Sheffield blog

A big day the the world’s oldest football club

On Saturday Sheffield FC take on Tipton Town at home in the forth qualifying round of the FA cup. If they win this massive game then they will go into the draw on Sunday for the first round proper.

Teams in the draw for the first round include city neighbours Sheffield Wednesday.

The draw is live on ITV1 on Sunday 24 October from 12:30pm to 1:00pm.

30 hours of five-a-side football

A quick post to draw your attention to this world record attempt taking place in March in aid of Sport relief. The organisers hope to break the record for near-continuous five-a-side football and raise £30,000 for charity at the same time.

They aren’t looking for people to actually play the football, but there are plenty of ways to get involved so get in touch if you can offer people, expertise, equipment or sponsorship. You can follow the project at sheffieldfiveaside.co.uk and also on Twitter (@Sheffield5aside).

In the meantime, the athletes who are taking part in the actual footballing side of the event are continuing their training regime:

Aerial shots of Sheffield and beyond

This ITN video of  the current snowy conditions includes shots of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium the Cadbury factory, as well as the Emmerdale set and Harewood house.

Who is new?

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

Music in the round – the UK’s leading promoter of chamber music outside of London
@MusicintheRound

Sheffield Scimitars – ice hockey club
@scims

The black dog – ‘Keeping northern electonic soul burning since Warp went south to drink shandy’
@TheBlackDog

Last Friday folk – Stocksbridge folk club
@lastfridayfolk

Simple websites
@WebsiteHQ

Kelham island museum
@KelhamIsland

TechnoPhobia – specialists in web application development
@WeTechnoPhobia

All cows eat grass music
@acegmusic

Opus independents – a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting art, music and trade
@OpusIndependent

Crown brewery
@Crownbrewery

St Thomas Crookes church
@StThomasCrookes

Yoomee – web agency
@yoomeehq

The Crookes – band
@TheCrookes

Unfortunate incident – band
@unfortunate_inc

BiscuitCase – biscuitmakers
@BiscuitCaseUK

Sheffield Wednesday – unofficial tweets about the club
@THE_OWLS

Hair kandi – Ecclesall road hairdresser
@HairKandi

Dominic Shellard – Chairman of Sheffield theatres and pro-vice chancellor for external affairs at the university of Sheffield
@dominicshellard

Mukless – mobile valeters
@Mukless

Peel and Shaw – management consultant
@PeelandShaw

Life dynamics – clinical hypnotherapist and weight loss specialist
@LifeDynamics

Thornsett – student accommodation
@Thornsett

Capland property – student accommodation
@CaplandProperty

Holmes lettings – accommodation
@HolmesLettings

Smartassess – creators of ‘realsmart’ which builds online learning portfolios
@smartassess

Third angel – makers of theatre, live art, video and photography
@AlexanderKelly

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

Sky coverage to benefit the clubs and football fans – but at what price?

Many readers will be aware that on Friday, the first of this season’s football matches between the two Sheffield clubs takes place at Bramall lane.

Wednesday won both games last year so with United looking for revenge it will hopefully be a decent match. If you haven’t got a ticket then the good news is that the match is live on Sky; this has also meant that kick-off has been moved to 7:45pm on Friday night.

Having the match at this time may not be such good news for businesses in the city. If previous derby days are anything to go by, it is likely that for safety reasons, police will request that many pubs in town stay closed and only pubs in the suburbs will be allowed to show the match. So pubs in town will lose out on their normal Friday night trade and people with no interest in football could potentially be caught out when they find themselves locked out of city centre venues.

This weekend also marks the start of fresher’s week for both Sheffield and Hallam university so as as well as the students returning to the city, some may be arriving here for the first time. Not a great first impression of the city centre.

How much do football clubs get from the broadcast of a match on Sky? It would be interesting to compare this figure to the amount that city centre venues estimate they would lose by being forced to stay shut on a Friday night. Don’t forget, this is also during a recession that is reportedly claiming upto 50 pubs a week.

A Saturday lunchtime kick-off may have been a better idea, with less chance for excessive pre-match drinking and plenty of cooling-down time before the pubs reopened later on. But it looks like this arrangement didn’t suit Sky and United/Wednesday’s business models – which are obviously of more importance than the business models of Sheffield city centre pubs.

