Sport in South Yorkshire

By Jessica Fogarty

Learn to skate and play ice hockey with lessons, enjoy leisure skate sessions and curling. Sheffield’s prestigious Ice Academy plays host to some unique events through the year, supports elite skaters and is a National Centre of Excellence for figure skating, ice dance and ice hockey.

Ice, ice, baby

The Sheffield Steelers professional ice hockey team, who formed in 1991, play their home games at Sheffield Arena. The Steelers were named in honour of Sheffield’s industrial past and they were the first-ever fully professional ice hockey team in Great Britain.

Just beside Ice Sheffield is Altitude, an action-packed outdoor high ropes adventure course which features more than 30 challenging obstacles – including rope bridges, swinging logs and a climbing wall. Finish the course with the exhilarating 30ft leap of faith! It’s a great alternative to the slippery stuff if you’re not fond of the cold, but even better as an addition to the skating for a frankly epic family day out for active families up for both a treat and a challenge.

Sheffield Steelers playing ice hockey at Sheffield Arena

Foundry Climbing offers more than 200 routes and 1,100 sqm of climbing walls. The centre runs regular clubs for children and adults, offering instruction in indoor climbing. These include Spider Club (aged seven to 11 years), Young Climbers Club (aged 11 to 17 years), and Adult Club (aged 18 years and over). And, one-off taster sessions are available for all ages.

The House Skatepark is in an airy 10,500 sq ft warehouse offering a variety of street and pro-style equipment ranging from friendly to fiendish. The mini wheel only park allows visitors to bring their own skateboards, rollerblades, razor scooters, snakeboards and roller boots. Features include a 16ft mini ramp with a moveable extension linked to an inverted hip flat bank which in turn connects to a wall ride. Most features are arranged in such ways to allow a great fluidity of movement around the course. They don’t have an age limit on who can use the park but under 12s will need an adult to stay with them.

The Steelers were named in honour of Sheffield’s industrial past and they were the first-ever fully professional ice hockey team in Great Britain

Owls and Blades

South Yorkshire is known for its footballing history and can claim many firsts in football; the most famous one being Sheffield FC – the world’s first and oldest football club. Today the city is home to two league clubs, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. Sheffield Wednesday is a famous Yorkshire club with a great tradition, being the fifth oldest club in the English league.

The Owls have spent much of their time in football’s top flight, including forays onto the European scene. Wednesday’s proud history boasts four League titles and three FA Cups. Its famous 40,000-seater home ground is based at Hillsborough, three miles north of the centre of the city.

Sheffield United FC are nicknamed ‘The Blades’, thanks to the city’s reputation as a leader in the steel business, and their presence – and rivalry with Sheffield Wednesday – gives a modern day cutting edge to football life in this city. Formed at Bramall Lane in 1889, by the members of an existing cricket club, its the same location where the club still plays today.

Expect to hear The Blades’ own unique, unusual and unofficial club anthem filling the air before and after the game, if they win. Sheffield United have won the League (though it was in 1898) and also the FA Cup four times in their history. And The Blades have clinched promotion to the Premier League.

Known as ‘The Tykes’, Barnsley Football Club has played at the highest level nationally, and has a fierce rivalry with its Yorkshire neighbours from just up the M1, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. Barnsley FC has produced some notable talents over the years. Their striker, Tommy Taylor, went on to win two league titles with Manchester United in the 1950s. And in the 2008/9 season they fielded the Football League’s youngest ever player, Reuben Noble-Lazarus at 15 years and 45 days. Watch the team play at Barnsley’s easy access home ground, Oakwell, the centre of a multi-purpose sports development right in the town.

South Yorkshire is known for its footballing history and can claim many firsts in football; the most famous one being Sheffield FC – the world’s first and oldest football club

Exhilarating events

Doncaster Rovers was founded in 1879 and is one of only four clubs to win the Division 3, League Two title three times. The club have played at the Keepmoat Stadium since their 2006 move from Belle Vue, which they inhabited for 84 years. The 15,000 all-seater stadium was opened on New Years Day in 2007. The Rovers, as they’re known locally, can celebrate some great formers players such as Fred Emery, Clarrie Jordan, Harry Gregg and more recently Billy Sharp.

Arenacross at Sheffield Arena

Rotherham United – ‘The Millers’ to fans – play home games at The New York Stadium, a 12,000 all-seater stadium in Rotherham town centre. The club has spent the majority of its history in the Football League’s third tier, though its most successful period in recent years found the Millers competing in the Football League Championship during the early 2000s. Notable former Rotherham players/manager include Emlyn Hughes, Tommy Docherty, Danny Williams and Shaun Goater.

Speedway is also a big deal in Sheffield. Owlerton Stadium is home to the Sheffield Tigers at the fastest speedway track in Britain, purpose-built for the spot. The team traditionally hold their race nights on Thursdays between March and October. The stadium also hosts greyhound racing for those that fancy a flutter on the dogs.

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