In The British Newspaper Archive we found the first ever English match to be reported in a newspaper – the match between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC at Bramall Lane Cricket Ground on 29 December 1862.
Played according to ‘Sheffield Rules’, the match sounds like it might have been a little rough in places, with ‘waistcoats’ being thrown off, as the intensity of the match heightened. It seems that the long interval at half-time also caused some raised eyebrows among some of the players.
There also seems to have been a large travelling support for Hallam, with loud cheers being heard whenever one of their players downed a Sheffield man.
Just for the record, the final score was 0-0, with the report stating that ‘neither a goal nor a rouge’ [was] scored by either party’ (we’re not sure what a ‘rouge’ was/is?!).
The Archive contains thousands of interesting and historic reports about football matches in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. To find a story, just type in the name of a player or a football team and see what you can find!
Sheffield Independent | 30 December 1862
3 comments On The First English Football Match To Be Mentioned in a Newspaper Report – Sheffield FC v Hallam FC, 29 December 1862
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Alongside each of the 2 goal posts at either end of the ground there was a flag. If the ball went over the line between a goal post and flag and was then touched first by a member of the attacking team a “rouge” was registered. If, at the conclusion of the match, both teams had scored the same number of goals, the number of rouges registered was used as a tie-breaker.
Thanks for clarifying, John. Much appreciated!