August 2009 update

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

Paul Scriven – leader of Sheffield city council
@Paulscriven

Jon McClure – Reverend and the Makers front man
@JonMcClure

Cocoa  – chocolate shop on Eccy Road
@Cocoasheffield

Our Cow Molly – locally-made ice cream
@OurCowMolly

Seth Bennet – BBC Sheffield sport presenter
@Sethb45

Oktoberfest Sheffield – beer festival
@OktoberfestShef

Popolo – restaurant in Leopold square
@PopoloSheffield

Eliot Kennedy – songwriter who has worked with the Spice girls, Bryan Adams, S Club 7 and 5ive
@EliotKennedy

Robin hood airport – Doncaster-Sheffield international
@RobinHoodAirpor

Graduates Sheffield
@GradSheff

Oxjam – music festival
@OxjamSheffield

Sheffield unsigned – music directory for artists in and around Sheffield
@sheffunsigned

Crookes forum – community group
@CrookesForum

Hillsborough forum – community group
@hillsbroforum

South Yorkshire fire and rescue
@SYFR

Apple admin – professional virtual admin services
@AppleAdmn

Benchmark recruitment – recruitment agency
@BenchmarkRec

Sheffield university real ale society
@RealAleSociety

C21 creative – web and graphic designers
@C21Creative

VT music – music publisher
@VTmusic

Sheffield big – support programme to help residents set up in business
@sheffieldbig

Roundabout – homeless youth charity
@rndbt

South Yorkshire music – local music news
@syorkshiremusic

Little white book – wedding planners
@LWBwedding

Wath festival – music festival
@wathfestival

Sheffield law society – supporting and representing Sheffield’s legal profession
@SheffieldLawSoc

3 squared – web, print and software
@3_Squared

Sorby nano – leaders in micro and nano scale investigation
@SorbyNano

SYPTE – South Yorkshire passenger transport executive
@SYPTE

City church – local church
@CityChurchShef

Sheffield craft collective
@Craft_Candy

LCPU – NAVCA’s local commissioning and procurement unit
@lcpu

Mookau – gift boutique
@mookau

Abbey joinery
@AbbeyJoinery

Training foundry – computer trainers
@trainingfoundry

Platinum blind – band
@platinumblind4u

Dead world leaders – band
@DWL_Official

Sheffield liberal youth
@ShefLibYouth

Sheffield Labour students
@sheflabstudents

Extension match – brick and stone supplier
@ExtensionMatch

Atweb – band
@atewb

Geeks in the peaks – rural getaway for geeks, 4-6 September 2009
@geeksinthepeaks

Harry Gration – veteran Look north presenter
@gratih46

Sheffield latest – automated news
@sheffieldlatest

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

July 2009 update

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

The Antics – improvisational comedy troupe
@TheAntics

Toby Foster – comedian and BBC Radio Sheffield breakfast presenter
@TobyFoster

Nat Johnson and the figureheads, former Monkey Swallows the Universe singer’s new project
@natjohnsonband

Bloc projects – contemporary art space and studio complex
@blocprojects

Flags PTA – campaign to keep Abbeydale grange school open
@FLAGS_PTA

The Boardwalk – live music venue
@boardwalklive

The Harley – live music venue
@Harleylive

Eat Sheffield – eat and drink in Sheffield
@eatSheffield

The Milestone – gastropub
@TheMilestone

Magic enterprises magic dealer
@MagickWords

New Start – NS+ ltd, interested in regeneration and sustainable communities
@newstartplus

BullsEye – car parts
@BullsEyeCarPart

Shield – peak of fitness swimathon
@PeakOfFitness

Saved by sound – Sheffield-based charity gig tour
@SavedBySound

Sheffield and Hallamshire FA
@SHCFA

SheffieldCityUK – automated feed of Google alerts mentioning Sheffield
@SheffieldCityUK

Hillsborough hotel – hotel
@HillsboroughBar

Copthorne hotel – hotel
@CopthorneHotel

Spoon juice records – record label
@spoonjuice

Spice Yorkshire – adventure and social club for adults
@YorksSpice

The wedding daze – wedding planners
@WeddingDaze -

ask4 – broadband provider
@onlinelifestyle

Prism – programme of contemporary art events commissioned by the Showroom
@prismsheffield

