RETRO: When Hillsborough hosted the World Cup

The city staged four matches in the 1966 World Cup – three group games and a quarter final, all at Hillsborough.

England went on to win the Wembley final with Sheffield’s own Gordon Banks in goal.

The 50th anniversary of the city’s role in this historic championship is being celebrated in Football’s Coming Home.

The five-week exhibition has transformed part of The Moor Market and celebrates life on the streets of the Steel City in the year that changed football history in England.

The event is part of city-wide countdown to the start of the 2016 Youdan Trophy – the new international Sheffield-based tournament.

Internationally-renowned sports artist Paul Trevillion – the man famed for drawing Roy Of The Rovers – is designing artwork that will hang outside the entrance to the building.

The market walkways have a trail containing scores of Sheffield footballing facts, counting right back to the formation of the world’s first club – Sheffield FC, of course,started in 1857.

Keith Hackett, director of Youdan Trophy organisers You-Are-The-Ref.com, said: “People often forget we’re the birthplace of the game and the key part of the Youdan Trophy is spreading that message across the world.”

Local schools also play a central role in the exhibition. 20 short-listed entries in a city-wide art competition launched by Paul Trevillion to mark the city’s footballing sports heritage are also on show.

Admission is free and the exhibition, delivered in partnership with The Star, will run to August 6.

We’re planning our own special Retro coverage, including a look back by one of The Star’s 1966 reporters.

If you’ve got memories or souvenirs, we’d love you to share them with Retro readers. 
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