Sheffield Wednesday

"SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY CRICKET CLUB AND FOOTBALL CLUB. – At a general meeting held on Wednesday last, at the Adelphi Hotel, it was decided to form a football club in connection with the above influential cricket club, with the object of keeping together during the winter season the members of this cricket club. From the great unanimity which prevailed as to the desirability of forming the club, there is every reason to expect that it will take first rank. The office bearers were elected as follows: - President, Mr. B. Chatterton; vice-president and treasurer, Mr. F. S. Chambers; hon. Secretary, Mr. Jno. Marsh; assistant, Mr. Castleton. Committee: Messrs Jno. Rodgers, Jno. White, C. Stokes, and H. Bocking. About sixty were enrolled without any canvas, some of them being the best players of the town."
Sheffield Independent, Friday 6 September, 1867

That modest announcement in a local newspaper began the story of one of the most respected and cherished football clubs in England, springing from the very home of football itself. Even before the foundation of the Football Association in 1863, Sheffield had been at the forefront of what is now regarded as our national game – with the world’s two oldest football clubs, Sheffield FC (formed 1857) and Hallam FC (formed 1860) leading a rising tide of interest in Association Football, or soccer as it was commonly called.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club was ‘born’ on the evening of Wednesday 4 September 1867, at a meeting of the members of The Wednesday Cricket Club – named after the day that the players, primarily local craftsmen, took a half-day off work to participate. The meeting took place at The Adelphi public house on the corner of Arundel Street and Sycamore Street (now the site of The Crucible Theatre, made famous as the venue for the World Snooker Championships) in the city centre, where a Mr. John Pashley formally proposed the extension of the Club to include football.

Initially, Pashley’s proposal was intended to solve the problem of keeping the cricket club’s players together and in decent physical condition over the winter months – yet even at this embryonic stage it was clear that the football branch of the club would hold enough interest to exist independently and even begin to eclipse the cricketing side one day. At the inaugural meeting, Sheffield financial agent Ben Chatterton was elected as Club President with John Marsh confirmed as Club Secretary and team captain, whilst the playing colours of blue and white were selected – a colour scheme which has remained inextricably linked with the Club to this day.