Midas copy – copywriter
@midascopy

S24SU – Sheffield United community
@s24su and @2in3

Websell – web design company
@websell

GoldDigger – girl band
@GoldDiggermusic

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

May 2009 update

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

Rocket – Broomhill-based design agency
http://twitter.com/rcktsheffield

University of Sheffield – the  university‘s central Twitter account
http://twitter.com/sheffielduni

Article – pop culture magazine
http://twitter.com/articlemagazine

Crucible theatre – theatre and home to the world snooker championships
http://twitter.com/crucibletheatre

Lyceum theatre – theatre
http://twitter.com/SheffieldLyceum

Wednesday night live – Creative Sheffield‘s summer season of Wednesday night events in town
http://twitter.com/WedNightLive

Bar one – Sheffield university student bar
http://twitter.com/shefuni_barone

Mr Ben fancy dress – Crookes-based fancy dress store
http://twitter.com/Mrbenfancydress

Sheffield centre – Church army’s research unit
http://twitter.com/SheffieldCentre

Rhyme and reason – children’s bookshop at Hunter’s bar
http://twitter.com/ShefBooks

Remember the name – publisher of Replay magazine
http://twitter.com/richardfidler

A mind apart theatre - theatre company making performing arts accessible to communities
http://twitter.com/amindapart

Smith and Clarkson – fine art collaborative duo
http://twitter.com/SmithClarkson

Run hide survive – DJs, producers and promoters of Club pony
http://twitter.com/runhidesurvive

Sheffield irregulars – Minature model painting group
http://twitter.com/sheffieldirregs

Yorkshire county cricket club – Leeds-based cricket club
http://twitter.com/Yorkshire_ccc

Clickety click – photographer
http://twitter.com/clicketyclicks

Resound design – web and print design company
http://twitter.com/resounddesign

Vital Sheffield Wednesday – Wednesday news from Vital football
http://twitter.com/vitalwednesday

DS print & design – print company based in Walkley
http://twitter.com/DSPrintDesign

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

A snapshot of the Owls and Sheffield in the 1980s

This 1984 BBC film documents Sheffield Wednesday’s promotion to Canon league one with the demise of the Sheffield steel industry during the same period.

It will probably be of most interest to Wednesdayites, but the elements of social history it covers give an insight into the issues affecting the city in the mid-eighties which many Sheffield people should find interesting.

As you would expect, the soundtrack is provided by Sheffield bands and singers, with ABC, Joe Cocker, the Human League and Def Leppard all featured.

There are also some clips of Wednesday winning the 1935 FA cup which include this priceless line of commentary: “Inside three minutes, Palethorpe scores for the Wednesday and this makes Sheffield almost a nice place to live in.”

Promoting 1970s Sheffield

The full version of City on the move, the film that appeared at the start of the Full monty, is now available to watch online.

It has been split into four parts, each of which is worth watching if you have time. It still feels like a spoof, with the quaint commentary throwing up several facts about Sheffield in the 1970s:

• The Christmas illuminations are more extensive in this city than anywhere else in the country
• The cutlers of the city still meet regularly with proper pomp and ceremony
• The reservoirs in the nearby hills are generally known as ‘Sheffield’s lake district’ (public access is generally permitted)
• We proudly are home to the largest snuff makers in the country
• The university is anticipating a student population of 10,000 in the 1980s
• Like the rest of the country, Sheffield has not solved the current problems of old people, although we can rest assured that the task is being tackled
• No city north of London has more department stores than Sheffield
• We are home to the biggest nightclub in Europe
• It is home to numerous forward-looking developments like Castle square, the underground concourse with its ingenious roof of sky and winner of another Civic trust award

It seems that Sheffield has been surpassed in some areas and it can no longer boast some of the these facts, although of course nowadays there are plenty of other things that the city can lay claim to and be proud of.

The videos are embedded below. Don’t forget to compare these to Creative Sheffield’s two recent promotional films about Sheffield, plus of course you can get your hands on your own copy of the DVD.

And if those haven’t satisfied your appetite for 1970s Sheffield, then you may be interested in this City of Sheffield city centre walkabout promotional brochure and photo tour.