Sheffield Sports & Outdoors

Swimming- Ponds Forge hosts international swimming and diving competitions. Besides its Olympic size Pool, there is a leisure pool with slides, wave machine and river flume. Adult and child sections. Some hotels, leisure centres (Hilsborough and Concorde) and gyms have swimming, plus old fashioned baths such as Upperthorpe.

Snooker- The Crucible Theatre is well known as the venue for the annual World Snooker championships. Around the city are some snooker halls with numerous tables. Pubs offer pool, a few have snooker tables.

Rock climbing- Indoor centres offer climbing walls and bouldering- The Forge, and The Wall. Also the nearby Peak District for the real thing.

Walking- inner city walks, such as The 5 Weirs. The Round Walk, Trans Pennine route, plus many more. Further afield are the peaks and valleys of the Peak District. Local walking groups- look in The Sheffield Star or Morning Telegraph for details.

Skiing- Sheffield Ski Village offers dry slope skiing. - Though this keeps closing down, due to 'arson attacks'

Ice Skating- The newly opened Ice Centre next to Don Valley Stadium, or Queens Road near(ish) the train station.

Sheffield has a wide variety of sporting opportunities for both participating and watching.
Football- Home of the first football (soccer) club- Sheffield FC. Sandygate Road is the worlds oldest football ground!
Sheffield United FC's home ground is at Bramall Lane, near the city centre , while their rivals Sheffield Wednesday's Home Ground is at Hillsborough

At weekends through the season, you can find local teams of all ages (and abilities) playing in the parks and recreation grounds. 5 a side outside at The Pitz in Attercliffe, plus indoor at sports centres.
For four years, Rotherham United FC have played in Sheffield at the Don Valley Stadium, when their ground at Millmoor was demolished, and while waiting for their new ground, The New York Stadium to be constructed. It is now ready for the start of the 2012 season.

Cricket - Local hero Michael Vaughan, has ensured a rise in popularity. One of the nicest places to watch a match in Sheffield is at Low Bradfield -a typical English village green pitch.

Boxing- Sheffield has Prince Naseem, Johnny Nelson, Herol 'Bomber' Graham and Brendon Ingle as it's famous boxing names.

Athletics- Don Valley Stadium hosts international and local events. Kelly Holmes recently ran her last race here. Start and finish of the annual Race for Life (breast cancer charity run) and The Sheffield half Marathon (May)

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Bramall Lane is Home to Sheffield United Football Club, the team that I've followed since the early 70's, when they were promoted to the 1st division (before the Premier League was invented!) I had a season ticket for a few years, and saw many of the 70's legends such as George Best, Kevin Keegan etc, but my hero was Tony Currie! I was lucky that this was Uniteds 'Glory Days' - Their best post-war season being 1970/71, where they shook the First Division up, with 10 undefeated games - added to the end of their promotion run, a run of 22 without defeat!

Yes, there were dodgy haircuts and perms, but it was a time before multi millionaire divas and their agents/entourages, Sponsorship deals and all seater stadiums etc. Part of the fun was being pushed around by the crowd on the Kop, when United scored!

I remember watching Utd play, while a cricket match ran alongside!! The cricket pitch was replaced by the 'new' South Stand in 1975.

Besides watching Utd, I've also seen one of my heroes play twice on this ground- Bruce Springsteen!!! On the Saturday, I got to the front row! people still talk about how they sat in their gardens, and could hear the concert- even as far away as Brinsworth- (near Rotherham town)! I went back the next day, but paid for a seat this time!

My title 'Beautiful Down Town' etc etc reminds me of the 70's when the DJ at half time always used to refer to 'The Lane' as such, before playing 1 of his 3 records - Rose Garden by Lynne Anderson, Bridget The Midget, or The Streaker- I seem to remember these were the only records he ever played, Oooh I'm getting a flashback to those songs with the scent of meat pies and hot Bovril drink!!!

Well Altogether now - to the tune of Annies Song, by John Denver (and Thanks to Wikipaedia)

"You fill up my senses
Like a gallon of Magnet
Like a packet of Woodbines
Like a good pinch of snuff
Like a night out in Sheffield
Like a greasy chip butty
Like Sheffield United
Come fill me again....
Na Na Na Naa Naa Naaaaa, ooo!"


