The football clubs embody the city...

[bornablade]

In the early 1980's there were huge differences between the Sheffield City council and the city's business leaders.

In 1986 these two parties realised their differences were destroying the future of the city.

They came together and formed the Image Working Party and discovered that they both had a similar end objective. Future investment in the city.

The Image Working Party led onto Sheffield Partnerships and the Sheffield Development Corporation was formed and took over the management and planning of the totally devastated Lower Don Valley.

One initiative was to develop a Sports Tourism Strategy. This led to the building of Ponds Forge, Don Valley Stadium and the Arena.

The city was successful in attracting the 1991 World Student Games. There were many other smaller international events plus the European Swimming Championships and the Special Olympics in August 1993.

In September 1990 the Meadowhall Shopping centre opened.

Hotel groups started to take notice of Sheffield. With very little outside investment in this sector since the 1966 World cup, Granada opened up on the Parkway, Queens Moat Houses built a 93 bedroom hotel at Meadowhead (now Hilton), Whitbread developed a 41 bedroom complex on the other side of the River Sheaf adjacent to the Beauchief and Novotel opened a 100+ bedroom hotel on Arundel Gate.

Things looked good. Sheffield was waking up from the ravages of the Thatcher revolution. The city was attrracting outside investment.

Unfortunately in business nothing stands still. Other cities looked, saw and copied.

Manchester built for the Commonwealth Games. London built for the Olympics. These were bigger and better. In addition these two cities put in place plans for their main stadiums. Manchester City and West Ham United moved in. Meanwhile the Don Valley Stadium, with respect to Rotherham United was totally under utilised. We really didn't know what to with it.

Sheffield City of Sport didn't seem credible.

Other cities built larger and better Arenas. Leeds now seem to attract the 'A' artistes while Sheffield Arena pick up the 'B' catagories.

It's argued that Meadowhall has destroyed the city centre shopping. I remember being at a conference (about 1988) at Thornbridge Hall for business and council leaders to discuss the future of the city. There were some foreign delegates invited. The 'threat' of Meadowhall was discussed. A French delegate suggested that as Meadowhall was happening the city centre as a shopping desitnation should be closed and the centre should be used as 'a place to work' and 'a place to live'. This was totally rejected by the 'Sheffielders '.

I realise there is now some retail development but the town centre has been exactly that. A 'place to live' and a 'place to work' for the past 32 years.

This sums up the thinking. We didn't recognise the threat of other cities developing better sports facilities than us and we didn't recognise the threat of Meadowhall on our town centre. Head in the sand, everything will be OK, we've solved the problem, we can sit back and relax now. Very little pro-activity.

Sheffield has tried to promote itself since then. Based upon the 'Glasgow Smiles Better' campaign we had 'Sheffield Shines'. Anyone remember that? No I didn't think so.

I think we have Sheffield the Outdoor City. It comes as no surprise that this hasn't been mentioned on any of the 150 posts on this thread.

As an image to an outsider the leaders of our city should take heed of some of the comments that appeared on Roy's A View From... last season. I was amazed at how other fans saw us after we had grabbed a draw or beaten them. They couldn't believe that their team had not destroyed Sheffield United. We were made out to be a club that had almost just appeared from the Northern Premier.

It made me think that the Bournemouths and Watfords were viewed with more respect. It also made me think that our city is viewed by others in exactly the same way. Second rate.

The city has so many advantages which have all been well documented here. I love the place.

Two exports that no other city can have a claim to is Football and Stainless Steel. The fact that these two products were developed about 100 yards away from each other is a marketing man's dream. We should be looking to exploit this. It doesn't have to be based upon the Football Museum in Manchester (which I was disappointed with).

Do it differently. It belongs to us and this time no one else can copy it.

Happy New Year to all Blades. The New Year starts tomorrow.

 

[sitwell]

Read your history son....

Totley Tunnel - Wikipedia

 

[gordoncharles]

Manchester isn’t a bigger city than Sheffield, it’s much smaller unless you talking greater Manchester but as someone else says greater Manchester should be compared with South Yorkshire not Sheffield. In fact Salford almost comparable with Manchester.

In Greater Manchester you move seamlessly from one city or town to another without noticing. It's all one conglomeration including Salford, Stockport, Ashton, Hyde, Oldham, Bury. The same as Birmingham also effectively incorporates numerous other towns and even the Leeds/Bradford conurbation can be considered as one.

