Sheffield Home of Football: Plan steps forward after launch of Football Archive and Library UK News

At an event in Sheffield yesterday, the Martin Westby Sheffield Football Archive was launched along with the Sheffield Football Library.

Mr Westby was a local football historian and administrator of Sheffield Home of Football who had a vision he had for an archive of football in Sheffield that would become a place for future football historians and researchers to delve into history of the game and the people of Sheffield could discover and be inspired by the sporting heritage of their city.

He died in 2020, but the archive has since become a reality and bears his name.

The Sheffield Home Of Football strategy was launched in March 2020 with the aim of preserving and celebrating the city’s footballing history.

The oldest football club in the world, Sheffield FC, was formed in the city in 1857 and the rules of the game were established in the city.

At yesterday’s event, the Sheffield Football Library was also officially launched as part of a joint initiative with The Great Save, an organization dedicated to preserving UK domestic football history and memorabilia. United.

To launch the library, the great-great-grandnephew of Sir Nathaniel Creswick, who co-founded Sheffield FC with William Perst in 1857, donated his ancestor’s diary in which he documented he formed the club .

Mr Norton said he was proud to donate the valuable diary.

“That’s where it belongs – it belongs to the city of Sheffield, which is rightly recognized as the birthplace of the world’s premier football club,” he said.

The journal must be scanned so that it can be viewed digitally by members of the public.

Councilor Terry Fox, leader of Sheffield City Council, said: ‘This is a moment in time for Sheffield. We must seize the opportunity with both hands to become the homeland of football. Developments like this, the archives and the library, are really important.

“These are key pieces of the puzzle and of our offer.”