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Bramall Lane is the home of Sheffield United Football Club in Sheffield, England and is the oldest major stadium in the world still to be hosting professional football matches. Built on a Sheffield road named after the Brammall family, who owned “The Old White House” on the corner of Bramall Lane and Cherry Street, it was originally opened as a cricket ground. It was also used for football games in the 19th century by Sheffield F.C. and Sheffield Wednesday but since 1889 it has been the home of Sheffield United.
Bramall Lane is one of only two grounds (the other being the Oval) which has hosted England football internationals (five games prior to 1930), an England cricket test match in 1902 against Australia and a FA Cup Final Replay in 1912, when Barnsley beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0. It also regularly hosted FA Cup Semi Finals and Replays between 1889 and 1938.
The ground has also hosted rugby league games for the Sheffield Eagles, a Billy Graham Evangelist meeting in 1985 and even a rock concert for Bruce Springsteen in 1988.
The record attendance for the ground is 68,287, set at an FA Cup 5th Round tie between Sheffield United and Leeds United on February 15, 1936. The ground has now been extensively renovated in the wake of the Taylor Report, and has an all-seated capacity of 32 609.
Cricket at the Lane
Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town’s industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket clubs and originally had six clubs playing there. It was managed by an umbrella organisation for these clubs; the Sheffield United Cricket Club.
Bramall Lane opened on April 30, 1855 as a cricket ground with a match between “The Eleven” and “The Twenty Two”, A team representing Yorkshire played the first county match at the ground on August 27, 1855, against Sussex but lost by an innings and 117 runs.
Although the first county game had been played eight years earlier, the official Yorkshire County Cricket Club was not formed until 1863. The idea came from Ellison, who was using his own finances to support the club, in order to improve Bramall Lane’s financial position as the county’s headquarters. It was the club’s headquarters until 1893, when they moved to Headingley in Leeds.
In 1897, Jack Brown and John Tunnicliffe recorded a first wicket score of 378 against Sussex—a ground record that has never been beaten. Brown’s score of 311 and Yorkshire’s innings of 681 for 5 declared were also records when the cricket ground closed. Other notable scores include the 681-5 declared Yorkshire scored against Sussex in 1897, the 582 for 7 declared they piled up against Surrey in 1935 and the 579 posted against the touring South Africans in 1951. 6 other scores in excess of 500 were made. In contrast there were a host of scores under 100, mainly in the 19th century, although Derbyshire’s paltry total of 20 in 1939 remains the lowest ever score. Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 24 in 1888 but Kent showed the Yorkshire batsmen up in 1865, bowling them out for 30. Many of the low totals were made on rain affected, uncovered wickets.
The ground hosted a single Test match in 1902, against Australia, which England lost by 143 runs. Australia won the game by 143 runs thanks to a century by Clem Hill and the bowling of Saunders and Noble, who both took 5 wickets in England’s first innings of 145 and Noble and Trumble who took 6 and 4 wickets respectively to bowl the home team out for 195 second time around. The defeat was blamed on the poor light at the ground; a product of smoke emitted by local factories. Attendances were poor, and the experiment was never repeated.
In addition Jack Brown’s triple century 10 double centuries were scored on the ground, Sir Len Hutton scored unbeaten two double tons, an 280* against Hampshire in 1939 and 271* against Derbyshire in 1937. W Barber posted 255 against Surrey in 1935 while the great Indian batsman VS Hazare scored 244 not out for the Indian tourists in the first season after World War Two.
Among many notable partnerships W Barber and Maurice Leyland amassed 346 for the second workcet against Middlesex in 1932 and the aforementioned VS Hazare and Vinoo Mankad put on 322 for the Indians against Yorkshire for the 4th wicket in 1946. Only one century was scored in list A one day cricket at Bramall Lane, John Hampshire’s 108 against Nottinghamshire in 1970 in the Sunday League.
