The Origins of Sheffield Wednesday
Olive Grove Ground
Sheffield Wednesday was initially set up by factory workers in Darnall on 4 September 1867. The football team was an extension of The Wednesday cricket club that had been formed in the 1820’s and with the view to ‘keep everyone together during the winter’[1]. The formation of The Wednesday football club happened at the Adelphi hotel, Arundel Street. The first game of the newly formed club was on 19th October 1867 at Norfolk Park, the opposition were Mechanics F.C. The score was a rather peculiar three goals to four rogues. An explanation of what a rogue is posted below:
To explain what a ‘rougues’ were, you need to know that the goals in those days were twelve feet wide and nine feet high, but you could only score a goal by putting the ball through the middle part, separated by ‘inner’ posts, and if it went between the ‘outer’ posts on either side it counted as a rouge. One goal was worth any number of rouges[2]
In the years that followed the rules were to change and the birth of modern football had begun. Ironically Sheffield Wednesday’s first ground of prominence was Bramall Lane and ‘until shortly before the Great War, Wednesday were known as the Blades’[3]. The move to the Olive grove ground came was part of the shift from an amateur football club to becoming a professional one and seeking permanent residence.
Wednesday were the founder members of the football alliance which ran from 1889-1892, it consisted of twelve teams. Wednesday were the first winners of this league in 1889-90 and were to remain key players in the league before it’s disbandment in 1892. The league was merged with the second division and all but three of Alliance league clubs played in the second tier, the strongest three teams elected into the first division. Fortunately for Wednesday they were elected into the First division. Throughout the 1890’s Sheffield Wednesday were and Sheffield football on the whole was extremely successful with Sheffield Wednesday reaching two F.A Cup finals losing in 1890 and however winning in 1896. Most notably in this era both Sheffield teams were elected into the football league 13th May 1892, with United in the second division and Wednesday in the first. The years that followed the F.A Cup triumph were to prove to be an anti climax with relegation to the second tier in 1899 and also the loss of the Olive Grove football ground. Moving to the Owlerton stadium brought fears that much support would be lost due to the poor transport links and accessibility for fans, ‘but of course, it helped when they made a splendid start when launching their bid to return to the top grade at the first attempt’[4]. The Move to Owlerton also brought a change in nickname for the Wednesday, The Owls. This came about after George Robertson (A Wednesday player) presented the side with mascot which was an owl in relation to the stadium name, Owlerton.
To explain what a ‘rougues’ were, you need to know that the goals in those days were twelve feet wide and nine feet high, but you could only score a goal by putting the ball through the middle part, separated by ‘inner’ posts, and if it went between the ‘outer’ posts on either side it counted as a rouge. One goal was worth any number of rouges[2]
In the years that followed the rules were to change and the birth of modern football had begun. Ironically Sheffield Wednesday’s first ground of prominence was Bramall Lane and ‘until shortly before the Great War, Wednesday were known as the Blades’[3]. The move to the Olive grove ground came was part of the shift from an amateur football club to becoming a professional one and seeking permanent residence.
Wednesday were the founder members of the football alliance which ran from 1889-1892, it consisted of twelve teams. Wednesday were the first winners of this league in 1889-90 and were to remain key players in the league before it’s disbandment in 1892. The league was merged with the second division and all but three of Alliance league clubs played in the second tier, the strongest three teams elected into the first division. Fortunately for Wednesday they were elected into the First division. Throughout the 1890’s Sheffield Wednesday were and Sheffield football on the whole was extremely successful with Sheffield Wednesday reaching two F.A Cup finals losing in 1890 and however winning in 1896. Most notably in this era both Sheffield teams were elected into the football league 13th May 1892, with United in the second division and Wednesday in the first. The years that followed the F.A Cup triumph were to prove to be an anti climax with relegation to the second tier in 1899 and also the loss of the Olive Grove football ground. Moving to the Owlerton stadium brought fears that much support would be lost due to the poor transport links and accessibility for fans, ‘but of course, it helped when they made a splendid start when launching their bid to return to the top grade at the first attempt’[4]. The Move to Owlerton also brought a change in nickname for the Wednesday, The Owls. This came about after George Robertson (A Wednesday player) presented the side with mascot which was an owl in relation to the stadium name, Owlerton.
Hillsborough in 1900
The 1910’s were an extremely successful period within the history of Sheffield Wednesday football club. Winning the second division in 1900 was followed up by a couple of seasons of unspectacular consolidation. Wednesday won the league twice in the seasons 1902-03 and the following season 1903-1904, on top of this they won the F.A Cup in 1907 beating Everton 2-1 at Crystal Palace. This period of success was followed by many uneventful trophy less years which were largely disrupted by the Great War 1914-1918.
The SWFC 1907 FA Cup Squad
[1] Sheffield a football history
[2] Farnsworth, Keith. Sheffield Football: A History volume 1 1857-1961 pg 32
[3] Heatley, Michael. Football Club Origins and Nicknames pg 111
[4] Farnsworth, Keith. Sheffield Football: A History volume 1 1857-1961 pg 124
