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More stories will be added on a weekly basis, so keep coming back to see what's new. Very soon the search function will be added allowing you to easily search the entire site for stories, players, games or any other reference.

Learn more about Sheffield Eagles through the stories we've researched and focused on. If you'd like to share your memories and stories with the project then get in touch. 



When the Full Monty film was released in 1997 the Sheffield Eagles 1996 away shirt became known amongst fans as the Full Monty shirt because Mark Addy’s character Dave was seen wearing it in several scenes.

The shirt's first claim to fame The first claim to fame for the shirt though is having featured in the first ever game of the new era of summer rugby – the Super League in 1996. You can read more about that ,HERE,.

Why that shirt in the film? At the time no one knew about the Full Monty film but filming was taking place across Sheffield during 1996. Robert Carlyle’s character Gaz is seen wearing a Sheffield United top and makes reference to the football team. There is no mention throughout the film though of the Sheffield Eagles or why Dave is wearing that particular shirt. For Eagles’ fans though there was something special about seeing that shirt up on the screen.
As part of the work of the Sheffield Eagles Heritage project we decided to investigate why the shirt was chosen and managed to find the email address for the agent of Jill Taylor, the costume designer for the Full Monty film. We asked to see if she could explain why the Eagles shirt was chosen. It was a speculative email and we were delighted, less than an hour later, to have an email back form Jill.
[Quote: "If memory serves me well, and it is twenty seven years since we made the movie, so I’m a little hazy, it was scripted that Gaz was wearing a football shirt and that Dave liked rugby, so as we were filming in Sheffield and I liked the design of the shirt, as did Mark, that’s what we went for." Author: Jill Taylor, Costume Designer]
So while rugby is never mentioned in the film there was a reference in the script and it was good fortune for the Eagles that the shirt for 1996 was so distinctive.
Jill was delighted to be told the impact of the shirt being chosen for the film and how it still lives on as part of the heritage of the Sheffield Eagles. It was for that reason that when we were developing the display case at Weston Park Museum we had to feature the shirt – not just for fans but for those people who may recognise the shirt from the film, but don’t know of the Eagles connection.
[Image: Mark Addy in the Full Monty]

Replica Shirt Linked to the follow up Disney+ TV series launched in 2023 and due to the affection the fans have for the 1996 the Club decided to produce limited edition replicas of the shirt for sale. It is a sign of how special the shirt is to fans of the Club that the first set of new replicas sold out so quickly with more having to be ordered.  
[Image: Replica Match Shirt "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023, Jake Borrill]
[Image: Shirts in the Changing Room - the "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023, Jake Borrill]

The Full Monty Game Inspired by the popularity of the replica shirt the Club decided to theme their last game of the regular season on 24th September as the Full Monty game with the team playing in the replica shirts. Unbeknownst to fans Mark Addy had seen that the Club had reissued the shirt he had worn in the film and placed an order. Becky Higgins, Customer Experience Manager at the Club got in touch with Mark and invited him to be the guest of honour at the game. He was presented with his shirt and a framed version signed by all the players. He also welcomed the players to the pitch in the Full Monty style and presented the match ball to the referee.

[Image: Mark Addy Receiving his shirt "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023, Jake Borrill]
[Image: Mark Addy presenting the match ball to the referee at the "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023]
Despite the fans love of the shirt they also feel it isn't the luckiest shirt and that there have been more losses than wins when wearing it. This proved to be the case again with the Eagles losing 17-6 to a last minute drop goal from the Bradford Bulls. 

[Image: Programme front cover for the "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023]
[Image: Viaplay coverage at the "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023, Jake Borrill]
[Image: Celebrations at the "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023, Jake Borrill]
[Image: Eagles walking onto the pitch  "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023, Jake Borrill]
[Image: Mark Addy Interviewed the "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023, Jake Borrill]
[Image: Cory Aston "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023, Jake Borrill]
[Image: Match Action at the "Full Monty" Game - 24th September 2023, Jake Borrill]

Game Highlights You can watch highlights of the game below.

[Video: The "Full Monty" game Sheffield Eagles v Bradford Bulls 24th September 2023]


Author Richard King

The Sheffield Eagles celebrated their Full Monty connections with their special "Full Monty" game on 24th September 2023.

The Full Monty Game



On Saturday 23rd September 2023 the Sheffield Eagles Walking Rugby Team played their first competitive games in a Walking Rugby Tournament organised by Wath Rugby Union Team.