Three bowlers took all ten wickets in an innings at Bramall Lane, the feat being more common in the annals of first class cricket than many imagine. The great Australian leg spinner Clarrie Grimmett took 10 for 37 for the tourists in 1930 while TF Smailes took all 10 for 47 for Yorkshire against Derbyshire in 1939. G Wootton took 10 for 54 for an All England Eleven v Yorkshire in 1865 while 9 other bowlers took 9 wickets in an innings there, including a haul of 9 for 12 by the great Yorkshire slow left armer Hedley Verity.
The best match bowling figures at the ground, 16 for 114, were recorded by G Burton of Middlesex against Yorkshire in 1888 while Hedley Verity took an incredible 15 for 38 against Kent in 1936. Len Braund took 15 for 71 for Somerset in 1902 while the immortal W. G. Grace showed his youthful talent with the ball with a haul of 15 for 79 for Gloucestershire in 1872.
D Hunter of Surrey dismissed caught 5 batsmen and stumped another in one innings in 1891 while Yorkshire stalwart Jimmy Binks completed 5 dismissals in an innings 3 times.
The two ends of the ground were known as the Pavilion End and the Football Ground End. Between 1863 and 1973, Yorkshire played 391 first class matches, including 339 County Championship matches at Bramall Lane. Yorkshire’s last match at the ground took place on 4, 6 and 7 August 1973, a drawn game against Lancashire. The construction of the South Stand began soon after, over the cricket square, finally enclosing the football pitch on all four sides. Yorkshire’s cricket games in Sheffield moved to Abbeydale Park.
Football at the Lane
The ground hosted its first football match on 29 December 1862, between Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C. The game was played to raise money for the Lancashire Distress Fund and ended 0-0.
As Sheffield’s main sporting stadium it held all the most important local matches. The world’s first football tournament, the Youdan Cup, held its final at Bramall Lane in March 1867 with Hallam beating Norfolk. This was followed by the Cromwell Cup a year later, which was won by a newly formed team called The Wednesday. By 1877, a crowd of 8,000 watched The Wednesday beat Hallam in the Sheffield Challenge Cup. Bramall Lane effectively became The Wednesday’s permananent home between 1880 and the opening of their new stadium at Olive Grove in 1887.
The first inter-association match, between the FA (often referred to as the London FA) and Sheffield FA, was also held at Bramall Lane in December 1871. It was won by the home side, who also arranged a number of games with other Associations including regular fixtures against Glasgow.
The first ever floodlit football match took place at Bramall Lane on 14 October 1878 in front of an attendance on 20,000. England’s match against Scotland on 10 March 1883 was the first match between these two countries outside London or Glasgow. It makes it one of the oldest international football venues still capable of hosting international matches in the world.
On March 22, 1889, six days after 22,688 people paid to watch the FA Cup semi-final between Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion, it was decided to create a home football team to play at Bramall Lane. It was named Sheffield United after the cricket team.
Stands at Bramall Lane
The ground has been an all-seater stadium since 1994 and is now made up of four main stands and two corner infill stands in the North-East and South-West corners. The North-West corner (as well as a lot of the land under the John Street Stand contains the Blades Business Centre, and the South-East corner is still open, although there are plans to fill it with seating as part of the strategy to build a leisure complex at the back of the South Stand.
Bramall Lane Stand
Now sponsored by Halliwell’s, this is the oldest existing stand at Bramall Lane, this two-tiered structure was opened in 1966 behind the goal at the Bramall Lane end, opposite the Kop. From the 2006-2007 Premiership Campaign, the bottom tier is occupied by away fans whilst the upper tier, which links into the South-West corner infill stand, is given to home fans (although part of the upper tier may be offered to away fans for cup fixtures if demand is sufficient). This is in contrast to previous seasons, when away fans had the upper tier (and hence the best view in the ground) much to the annoyance of home fans. During the 2005-2006 season, the outside of the Bramall Lane Stand was reclad in red-and-white, with the stand sponsors and the club crest on the outside of the stand, while the wooden seats of the upper tier were replaced with newer plastic seats with the words “BLADES” written into them. When the corner infill stand was built during the closed season, the roof over the Bramall Lane Stand was extended toward the pitch to provide better cover for the lower tier and to remove the supporting pillars from the upper tier. There are approximately 2700 seats in the upper tier, and 2990 in the lower, giving a total capacity of 5680. This stand has for many years housed a basic LCD scoreboard and clock between the upper and lower tiers, however at the start of the 2006-2007 season both were replaced by a modern colour video scoreboard.
