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Blue plaque marks first football 'away' match

Simon Thake A smiling man with a flat cap and glasses holds a blue plaque in front of a series of railway archesSimon Thake
Stephen Wood, a trustee for the Sheffield Home of Football charity, unveiled the blue plaque

A new blue plaque has been unveiled underneath the Wicker Arches in Sheffield to mark the 160th anniversary of the what is considered by many to be the world's first inter-city football match and away game.

On 2 January 1865 a party from Sheffield FC boarded a train at the old Wicker- based Midland station to travel to Nottingham where they played Nottinghamshire.

This is the latest in a number of plaques unveiled by the charity Sheffield Home of Football (SHOF).

Stephen Wood, a football historian and trustee for SHOF, said: "We take away games for granted as football fans but the very first one took part 160 years ago today."

Simon Thake Two men in winter jackets point up to a blue plaque on a brick wall above them Simon Thake
Stephen Wood and John Clarke from Sheffield Home of Football have ambitious plans for Sheffield to be recognised as the home of football

The game itself was played at Meadows Cricket Ground in Nottingham. The Nottinghamshire team which went on to become Notts County had only formed the previous month at the George Hotel.

Sheffield Football Club, which was founded in 1857 and is recognised by football's governing body Fifa as the oldest club in the world, won the game 1-0.

The blue plaque has been fixed to an archway on Walker Street in the Wicker area of Sheffield.

The inscription, which provides further details about that day, reads: "Returning in triumph with the match ball, the victorious Sheffield players kicked it through the streets of Sheffield to Broomhill. From this point onward football enthusiasts used the railway to send the game across the United Kingdom and later the World"

This latest plaque is only the start of ambitious plans by the football charity.

According to Mr Wood, Sheffield is "the biggest open air museum on the planet".

"We will keep going with more statues and plaques." he said.

"This city is the home of football and we want Unesco World heritage recognition."

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