Walking Rugby League The Eagles Foundation created the Sheffield Eagles Walking Rugby team in June of 2023. Walking Rugby League is a non-contact and no-running version of the game, providing a moderate form of exercise. It is inclusive to all as it allows anyone regardless of fitness, disabilities, injuries or illnesses to participate and benefit from the sport. It also provides participants with the opportunity to enjoy a social activity, help them to get physically active and contribute towards leading a healthy lifestyle.
The Foundation was invited by Wath Rugby Union Club to enter a team into the Walking Rugby tournament they were organising. It was played under Rugby Union rules, with the Eagles the only Rugby League team taking part meaning they had to adapt to the rules of the "other code". Despite this the Eagles won two, lost one and drew one of the four games played meaning they finished 3rd out of the 5 teams playing.

[Image: Sheffield Eagles Walking Rugby Team - Walking Rugby Tournament, Wath, 23rd September 2023.]
[Image: Sheffield Eagles Walking Rugby Team - Walking Rugby Tournament, Wath, 23rd September 2023.]

Heritage Numbers In keeping with the Sheffield Eagles #OneClub approach where all teams (men, women, wheelchair, learning disability, physical disability, touch and walking) play under the Sheffield Eagles banner those that played in the game have been awarded heritage numbers. 
To be eligible for heritage numbers player's must play a competitive (ie not friendly), whether in the starting line up or from the bench. As players don't wear shirt numbers the heritage numbers have been allocated on the basis of alphabetical order (surname, then first name).
Therefore the initial Sheffield Eagles Walking Rugby heritage numbers are:
April Brooks
Vicky Brooks
Steve Cook
Steve Dalton
Andrea Dobson
Richard King
Jack Pemberton
Ian Pinchemain
Ian Swain

Sheffield Eagles Walking Rugby Team played their first competitive games.

Sheffield Eagles Walking Rugby Team



The Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project has worked with Literacy Kicks during September delivering literacy workshops and tag rugby coaching sessions to primary schools across Sheffield

Literacy Kicks Literacy Kicks is a schools programme that encourages children in reading and writing by taking them inside the exciting world of sports journalism, developing their literacy through sports reporting. It was set up by Rugby League journalist Gareth Walker and you can find more details ,HERE,. 

Inspired by the 1998 Challenge Cup Victory The 2nd May 1998 is a historic day in the short history of the Sheffield Eagles. It was on this day, only 14 years after being formed that they defied the odds and expectations in beating Wigan Warriors 17-8 in the Challenge Cup Final. This match is often described as the biggest upset in Challenge Cup history, perhaps in British rugby league as a whole. 
Gareth developed a specific programme using using the 1998 Challenge Cup win as inspiration for the young people to produce a piece of writing. 
At most of the workshops there was someone there linked to 1998 to share their memories with the children and talk about life in Rugby League. We’re grateful to Mark Aston, Keith Senior and Cory Aston for spending time with the schools talking about their memories and experiences. Linked to this, we brought together all aspects of the work of the Eagles Foundation by also offering a tag rugby league coaching session for the class on the same day. Thanks to the funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we were able to offer these workshops free of charge, therefore throughout September we worked with nine primary schools to deliver 21 literacy workshops and 21 coaching sessions involving over 650 schoolchildren.

The Schools Thank you to Grenoside Community Primary School, E-Act Pathways Academy, Phillimore Community Primary School, Fox Hill Primary School, Ballifield Primary School, Oasis Academy Don Valley, High Hazels Academy, Hartley Brook Primary Academy and Hatfield Academy for all taking part in the project.

Feedback We're still in the process of collecting all the feedback and reviewing the project but we know from the conversations we've had with the teachers and children how much they've enjoyed it. 
The enthusiasm from the children has been amazing to see, many of them never having heard of the Sheffield Eagles before. They’ve been inspired by the historic 1998 Challenge Cup win and the people involved to write some brilliant articles about that day. They loved being able to meet a sports journalist, to have a different lesson to normal, learning about the Sheffield Eagles, having a chance to write in a new way and of course the most popular – receiving a free pencil.
It’s been great working with Gareth on this project and we’re already looking at working with him again next year, if we can raise the funding, as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Club.
Some of the schools featured the project on their social media.
[Image: Images of the Sheffield Eagles Literacy Kicks Project 2023]
[Image: Examples of feedback from the Literacy Kicks Project]



Examples of Writing Below you can see some examples of the writing produced by the children.
[File: undefined]
 


National Award The success of the project was recognised in the 2024 Sporting Heritage Awards where the Heritage Project and Literacy Kicks were the winners of the Celebrating Sporting Heritage in Schools Award. 
[Image: Sporting Heritage Awards]

Author Richard King

Find Out More You can find out more about the historic Challenge Cup win and how it has been celebrated over the last 25 years click ,HERE,.