South Yorkshire's towns are very distinct and this has its effect on perceptions. It makes Sheffield appear smaller.

No it's about the Thatcher years when the country changed from coal mining and manufacturing to banking took the motor way to Leeds and closed the Totley tunnel ....

The post-industrial world started before Thatcher, who was a reaction to industrial decline, and steel was already on a downward spiral throughout the whole of Europe during the 1970s.

All traditional manufacturing towns suffered, it was a case of how the population reacted to it, and other large cities have come out of this far better. Even Liverpool, which had no manufacturing base but was just a port facing the wrong Sea when Britain joined the EEC.

In the end it's about the success or failure of local politics.

 

[metalblade]

I don't get this love in with Leeds at all yeah it has some nice shops in the centre but once outside that centre it is a proper shithole. Harehills is a bigger Page Hall and much worse, even in better areas every house has iron bars over the windows and wrought iron gates over the doors to keep the burglars out or maybe the police if they are doing a drugs raid.
Liverpool is a lot better now, they have done well in developing the old brick warehouses and docks having the Beatles to draw tourist in has helped too.

I can't understand why our local MP's are not constantly banging on for better transport links for Sheffield we are no more hemmed in by the Pennines to the west than Manchester is hemmed in to the east. That M67 really does need to come over to South Yorkshire and the rail link is again abysmal with no immediate plans to electrify it. All you hear from the northern power house or whatever they want to call themselves is improve the Manchester-Leeds railway, they already have the M62. It is not just about Sheffield Council our local MP's in South Yorkshire truly are abysmal and do little or nothing to help the area which should receive the special help is never got in the 80's when coal and steel ceased to be big employers. Betts, Blunkett and co have a lot to answer for.

 

[Jon Bon II]

Horrible, scruffy city with residents to match. Can't build anything without some scabby urchin either paints graffiti all over it or knocks it down. Best thing I ever did was move away. I've really, really not missed it at all this past 10 months of working from home. It was great in the 70's and 80's growing up but it somehow hung around in the 70's and 80's while everywhere else moved on.

 

[JJBlade]

In Greater Manchester you move seamlessly from one city or town to another without noticing. It's all one conglomeration including Salford, Stockport, Ashton, Hyde, Oldham, Bury. The same as Birmingham also effectively incorporates numerous other towns and even the Leeds/Bradford conurbation can be considered as one.

South Yorkshire's towns are very distinct and this has its effect on perceptions. It makes Sheffield appear smaller.




The post-industrial world started before Thatcher, who was a reaction to industrial decline, and steel was already on a downward spiral throughout the whole of Europe during the 1970s.

All traditional manufacturing towns suffered, it was a case of how the population reacted to it, and other large cities have come out of this far better. Even Liverpool, which had no manufacturing base but was just a port facing the wrong Sea when Britain joined the EEC.

In the end it's about the success or failure of local politics.

This is correct, all larger cities swallow up and incorporate the other cities around it.

Most neighbouring towns and cities accept this and move forward as being part of a larger Greater Metropolis for the good of all

Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster, Chesterfield and all their smaller satellite towns like Maltby, Conisbrough, Tickhill, along with all the Derbyshire towns like Hathersage, Bakewell, Castleton would do everything in their power to not be a part of a Greater Sheffield.

It's quite funny when you drive into Brooklyn, New York and see the sign that says:

Welcome to Brooklyn
The USA's fourth largest city

That tells you what the people of Brooklyn think about being swallowed up by New York City and their city's identity completely disappearing.

But without being a part of New York's metropolis who would actually know it exists?

 

[originaltrueblade]

Read all this long winded stuff let’s keep it simple

SHEFFIELD simply the best better than all the rest

fuck the negatives but a happy new year to you all

 

[TimofeeVee]

Sheffield, beautiful people, beautiful scenery, rich history.

Just because it's not been fully appreciated yet, doesn't mean it won't be.....it's a hidden treasure, and the future's bright

 

[Bennyand the Blades]

The Totley Tunnel is closed ? And the motorway doesnt come to Sheffield ?

Apology's . your quite right it wasn't the Totley tunnel it was the Woodhead. and yes the first motorway, the M1 went to Leeds,.....

 

[sitwell]

Apology's . your quite right it wasn't the Totley tunnel it was the Woodhead. and yes the first motorway, the M1 went to Leeds,.....