"To a native of Yorkshire the words are probably self explanatory; the words celebrate the many pleasures that can be had in Sheffield, culminating in the target of the fan's adoration, in this instance, Sheffield United.

Magnet refers to Magnet Bitter from John Smith's Brewery, widely available in Yorkshire. Some people claim that the second line is really Like a gallon of maggots. Maggots are obtained from fishing tackle outlets in denominations of imperial pints and hence this version would not be unreasonable, as fishing is popular in the region and hence a gallon of maggots would mean a good day out fishing.

Woodbines refers nostalgically to a once popular brand of strong cigarette.
Snuff is ground tobacco for sniffing up the nose. Snuff produced by Wilson's Snuff Mill is world famous, and produced only a mile away from Bramall Lane.

A Greasy chip butty can be purchased in any of the many local fish and chip shops. Butty is a slang word for a sandwich, and a chip butty is simply a sandwich where the filling is chips, ideally greasy and sometimes sprinkled with salt and vinegar. Generally, a white sandwich bap will be used for the bread. In Sheffield, these are simply known as Breadcakes."

Equipment: Hmmm, footie shirts, scarves etc can be purchased from the official souvenir shop, or local sports shops.

If you're prepared to fork out a small fortune, you can attire yourself in the latest club shirt, t - shirts, fleeces, coats, scarves, headgear, badges, underwear etc- all in home and away colours!!

If you're supporting the away team- well there's safety in numbers I suppose!

Programmes are sold by vendors outside the ground, plus an array of souvenirs.

How To Get To Bramall Lane

Excellent night out here I do like this and used to go and watch the Tigers as a child. It is speedway on strange looking motor bikes that do not have brakes.....what can I say....action action action
Price is about 8-9 pounds and children go free.....meetings are usually held on a thursday night at around 730pm and last untill around 10 pm. There is always a good crowd of good natured people at these events and is a true family atmosphere.

Equipment: Beleive it or not it is at the same place as the dog track...see Dog Racing or Casino for directions. You need warm clothing in the cold months. One thing to watch out for is if you stand close to the track the motor bikes can kick up a lot of grit that will hit you at head height....you have been warned.
One friend of mine who hadn`t been before decided to take photos of the riders as they was racing...not a good idea when they are racing into a corner and see your flash light.

Sheffield has 2 professional football teams, Sheffield United the City Centre Club, nicknamed the Blades and Sheffield Wednesday from Hillsborough in the Notrh nicknamed the Owls. You are either one or the other and there is no love lost between them so chose wisley if you are going.

I personally would reccomend a trip to Bramhall Lane just south of the city to see United, it has a lot of history and easilly accessable. Both grounds are a traditional football experience and cheaper than that of the Premier League

Sheffield Wednesday play their home games at Hilsborough in the English First Division.

Their nickname is The Owls because they originally came from a place called Owlerton.
The Owls play in blue and white vertical striped shirts.

Equipment: To watch the match the only equipment you really need is a good strong voice to sing your club`s songs and encourage the team and your eyes to actually watch the game, some people do take a pair of binoculars if they sit far from the pitch.
Apart from the above the club s encourage you to buy their merchandise to enhance your matchday experience, you can buy virtually anything from hats and scarfs to the full blown replica kit, which generally is updated annually.

Sheffield United Football Club.
Uniteds nickname is The Blades which is to do with Sheffields steel industry.United play in the English First Division.

Equipment: To watch the match the only equipment you really need is a good strong voice to sing your club`s songs and encourage the team and your eyes to actually watch the game, some people do take a pair of binoculars if they sit far from the pitch.
Apart from the above the club s encourage you to buy their merchandise to enhance your matchday experience, you can buy virtually anything from hats and scarfs to the full blown replica kit, which generally is updated annually.

Sheffield United Football Club....the blades...situated at Brammall Lane....the better of the citys two teams...currently we are at the top spot of division one fighting for promotion to the premiership....we just missed out last year on promotion. Its a great atmosphere down at the lane and should not be missed, especially if you are foreign.
I am especially proud of the shirt in the photo as it was a gift from one of my dearest friends. :O) thank you ;O)

Equipment: Warm weather gear in autumn and winter, can get quite cold and drafty...a gallon of beer is also usefull ;O)