Jump to content

A walk around Wednesday's old grounds


Recommended Posts

Thought I'd do something to commemorate the 150th anniversary yesterday - something unique that I can hark back to when my legs have gone.

 

I decided to go on a walk of all of Wednesday's old grounds, but started off at the Crucible Theatre.

 

The Crucible was opened in 1971 on the site of the old Adelphi Hotel, which was where members of the Wednesday Cricket Club met on 4th September 1867 to formally inaugurate the club's new football section.

 

59ad8ab96156c_1d-Adelphion1920smap.jpg.4e31d363d9ced62df36a1721f86368b3.jpg59ad8ab1d4eb7_1e-Crucibletoday.jpg.670c7b35eba1999e7f60c3e4d6b2f520.jpg

 

The Adelphi Hotel prior to demolition

 59ad8ab50a27f_1b-AdelphiHotelpriortodemolition.jpg.07b959d610c43dc67414677b782e4038.jpg

 

The Crucible Theatre from roughly the same spot a few years later.

59ad8ab69a8c7_1c-Crucible.jpg.d76c1f93c5396e8485216ee52361b87a.jpg

 

The Crucible Theatre on 4th September 2017

DI3wW1UW0AE_oga.thumb.jpg.b030f397cdec08229395b04bd1949dff.jpg

 

Inside the Crucible is a plaque marking the importance of the Adelphi in Sheffield's sporting history. The landlord of the hotel at the time all three meetings were held was Harry Sampson - a famous old cricketer who had appeared for the Wednesday CC on many occasions. Yorkshire CC was formed at the Adelphi in 1863, and in 1854 six cricket clubs met to form a new all-encompassing club - Sheffield United Cricket Club - to enable them to construct a new ground on Bramall Lane.

 

The plaque inside the Crucible

59ad8d9e5c443_IMG_1539-Copy.JPG.f61e1c55ea076bcf65ae7a013b883310.JPG

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Highfields

It was long thought that Wednesday's first home ground at Highfield was where Highfield Library now stands, but in recent years myself and club historians have agreed that it was probably further down the road, hemmed in between London Road and Colver Road. This would have been the only piece of relatively flat land around that was big enough to host a game of football.

 

Highfield Library -

IMG_1550.thumb.JPG.ae81f4ec19864f202e53ccdc86cbad97.JPG

 

Maps detailing the area -

59ae7a7f29475_2a-1840smap.thumb.jpg.5216d62adf43044c044c8167b0456bda.jpg59ae7a87eb8e6_2b-currentmap.thumb.jpg.7b58bebba1b31355c6af2545e6c840ec.jpg

 

A new street called Holland Road was built on this land in the years that followed -

DI4Iz74XoAEDrs_.thumb.jpg.808d229f11a9e657c69aec6e05d7985c.jpg

 

Wednesday stayed at Highfield for three years, between 1867 and 1870. It would have been a very basic ground - no crossbars, no netting, maybe no pitch markings, no dressing rooms.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Myrtle Road

This is the ground that has been hardest to track down completely. There are two potential sites for the Myrtle Road site - one at the bottom of the road, in the area hemmed in by Midhill Road - and one at the top of the road, where the Ball Inn Recreation ground (and Sheffield United training ground) was later sited. I visited both to make sure I got it.

 

Wednesday played here between 1870 and 1877, but, like Highfields, it wasn't capable of hosting big games.

The ground was said to be a very hilly one overlooking Olive Grove - which could be either plot.

 

On the left, the junction between Myrtle Road and Midhill Road, and on the right, the site of the old Ball Inn Recreation Ground -

IMG_1555.thumb.JPG.b9da6b4df636ada2972bee8455d5c7e6.JPGIMG_1558.thumb.JPG.f75aba01054cdbf8e9997635bb7a16b3.JPG

 

IMG_1560.thumb.JPG.95f8ea7195074bf06d4a7652e7a2ea1c.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Queens Ground

I was unsure whether to include this one, as we only played one game at the venue, but it was a Wednesday home game, so I thought I'd tick it off while on my way to Hillsborough. On 19th November 1870, Wednesday hosted Derby St Andrews, and with a big crowd expected, they hired the Queens Ground, located behind the Queens Ground Hotel, opposite Hillsborough Barracks. It would seem the venture didn't pay off for the club, as future big games would be played at Bramall Lane instead.

 

The ground was later used by the regimental sides based at the barracks - most notably the 5th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, who used the ground for their FA Amateur Cup ties.

 

59ae7e5e36a79_4-QueensHotel.jpg.633ac9be466e3854b5abf2de7acf56d5.jpg

 

IMG_1578.thumb.JPG.fad1d6857fd699a58d7fce12cd93e3b4.JPG

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bramall Lane

When football began to explode in popularity during the 1870s, bigger and bigger crowds started attending games, and when clubs arranged inter-town games, they would invariably hire Bramall Lane for the occasion.