And Sheffield

 

[MightyBlades]

There is one reason and one reason only, why Sheffield is a backwater shithole with no real prospects, and that reason is Sheffield City Council. The tens of thousands of dopy twats that keep voting them back into power, decade after fucking decade, deserve to spend the rest of their days residing in a lunatic asylum.

Sheffield people deserve all they get!

 

[Bellypork]

Can't agree there. To put all the blame on our Council rather than the government at the time is a very odd view to me, although you'll no doubt think my view is typical of the whiners as you put it. It was the Tories who shut the mines and didn't have an adequate plan B for it. Steel likewise declined from a lack of investment albeit in both cases I accept that market forces were a major factors - we just can't compete with countries who can produce things cheaper. But I don't recall that Leeds or Manchester relied on steel, or coal as the Sheffield region did and therefore we suffered far more as a city than others.

Also for people saying that Sheffield suffers from electing Labour every election; Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester vote Labour locally and nationally so if there is a Council problem, its not a Labour problem across the board. I'm not saying that Sheffield Council is perfect, but I believe we've had a crappy ride from the Tories as a general rule and in the past I believe that this was policital as Sheffield and South Yorkshire was without a doubt the socialist heartland of the north, lead by the likes of Scargill. Thatcher set out to destroy the unions and in the process dstroyed much of Sheffield's economy. Even to the present day they're the same. Their latest "levelling up the north" Dominic Cummings slogan is a joke. It was the Tories in the first place that created the problem!

Sheffield is not a joke or a shit hole either in my view. It's developed much in the 2000's and has an appeal of its own, different to Leeds and Manchester but that's the appeal of Sheffield.

As for football, Leeds is a one team city, Greater Manchester is far bigger and can accomodate two massive teams, it's not surprising Sheffield lags behind both.

I love Sheffield, it's underdog status and that we go under the radar somewhat. I do not look with envious eyes to either Leeds or Mancheser honestly.

Thatcher got rid of the industry to get rid of the militant unions associated with it. When they brought down the Heath government they signed their (and our) own death warrant. We made ourselves an enemy of the Tory Party, the party which largely governs this country. I've lived in other parts of the country with Labour councils, but they're nothing like ours. Leeds' and Manchester's industries also declined, but their councils had the wit to replace them. Ours didn't.

Remember the scheme in the early 1990s to place Stalinist statues on Penistone Road to represent the struggle of the workers, or the World Student Games fiasco? This council has wasted a fortune, and charged sky-high rates to fund it. Then we wonder why we can't attract in the private sector. Our council is more left-wing than those of Leeds or Manchester, and that is the main reason why economically we've fared worse. Ideology before people.

The whole point of our political system is that you play one side off against the other to get the best deal for the electorate, whereas we keep electing the same people time and time again. The northern constituencies which voted Tory at the last election hopefully have made themselves important by creating an environment of competition between the two major parties, and that can only stand them in good stead. Blind loyalty to any particular party gets you nowhere in this game.

 

[Snake]

In the early 1980's there were huge differences between the Sheffield City council and the city's business leaders.

In 1986 these two parties realised their differences were destroying the future of the city.

They came together and formed the Image Working Party and discovered that they both had a similar end objective. Future investment in the city.

The Image Working Party led onto Sheffield Partnerships and the Sheffield Development Corporation was formed and took over the management and planning of the totally devastated Lower Don Valley.

One initiative was to develop a Sports Tourism Strategy. This led to the building of Ponds Forge, Don Valley Stadium and the Arena.

The city was successful in attracting the 1991 World Student Games. There were many other smaller international events plus the European Swimming Championships and the Special Olympics in August 1993.

In September 1990 the Meadowhall Shopping centre opened.

Hotel groups started to take notice of Sheffield. With very little outside investment in this sector since the 1966 World cup, Granada opened up on the Parkway, Queens Moat Houses built a 93 bedroom hotel at Meadowhead (now Hilton), Whitbread developed a 41 bedroom complex on the other side of the River Sheaf adjacent to the Beauchief and Novotel opened a 100+ bedroom hotel on Arundel Gate.

Things looked good. Sheffield was waking up from the ravages of the Thatcher revolution. The city was attrracting outside investment.

Unfortunately in business nothing stands still. Other cities looked, saw and copied.

