Steel City Rivals by Steve Cowens

Author:Steve Cowens [Steve Cowens]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782190769
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2012-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

THE FIRST DERBY MATCHES

The year was 1889 and the expansion of Sheffield had continued relentlessly over the previous 20 years; the town was, by now, a bustling city in the making, an honour which would be bestowed by Queen Victoria in 1893. The population had risen to almost 400,000, many of whom made their living in the thriving cutlery and steel industries. The work was hot, dusty and dangerous, and when the long shift was over they liked nothing more than having a drink in one of the 514 public houses and 651 alehouses that were scattered around the city. According to the government of the time, Sheffield had more drink-related incidents than any other city of a similar size. Workers would even send out the firm’s lad or apprentice to bring them ale while they worked because the work was often dirty, and the air full of dust. Nothing lubricated their parched throats better than a gallon or two.

As well as a love of the ale, the folk of Sheffield also loved their football and, in 1889, Sheffield United Football Club was formed. The scene was now set to have two rival teams vying for the affections of the football-mad people of the town. In the early years of the rivalry, the support for the two clubs mainly came from around the city centre and the surrounding areas such as Heeley and the Park, and it would not be long before the two teams would lock horns in the first of many Steel City derbies.

The very first meeting of the clubs was played at Olive Grove on 15 December 1890. It was a Monday, which was known locally as Saint Monday because it was a customary rest day for all those who worked in the cutlery industry. Further research leads me to believe that rest had nothing to do with the name, and the workers just liked to get pissed on that particular day of the week. It was also the customary Bull Week where workers put in as many hours as humanly possible, so they got a good wage to last them over the Christmas period. A crowd of around 10,000 descended on the Grove and witnessed a Wednesday victory in awful conditions because of the fog and smoke.

United had joined the Midlands Counties League, which included the likes of Rotherham Town, Lincoln City, Burslem Port Vale and Gainsborough Trinity. Wednesday were currently bottom of the much stronger Alliance League, which had teams such as Nottingham Forest, Newton Heath, Small Heath and Darwen, but, while Wednesday struggled, United were having a very good season and had lost just three of 23 games.

Wednesday kicked towards the town first half, but it was United who started the brightest, and after 20 minutes Robertson scored the first ever goal in a Sheffield derby. As the game went on, the visibility was fading fast, and the crowd were having difficulty picking out the ball. This seemed to spur Wednesday on and, in the second half, Woolhouse equalised.

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