 

Wednesday were no different, and would have had no problem persuading the Sheffield United CC to let them do so, seeing as the Wednesday CC had been 1/6th of its make up when the ground was built in 1855.

 

Wednesday won the Cromwell Cup there in 1868, the first ever Sheffield Challenge Cup there in 1878, and the Wharncliffe Charity Cup a year later - it was very much home.

 

While Wednesday maintained their own designated home grounds, such as Myrtle Road and Sheaf House, they played more games at Bramall Lane throughout the 1880s than any other venue combined.

 

When Wednesday turned professional in 1887 (started paying players), they needed to bring in more revenue, and when the Bramall Lane committee started to put the rent up, Wednesday decided to leave and build their own ground at Olive Grove.

 

Having lost their biggest source of income, the Sheffield United CC realised they needed to make up the shortfall somehow, and two years later they formed their own football club.

I only took a couple of pics at Bramall Lane as everything there is adorned by another team's badge now - but in 1878 the ground hosted the first ever floodlit game of football - 15 of the 22 players on show were Wednesday men.

 

DI4h5sGXYAErrFC.thumb.jpg.3529faf2046aab6534015a5ca3ef8dfc.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, matthefish2002 said:

I have heard of all the other sites but never knew we played at Queens Ground.

Will either tip my head or call in for a drink next time I am passing to the match.

Any idea what the score was that day?

Wednesday won 7-0.

 

Charles and William Clegg both played.

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sheaf House

Between 1877 and 1882, and 1885 and 1887, Sheaf House - primarily a cricket venue - was Wednesday's designated home ground.

 

Although they would soon start playing bigger matches across the road at Bramall Lane, Sheaf House remained Wednesday's designated home ground, and was used for smaller games and reserve team matches.

 

The ground was named after the adjoining Sheaf House hotel, which still stands today, and is used by Sheffield United fans on matchdays. I wonder how many of them know that it was once used by Wednesday players as dressing rooms.

 

The ground has recently been built on by new apartment buildings, but at its heart is a small mound of grass - approximately where the centre circle once was.

IMG_1568.thumb.JPG.5bfde8936f54a9fa918aebc89ce3a5cc.JPGDI4e_PbW0AArLvW.thumb.jpg.79d47ae3fa200bca4602e5d58cd5208e.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hunter's Bar

Although not used quite as scarcely as the Queens Ground, Hunter's Bar - Wednesday's designated home ground between 1882 and 1885 - was used only fleetingly by the first team.


The venue was used more often by Wednesday's reserve team while the first team played at Bramall Lane.

 

When Wednesday left for Olive Grove in 1887, a works team called Lockwood Brothers took the ground over, and promptly reached the last 16 of the FA Cup.

 

The site is now occupied by the Hallamshire Tennis, Squash and Racket Club.

 

DI4AS7FXcAAMKae.thumb.jpg.bb8e50023abb8b2e9aa24b4c11646bbc.jpgIMG_1547.thumb.JPG.b81ff6a3f954e2024fbfcd0a8789a2a3.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Olive Grove

As previously mentioned, Wednesday were forced into building a ground to call their own after adopting professionalism in the summer of 1887. The club leased a plot of land adjacent to the Sheffield-London railway in the Olive Grive area of town, and over the course of the next 12 years became one of the foremost clubs in English football.

 

The first game was played on 12th September 1887 against the famous Blackburn Rovers -

59ae837f8525f_8c.OliveGrove.thumb.jpg.32d5f8fbf09163743e289e96a466a6ee.jpg

 

In 1896, Wednesday became the first Yorkshire side to lift the FA Cup, with prominent players such as Tommy Crawshaw and Fred Spiksley in the team. Until very recently, very few photographs have survived of Olive Grove, but we now have a good collection, thanks mainly to the guys who have written the book on Fred, who is the player on the right of this photo -

59ae83ea1cfdf_8d.OliveGrove.thumb.jpg.fb672dbd8fb203a83c2e0e3b31a13a55.jpg

 

Here are maps of the area, the present day one shows the exact site of the pitch -

59ae8441cbbcd_8a.OliveGrove.thumb.jpg.1a71b4aab470aa4b3f9887c5f29449d4.jpg59ae84457059f_8b.OliveGrove.thumb.jpg.19cb446d674d600de7c02d1ad63a93be.jpg

 

In the summer of 1898, the railway dropped a bombshell on the club by announcing they needed the western side of the ground to build another track bed next to the existing one. Wednesday were given a year to find a new home, and the timing couldn't have been much worse - Wednesday were relegated from the First Division for the first time that season.