Manchester built for the Commonwealth Games. London built for the Olympics. These were bigger and better. In addition these two cities put in place plans for their main stadiums. Manchester City and West Ham United moved in. Meanwhile the Don Valley Stadium, with respect to Rotherham United was totally under utilised. We really didn't know what to with it.

Sheffield City of Sport didn't seem credible.

Other cities built larger and better Arenas. Leeds now seem to attract the 'A' artistes while Sheffield Arena pick up the 'B' catagories.

It's argued that Meadowhall has destroyed the city centre shopping. I remember being at a conference (about 1988) at Thornbridge Hall for business and council leaders to discuss the future of the city. There were some foreign delegates invited. The 'threat' of Meadowhall was discussed. A French delegate suggested that as Meadowhall was happening the city centre as a shopping desitnation should be closed and the centre should be used as 'a place to work' and 'a place to live'. This was totally rejected by the 'Sheffielders '.

I realise there is now some retail development but the town centre has been exactly that. A 'place to live' and a 'place to work' for the past 32 years.

This sums up the thinking. We didn't recognise the threat of other cities developing better sports facilities than us and we didn't recognise the threat of Meadowhall on our town centre. Head in the sand, everything will be OK, we've solved the problem, we can sit back and relax now. Very little pro-activity.

Sheffield has tried to promote itself since then. Based upon the 'Glasgow Smiles Better' campaign we had 'Sheffield Shines'. Anyone remember that? No I didn't think so.

I think we have Sheffield the Outdoor City. It comes as no surprise that this hasn't been mentioned on any of the 150 posts on this thread.

As an image to an outsider the leaders of our city should take heed of some of the comments that appeared on Roy's A View From... last season. I was amazed at how other fans saw us after we had grabbed a draw or beaten them. They couldn't believe that their team had not destroyed Sheffield United. We were made out to be a club that had almost just appeared from the Northern Premier.

It made me think that the Bournemouths and Watfords were viewed with more respect. It also made me think that our city is viewed by others in exactly the same way. Second rate.

The city has so many advantages which have all been well documented here. I love the place.

Two exports that no other city can have a claim to is Football and Stainless Steel. The fact that these two products were developed about 100 yards away from each other is a marketing man's dream. We should be looking to exploit this. It doesn't have to be based upon the Football Museum in Manchester (which I was disappointed with).

Do it differently. It belongs to us and this time no one else can copy it.

Happy New Year to all Blades. The New Year starts tomorrow.

Well that was a very interesting read, as you obviously have far more inside and credible knowledge of what has happened to Sheffield over the last 40 years or so than many of us (inc me) on here.

I observed all the things you say above as just a citizen. A born and bred inner-city Sheffielder who stood aghast as I witnessed my beautiful city go down the toilet. I was raised just a 10 min walk from the city centre and spent the vast amount of my time socialising there. As I travelled the country and met many people from all the place, it gave me great pleasure to declare that I was from Sheffield. That all started to changed though from the late 80s. The city centre of my childhood and early drinking years was imploding before my very eyes. Everything that made Sheffield feel unique was disappearing. The white elephant sports stadiums, the out of town shopping malls, I just couldn't understand. We didn't seem to be getting any support or encouragement from central govt or anywhere else. And although, they had some initial usage, by the late 90s the writing was on the wall - and we all know what has eventually happend to the Don Valley Stadium and Ponds Forge. And of course, the Arena is now more or less gone too because every event of any significance goes to Leeds Arena instead. It's sad, very sad. As for the airport !!! Don't even get me started ......which city builds an airport too small to even allow flights to holiday destinations like Spain? That really was an embarrassment and doomed to failure from the start. Now they are trying to convince us that Doncaster Airport is Sheffiled Airport. Again, embarrassing. Mindyou as there are very few flights and nothing like the price deals you can get at other airports, thats also proving to be a pointless airport too .... and its been around going for 20 years now!

 

[JJBlade]

Well that was a very interesting read, as you obviously have far more inside and credible knowledge of what has happened to Sheffield over the last 40 years or so than many of us (inc me) on here.