Find out more about the literacy project the Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project and Literacy Kicks have been running in September.

Sheffield Eagles Literacy Kicks



The Sheffield Eagles are recognised as establishing rugby league in Sheffield but they weren’t Sheffield’s first rugby league team, it is in fact the third time there has been an attempt at setting up a “Rugby League” team in the City - first in 1914 and then 1922.

The Research The Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project have discovered the existence of Rugby League in Sheffield before the Sheffield Eagles thanks to a box of documents sent to the Heritage Project by Nigel Borham. This included a photocopy of Issue 5 of Code 13 Magazine from 1987. Graham Williams wrote an article titled “Before the Eagles: A History of Sheffield Hornets” that revealed the little known story. A full copy of the article is available below and the story that follows is based heavily on Graham’s article. It shows that Sheffield isn’t the rugby league newcomer that many people suggest. Sheffield was in fact involved in rugby league even before that name was in use. If either of those previous clubs had been successful then we would have already celebrated over 100 years of rugby league in Sheffield.

Sheffield Northern Union Football Club With the breakaway from Rugby Union in 1895 the Northern Union was formed – this was to eventually become what we now know as Rugby League. In the early 1900s there were two rugby union teams in the Sheffield and the Northern Union saw the potential to establish the new game in Sheffield. A Northern Union game between Yorkshire and Australia was held at Bramall Lane in 1911 watched by over 4,000 people. Various meetings took place in 1914 about a Sheffield club and on 30th April the Northern Union Committee meeting in Huddersfield approved the new Sheffield Northern Union Football Club, based in Heeley. They were going to play in the Northern Combination, a reserve team league, alongside four other teams including Featherstone Rovers. A practice match on 29th August saw Sheffield NUFC lose 37-6 to Huddersfield, with their first full game also seeing them lose to Wigan “A” 25-0. With the outbreak of World War 1, a lack of funding and many of their players conscripted Sheffield weren’t able to fulfil their fixtures from October onwards and on 24th November they submitted their resignation from the competition. They’d played five games, lost five games, scored 28 points and conceded 190. The early form of “rugby league” in Sheffield had only lasted a few months.

Sheffield Hornets Rugby League Football Club 1922 saw the second attempt at rugby league in Sheffield, in the east end of the City, an area now long associated with the Sheffield Eagles. Darnall Rugby Union team were losing players to the Northern Union game, struggling with running costs and were having to cancel games. They made the decision to switch to the Northern Union and were accepted on 27th April 1922. They were originally going to use the name Sheffield NUFC once again but this coincided with the point when Northern Union renamed itself as Rugby League. Instead of using the name Sheffield RLFC they decided to be known as Sheffield Hornets. They were accepted into the Yorkshire Senior Competition, a second grade league containing 15 teams including 9 “A” teams from other rugby league clubs – Featherstone Rovers, Halifax, Hull, Hull KR, Hunslet, Keighley, Leeds, Wakefield Trinity and York. After a public meeting in July of that year it was agreed that the team would play at the Darnall Wellington Cricket and Football Ground in Darnall.
[Image: Darnall Greyhound Stadium shortly after closure in 1965. 