The South Stand
The South Stand is also known as the “Main Stand”, however some fans still refer to it as the “Laver Stand” (after the stand’s long-term sponsors in the 1990’s) or even the “New Stand” by many older fans since there was no stand on the South end of the pitch until 1975, where previously it was used as the cricket pitch’s outfield. Opened in August 1975, the South Stand is situated alongside the pitch and is for home fans who wish to have a side-view when watching the match (the John Street Stand is for families only). During the 2005-2006 season, this stand was renovated, with a re-clad of the outside of the stand and the old wooden seats replaced by newer plastic seats forming an emblem of two swords written. The box-seats were also upgraded, and it was named the Global Windows Stand in a sponsorship deal, although from the season 2007-2008 the club has gained sponsorship from an Australian property development company resulting in this stand being renamed the “Valad stand”. This stand holds approximately 7,500 fans, and most of the ground’s amenities, including the Box office, newly expanded and renovated for the 2006-2007 season Blades Superstore, Platinum Suite, “Legends of the Lane” museum, “1889″ award winning restaurant (formerly known as Bosworth’s of Bramall Lane), the former police control centre (now relocated to the Blades Enterprise Centre between the Bramall Lane and John Street Stands), newly refurbished reception, Press box, players entrance, administrative offices and television gantry attached to the roof of the stand.
The Kop Stand
Seated since 1991, this is the area in which the most boisterous home fans sit, such that former assistant manager Kevin Blackwell named the noise coming from this stand as the “Bramall Roar” after the 2003 play-off semi-final second-leg against Nottingham Forest, which the Blades won 4-3, coming from 0-2 down. The stand is currently sponsored by Fraser Property and, was formally sponsored by Hallam FM. The stand itself is built into a hillside situated behind the goal, at the east end of the stadium. This places the stand along Shoreham Street, hence the often-heard chant of “Hello! Hello! We are the Shoreham Boys” coming from this stand on matchdays. It has the club’s initials “SUFC” written into the seats, and holds 10,221 fans, making this the largest stand at Bramall Lane. The facilities are of lower quality in the Kop because there is no indoor concourse, although an outdoor bar was completed in September 2007 to complement the fast-food takeaway, but in spite of this it is still a firm favourite amongst the fans, and usually full on matchday. At a Shareholders meeting in November 2007 the club announced that it intends to expand the Kop by 3,000 and to upgrade all the facilities and cover the concourse areas. Work is scheduled to start before the Summer of 2008.
John Street Stand
The John Street stand, completed in 1996, is used as a family enclosure for home fans and is situated alongside the pitch, boasting great views of the playing action. Sponsored by Capital One, in a combined stand and shirt sponsorship deal, it has the word “BLADES” written in the seats, and holds just under 7000 fans. This is also where the home disabled supporters may sit. The stand is home to a small club shop as well as the Carlsberg Suite and the newly reopened “Tunnel Bar”. There is also a row of executive boxes along the back of the stand.
Kop Corner
Also called the Northeast Corner or Evolution Corner after its sponsorship deal, this stand was completed in 2001 and is between the Kop and the John Street stand. It is fully linked to the John Street Stand, and is also used as a family enclosure holding around 900 fans (after the installaton of new restricted-view seats afer the 2006-07 campaign. The plans for the redevelopment and extension of the Kop also show a row of executive boxes running behind this corner stand.
Westfield Health Stand
Also known as the “new” corner infill, this stand is in the South-West corner of the stadium, between the Bramall Lane Stand and the South Stand and is sponsored by Westfield Health. It is linked to the Bramall Lane stand (upper tier), sharing its facilities, turnstiles and exits. It is always used by home fans, and reputedly has the best views of the ground, although season tickets are not available in this stand. The stand holds approximately 2000 fans.
(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL
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