I observed all the things you say above as just a citizen. A born and bred inner-city Sheffielder who stood aghast as I witnessed my beautiful city go down the toilet. I was raised just a 10 min walk from the city centre and spent the vast amount of my time socialising there. As I travelled the country and met many people from all the place, it gave me great pleasure to declare that I was from Sheffield. That all started to changed though from the late 80s. The city centre of my childhood and early drinking years was imploding before my very eyes. Everything that made Sheffield feel unique was disappearing. The white elephant sports stadiums, the out of town shopping malls, I just couldn't understand. We didn't seem to be getting any support or encouragement from central govt or anywhere else. And although, they had some initial usage, by the late 90s the writing was on the wall - and we all know what has eventually happend to the Don Valley Stadium and Ponds Forge. And of course, the Arena is now more or less gone too because every event of any significance goes to Leeds Arena instead. It's sad, very sad. As for the airport !!! Don't even get me started ......which city builds an airport too small to even allow flights to holiday destinations like Spain? That really was an embarrassment and doomed to failure from the start. Now they are trying to convince us that Doncaster Airport is Sheffiled Airport. Again, embarrassing. Mindyou as there are very few flights and nothing like the price deals you can get at other airports, thats also proving to be a pointless airport too .... and its been around going for 20 years now!

Sheffield Airport was a scam from day one which the dozy pillocks at the council fell for

They gave the land away for £1 on the basis that an airport was built

The development company then built an airport that was bound to fail because the land was worth more to them not being an airport

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

I agree that the the football clubs do embody the city. Sheffield has often been it's worst enemy - both the mentality of a lot of people (we dont want nowt fancy, we prefer championship to PL footbal) and the luddite, unabmitious council (Sheffield Airport, Ikea, capitalising on our Olympic success by...er... knocking down Don Valley etc)

Sheffield has so much it could make more of such as:

• Origin of professional football
• A gateway to the countryside
• Sheffield Castle Ruins
• Where the Kingdoms of Northumbira, Mercia met

The lack of ambition here really frustrates me. I love my city (and my club) that's why I want them to do better, I want them to rise to the top, to the elite.

 

[Crafty Blade]

Blame the council for pissing and whining about Thatcher for the last 30 odd years.

Every other major northern city is streets ahead of us.....light years in fact.

Sheffield rules are the game of football played around the world today.....would you know about it if you came here? Would you fuck. If that’s Liverpool or Manchester it’s plastered everywhere. It’s probably the first things you see when you come out of the train station.

Industry.....massive steel industry in this city a rich history that played a massive part of the industrial revolution.....fuck all about it compared to what it would be in any other city.

Culture....Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, Def Lepard.....rich history again of music, there’s fuck all celebrating it in this city.

Media.....fuck me our attempt to get channel 4 up here was laughable. Not a chance do we have the credentials for anything like that up here. In fact any forward thinking company will not base itself in Sheffield because it’s the least vibrant city in the north

Nightlife.....absolutely wank. There’s nothing apart from West Street in town. Nothing different. It’s just there. Kelham Island could be absolutely heaving every single night but it isn’t.....a few old man boozers and some flats and that’s it. They’ve tried with the trendy shit but there’s nothing really worth encouraging people down there for.

Which brings me on to students.....fuck me our council is obsessed with building student accommodation. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing in some respects but their so tunnel vision with it. Every time they have an opportunity to redevelop something.....’I know let’s turn it into student flats’ fuck me have a bit of imagination just for once, it’s all we ask.

Sheffield is a complete shithole, particularly certain areas of the city centre. Yes, other cities have had more investment but it’s not like they got it handed to them. Local councils and government bodies fought for it to move their city into the 21st century instead of crying that everything was unfair.

Every other major northern city that had industry at the heart of it that was destroyed in the 70’s and 80’s. Sheffield is the only one that a) still cries about it and b) has done absolutely fuck all about it.

Sheffield is stuck in the 90’s and it’s a fucking joke that our council has failed every single one of us for so long.

Just to clarify, as it is a common misconception, Sheffield Council do not build or even encourage student developments. That is entirely down to private investment and probably the universities. I also think a lot of people assume developments are for students when they are just regular apartments too.

 

[dublin 10 blade]

Granted, but its got well established transport links to get into Manchester (8 miles away) where as Donny Sheffield is 25 miles and only in the last year or so a link road has been established. Its been open best part of 15 /20 years. Plus Manc Airport has grown and grown with three terminals and flights worldwide daily, not sure Finningley is on the same level!