 

Here you can see the problem - on the left is the existing trackbed - and on the right the new one that ploughed through the western side of the Olive Grove ground in 1899 -

IMG_1554.thumb.JPG.77ac35d016078162e4dca9277caeaf2a.JPG

 

Edited by KivoOwl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Owlerton/Hillsborough

At the back end of the 1898/99 season, fans were given a vote - where would they rather see the club relocate to? The fans voted for a site at Carbrook, but the directors overruled them and promptly purchased a plot of land a few miles from the city centre, far away from Wednesday territory, next to the River Don on Penistone Road.

 

Throughout the summer of 1899, the club worked frantically to get the ground up to shape in time for the new season, and when the first game kicked off against Chesterfield Town, it was a very basic affair.

 

The team lining up in front of the Leppings Lane for the first game at the new ground. A new covered stand was built there soon after -

DI4z8pTXYAAVGih.thumb.jpg.d1f485587b5ead0363b2f0c6d5ff729d.jpg

 

The old Olive Grove stand was dismantled and transported to Owlerton, where it was re-built, brick-by-brick, on the southern edge of the pitch. It lasted 14 years before it was replaced by the stand we see today -
DI4zlz3XkAA4pW6.jpg.e93681ffb7c54afd77d1fcaa9ebb6fde.jpg

 

On the north side of the new ground, a new main stand was constructed. It lasted right up until 1960, when it was demolished to make way for the cantilever we see today -

59ae86c93ec51_9d.Owlerton.jpg.c0f1005ab1ba401e60e12adfe1e00451.jpg

59ae86cbc4880_9e.Owlerton.thumb.jpg.cf370d8d4abd362ae9482ffc985e6101.jpg

 

The eastern side of the Owlerton ground was the one most neglected, right up until it was roofed in the 1980s. It was simply added to with more earth as the club got bigger. Here it is in its early days -
DI40thGXoAA8I_u.jpg.3ab73be90dce6d11b9b79910627e8036.jpg

 

And a few maps showing the story of Owlerton (renamed Hillsborough in 1912) -

59ae878b688b2_9a.Owlerton.jpg.c3eb2d0851f1ae7e8b1352d9cbeea5a0.jpg

 

59ae878f4f904_9b.Owlerton.jpg.ec2ba50ba98b5c554add8277f1d2c96a.jpg

 

59ae879318c90_9c.Owlerton.jpg.9e7fdb3c56592e452bcc2413cccf26dc.jpg

 

This was my eighth and final ground of the day - absolutely buzzing to have done them all -

59ae882aef4f9_IMG_1585-Copy.thumb.JPG.d5ea22695bfff8a5da9abbb67208c0fa.JPG

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, KivoOwl said:

Olive Grove

As previously mentioned, Wednesday were forced into building a ground to call their own after adopting professionalism in the summer of 1887. The club leased a plot of land adjacent to the Sheffield-London railway in the Olive Grive area of town, and over the course of the next 12 years became one of the foremost clubs in English football.

 

The first game was played on 12th September 1887 against the famous Blackburn Rovers -

59ae837f8525f_8c.OliveGrove.thumb.jpg.32d5f8fbf09163743e289e96a466a6ee.jpg

 

In 1896, Wednesday became the first Yorkshire side to lift the FA Cup, with prominent players such as Tommy Crawshaw and Fred Spiksley in the team. Until very recently, very few photographs have survived of Olive Grove, but we now have a good collection, thanks mainly to the guys who have written the book on Fred, who is the player on the right of this photo -

59ae83ea1cfdf_8d.OliveGrove.thumb.jpg.fb672dbd8fb203a83c2e0e3b31a13a55.jpg

 

Here are maps of the area, the present day one shows the exact site of the pitch -

59ae8441cbbcd_8a.OliveGrove.thumb.jpg.1a71b4aab470aa4b3f9887c5f29449d4.jpg59ae84457059f_8b.OliveGrove.thumb.jpg.19cb446d674d600de7c02d1ad63a93be.jpg

 

In the summer of 1898, the railway dropped a bombshell on the club by announcing they needed the western side of the ground to build another track bed next to the existing one. Wednesday were given a year to find a new home, and the timing couldn't have been much worse - Wednesday were relegated from the First Division for the first time that season.

 

Here you can see the problem - on the left is the existing trackbed - and on the right the new one that ploughed through the western side of the Olive Grove ground in 1899 -

IMG_1554.thumb.JPG.77ac35d016078162e4dca9277caeaf2a.JPG

 

Barnsley reckon that they were the first team to win the FA Cup IN Yorkshire. They won it in a replay at Bramall Lane in 1912

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...