Sheffield may be lagging behind its noisy neighbour, Manchester, when it comes to footballing success these days. But without Sheffield, the beautiful game as we know it probably wouldn't exist. The city is the birthplace of football, home to the world's first club, Sheffield FC, the world's oldest ground, Hallam FC's Sandygate Road stadium, and two of the sport's most historic clubs, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. It's also where the game's earliest rules were written up. The late, great Pele, pictured, famously once said that without Sheffield FC 'there wouldn't be a me'. Sheffield also punches above its weight in other sports, including cricket, in which it has produced two of England's greatest ever players, Joe Root and Michael Vaughan; athletics, with the Olympic greats Jessica Ennis-Hill and Sebastian Coe having honed their skills in the city; and boxing, in which Naseem Hamed was among a slew of champions guided to glory by the late Brendan Ingle.placeholder image
Sheffield may be lagging behind its noisy neighbour, Manchester, when it comes to footballing success these days. But without Sheffield, the beautiful game as we know it probably wouldn't exist. The city is the birthplace of football, home to the world's first club, Sheffield FC, the world's oldest ground, Hallam FC's Sandygate Road stadium, and two of the sport's most historic clubs, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. It's also where the game's earliest rules were written up. The late, great Pele, pictured, famously once said that without Sheffield FC 'there wouldn't be a me'. Sheffield also punches above its weight in other sports, including cricket, in which it has produced two of England's greatest ever players, Joe Root and Michael Vaughan; athletics, with the Olympic greats Jessica Ennis-Hill and Sebastian Coe having honed their skills in the city; and boxing, in which Naseem Hamed was among a slew of champions guided to glory by the late Brendan Ingle. | National World

Love Your City: 7 things Sheffield does better than almost anywhere else

Robert Cumber
By Robert Cumber

Property and retro writer

Published 17th Nov 2024, 07:20 GMT

Mention Sheffield to someone outside the city and they might think of snooker, steel, The Arctic Monkeys or The Full Monty.

But anyone living in Sheffield knows there’s so much more to the city than that.

We’ve put together a list of just some of the things Sheffield does best, or certainly better than almost anywhere else.

There are bound to be things we’ve left off the list, and we’d love to hear your suggestions for what else should have been included.

Sheffield is home to the excellent National Videogame Museum (pictured) for a reason, with the city having a long and proud gaming history. It was the birthplace of the trailblazing Gremlin Graphics, later Gremlin Interactive, which produced many classic games during the 80s and 90s, ranging from Monty Mole to Premier Manager and Actua Soccer. It is today probably best known for Sumo Digital, which was founded in Sheffield in 2003 and has produced much-loved games invluding Outrun 2, Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing, Sega Superstars Tennis, and LittleBigPlanet 3. By 2021, when it was bought by the Chinese giant Tencent Holdings for £919 million, it employed more than 1,200 people and had 14 studios across five countries.

5. Videogames

Sheffield is home to the excellent National Videogame Museum (pictured) for a reason, with the city having a long and proud gaming history. It was the birthplace of the trailblazing Gremlin Graphics, later Gremlin Interactive, which produced many classic games during the 80s and 90s, ranging from Monty Mole to Premier Manager and Actua Soccer. It is today probably best known for Sumo Digital, which was founded in Sheffield in 2003 and has produced much-loved games invluding Outrun 2, Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing, Sega Superstars Tennis, and LittleBigPlanet 3. By 2021, when it was bought by the Chinese giant Tencent Holdings for £919 million, it employed more than 1,200 people and had 14 studios across five countries. | Sheffield Newspapers Photo: Brian Eyre

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Sheffield was earlier this year named as the best place in the UK for foodies, and if you've eaten out in the city it's easy to see why. There are some cracking restaurants to choose from, including the Michelin-recommended JÖRO and Rafters, The Orange Bird, in Hillsborough, pictured, and Bench, in Nether Edge. There are also numerous top notch street food vendors cooking up a storm at the city's much-loved food halls, Kommune, Cutlery Works, Sheffield Plate and the newest addition Cambridge Street Collective, where Frerot takes things to another level. Many of the city's cafes, restaurants and takeaways make use of the excellent produce on their doorstep, ranging from locally reared meat to Michelin-quality ice cream and, of course, the ubiqitous Henderson's Relish.

6. Food

Sheffield was earlier this year named as the best place in the UK for foodies, and if you've eaten out in the city it's easy to see why. There are some cracking restaurants to choose from, including the Michelin-recommended JÖRO and Rafters, The Orange Bird, in Hillsborough, pictured, and Bench, in Nether Edge. There are also numerous top notch street food vendors cooking up a storm at the city's much-loved food halls, Kommune, Cutlery Works, Sheffield Plate and the newest addition Cambridge Street Collective, where Frerot takes things to another level. Many of the city's cafes, restaurants and takeaways make use of the excellent produce on their doorstep, ranging from locally reared meat to Michelin-quality ice cream and, of course, the ubiqitous Henderson's Relish. | National World Photo: Dean Atkins

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From Joe Cocker to Def Leppard, The Human League to Pulp, the Arctic Monkeys to Bring Me The Horizon, Sheffield has produced some outstanding bands and musicians over the years. The soundtrack to the city would be amazing.

7. Music

From Joe Cocker to Def Leppard, The Human League to Pulp, the Arctic Monkeys to Bring Me The Horizon, Sheffield has produced some outstanding bands and musicians over the years. The soundtrack to the city would be amazing. | AFP via Getty Images Photo: AFP via Getty Images

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