It’s the route I choose when I come home out of terminal 3 walk down to train station and back in Sheffield in just over an hour

 

[dublin 10 blade]

Labour's anti business. Sheffield always votes Labour. Therein lies your problem

Democracy, you might not like it but it beats the alternative

 

[dublin 10 blade]

The area around Piccadilly Gardens is notorious for homeless alcoholics and spice heads. Why Andy Burnham has not tackled this, rather than try to reinvigorate his career by promoting himself as the unofficial leader of the opposition is beyond me. It is right in the city centre where most people arriving by public transport see first. It was the same when I first moved to Manchester 20 years ago. I have fond memories of waiting for a tram whilst watching winos fall about trying to do tai chi with some of the residents of Chinatown.
There was a programme on a few months ago about the property boom in Manchester called manctopia. It was a decent watch despite its left of centre, anti-gentrification viewpoint.

Let’s be right and I’m in no way condoning it
But the only reason Manchester has come on leaps and bounds in the last 20+ years is when the IRA planted a huge fucking bomb there and blew the shit out of the place , it destroyed what was in most Manc’s eyes a fucking eye sore and with the compo money allowed it to develop into the city it is now
The homeless situation might be bad in Sheff but I was genuinely horrified to see it in Manchester

 

[CaptainMorgans]

The area around Piccadilly Gardens is notorious for homeless alcoholics and spice heads. Why Andy Burnham has not tackled this, rather than try to reinvigorate his career by promoting himself as the unofficial leader of the opposition is beyond me. It is right in the city centre where most people arriving by public transport see first. It was the same when I first moved to Manchester 20 years ago. I have fond memories of waiting for a tram whilst watching winos fall about trying to do tai chi with some of the residents of Chinatown.
There was a programme on a few months ago about the property boom in Manchester called manctopia. It was a decent watch despite its left of centre, anti-gentrification viewpoint.

Glad you said it. Really enjoyed that show, but it would have been nice to hear from more than that young property developer from the other side of the fence.

 

[dublin 10 blade]

I think Sheffield’s pub scene is way in front of Leeds Newcastle and Bristol and Nottingham and Leicester, don’t really know Manchester apart from Picadilly and there’s no pubs to say much about on there. I like Liverpool having sampled it twice last season.

I was dealing with a scouser in my last job , I mentioned I was from Sheffield
He said he loved going there at least 1 a month on the rip great nightlife / kelham island / and felt safe going around the place

 

[Robby Blade]

The vast majority in Beighton (I'm one of them) want the signal box preserving and Clive Betts was asked to get involved and you are wrong the box is not being replaced it was to be demolished and signalling was being located elsewhere.

Nimbyism of the highest order. Load of "gobshites" wanting their own way. Knock the fucker down I say.

Sounds familier?

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

The OP makes a very relevant point and I was speaking to a couple of people about this myself recently. It was when someone was asking me about Sheffield FC, saying that they hadn’t previously realised that they were the world’s oldest club.

I said “well it’s the birthplace of the modern game, the rules were written there” also that “Bramall Lane is the oldest professional stadium still in use” ....they were a genuine football fan and had no idea. Astonished by all of this in fact. They couldn’t understand why they weren’t aware of these things.

I said “because our city doesn’t shout about it or our homage to it as much as it should.” I basically said that Sheffield is (as much as I love it and call it home) is a very backward thinking place with a historic inability to market itself to the world and tourists.

 

[gordoncharles]

The OP makes a very relevant point and I was speaking to a couple of people about this myself recently. It was when someone was asking me about Sheffield FC, saying that they hadn’t previously realised that they were the world’s oldest club.

I said “well it’s the birthplace of the modern game, the rules were written there” also that “Bramall Lane is the oldest professional stadium still in use” ....they were a genuine football fan and had no idea. Astonished by all of this in fact. They couldn’t understand why they weren’t aware of these things.

I said “because our city doesn’t shout about it or our homage to it as much as it should.” I basically said that Sheffield is (as much as I love it and call it home) is a very backward thinking place with a historic inability to market itself to the world and tourists.

It's a great story that Sheffield FC and Hallam exist as the two oldest (non-educational) football clubs, but too often the role of Sheffield is overplayed. The Sheffield rules, which were an amalgam of various public school guidelines, included "fair catch" and scoring outside the goalposts in the manner of what became Aussie Rules. In the end Sheffield couldn't play unless they agreed to adopt F.A laws of the game.

No Sheffield side was even a founder member of the Football League..

And it's always a bit of a con to claim Bramall Lane as "the oldest professional stadium still in use" considering that claim doesn't actually have anything to do with football. On that technicality it's Wrexham which has the claim.