Rotherham United and Sheffield Parramore play at, was subsequently demolished. In it’s place popped up the OLC, and when I went for the rugger game, I was completely underwhelmed. It was a 4G pitch, with a large student type building behind the goal, and a temporary stand down one side with a tarpaulin roof. Is this what the 2012 Olympics had given the Sheffield? The Don Valley wasn’t perfect, but bloody hell, I’d been to better cages at schools!

Anyroadup, once I’d gone under the railway bridge, eyed up all of the now boarded up boozers, and pulled into the car park just off of Worksop Road, I spotted Steve’s wagon, he’d beat me to it. I found him wandering about aimlessly as men of a certain age have a habit of doing, and after I’d enquired as to his wellbeing, reminded him of where he was and all of that, we had a look around and have to say I was massively surprised at what I found.

The ground was now fully enclosed, and more importantly, where the stand / tent used to be, was now a huge building housing dressing rooms / offices / corporate facilities (albeit still being constructed) and conjoined to this at the front a large seated stand with capacity for I would say getting on for 1000 or so spectators. It was impressive, it was now a proper stadium, we could now wander to the nearest broth…sorry, pub, safe in the knowledge that we wouldn’t be watching football sat on a pile of scaffolding!

The Sheffield City FC story then, well, I suspect it’s not a very long one as I only became aware of them last season when they appeared in the league, in fact I seem to recall watching a game at Graves Park in Sheffield, New Bohemians were the home side, while playing on the adjacent pitch were indeed City.

What I will say though is they have excellent social media, they look to be ambitious, and they also look to building links with the community. It does also look like they have got a good number of sponsors, and based on first impressions before the game chatting to a couple of people involved with the club, they come across as a thoroughly decent bunch of folk, or ‘reyt’ as they say in Sheffield!

The game itself was a bit of a belter to be honest. City were 2-0 up but then the visitors pulled a goal back just before half time. The game went from end to end in the second period, and as the goals went in at either end, we moved into added time with the scores level at 3-3. City went for it, they threw men forward and then with what was effectively the last action of the game, they scored to make it 4-3.

It wasn’t quite the last action though, there was just enough time for Silkstone to kick off before the referee blew for full time. A very good game on what turned out to be a very enjoyable afternoon out.

Keep an eye on Sheffield City, this is a story that has only just begun, and next time I’m forced to work on a Saturday, you know what, I might find my way down Attercliffe Road again, but keep it quiet, it’s got a bit of a reputation you know!