By RJRoweCollection - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=109873969]
The new team wasn’t prepared enough for any practice matches against other teams so had games between the players that they had signed, or were looking to sign. The first game of the 1922/23 season was away against Hull KR on 9th September – coincidentally almost 62 years to the day before the first ever Sheffield Eagles game on 2nd September 1984. The Sheffield Hornets were captained at that first game by Edgar Quigley, a New Zealand international, signed as a statement of how ambitious the club wanted to be. The Hornets struggled though and lost that first game 33 points to 5. The first game in Darnall was the following week against Sharlston when it was another loss, 6 points to nil. There then followed a series of tough defeats against Hunslet, Hull and Wakefield Trinity, conceding an average of nearly 60 points a game. The Hornets realised they were struggling and asked the Rugby League Council for financial support to recruit more players, which they did, and new players were brought in. There was increased confidence amongst the team and closer games, but still no wins in the YSC, with them also knocked out of the Challenge Cup. By the end of January the record was played 17, lost 17, points for 91, points against 434. Things started to change though - there were two draws in February against Keighley and Wyke, but they remained bottom. The first win was at home on 17th March 1923, 25-2 against Pontefract, this was followed by an away win at Sharlston, before drawing with Hull, then top of the division. The results on the pitch started to generate interest off it with 2,000 watching the home game against Hunslet on Easter Monday – the Hornets lost 8-2. They went on to finish the season played 26, won 2, drawn 3, lost 21 with 185 points for and 351 points against.

In order to generate further interest and players, a schools match (Hunslet v Wakefield) was held in April with schools from across the City invited to watch. As a result six schools in Sheffield planned to take up rugby league. Things were looking positive for the 1923/24 season but they could no longer play at the Wellington Ground and had to move to the Hyde Park Ground on Manor Oaks Road. Plans were underway for the next season in a division now reduced to 10 other clubs, with new players recruited and practice matches held. Despite two losses at the start of the season these were then followed by a win and a draw, with things looking increasingly positive on the field. There were financial problems for the club off the field though, with not enough income being generated, leading to cancelled matches. It was hoped that rugby league fans in the City would come to their rescue but unfortunately no new funding was found. The fixture on 14th November 1923 against Keighley had to be cancelled and no further games took place. This meant the Hornets’ record ended played 6, won 3, drawn 1, lost 2, points for 60, points against 71. The signs were that the club was growing on the field, but the money wasn’t there to keep the club going. As can be seen there were many echoes of the Sheffield Eagles story, but the Eagles have managed to survive the many ups and downs of the last 39 years. The records of the Sheffield Hornets and Sheffield NUFC are patchy but if anyone has any more information on these Rugby League pioneers then please do share them.

Further reading You can find out more about the Darnall Wellington Cricket and Football Ground ,HERE,. 
You can find out more about Hyde Park Cricket Ground ,HERE,.



The Full Article You can read the full, original article below. 

[File: undefined]

Author Richard King

Learn more about the attempts to set up a Rugby League team in Sheffield before the Sheffield Eagles

Rugby League in Sheffield before the Sheffield Eagles



The Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project and the Sheffield Eagles were delighted to be able to use the Club's first Heritage Game on 3rd September 2023  as a chance to launch the Sheffield Eagles Past Players Association. 

PPA Launched The aim of the Past Players Association is to bring together former players who may have lost touch with teammates, to receive heritage certificates and to link in with what the Club is doing now. We’ll be putting together a regular newsletter for former players and are hoping to arrange a series of reunions as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations in 2024. 
The Association will initially focus on former players from the men’s team, over time thought it will grow to include former members of all the other Eagles’ teams that have recently been established. 
If you are a former player or are the family of a former player then please get in touch with the Heritage Project. Contact details can be found ,HERE,. 

Author Richard King

Sheffield Eagles Past Players Association Launched

Past Players Association



The Heritage Project worked with the Club to make the home game on 3rd September the first ever Sheffield Eagles Heritage Game - the game closest to the anniversary of the first ever Sheffield Eagles game on 2nd September 1984. In the future the home game closest to the 2nd September will become Heritage Game that year.

The Programme The Club produced a special, commemorative programme that reflected the design of the first ever programme in 1984. Each copy was individually numbered with “Number 1” being signed by all the Sheffield Eagles players at the game. Below are the first ever programme, the commemorative programme, the signed copy and images of the 40 years of programmes that were brought together for the Heritage Game programme.

[Image: The front cover of the first ever Sheffield Eagles programme from 1984]
[Image: The cover of the programme for the first ever Sheffield Eagles Heritage Game - 3rd September 2023]
[Image: The cover of the signed copy (numbered 1) of programme for the first ever Sheffield Eagles Heritage Game - 3rd September 2023]
[Image: A collage of programmes from 1984 to 2023 for the 2023 Heritage Game programme]

Postcards The Heritage Project produced a series of five postcards showing players from the 1980s, 1990, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. These postcards were available free at the match and proved both incredibly popular but also provided a starting point for many discussions and recollections.
[Image: Postcard produced for the 2023 Heritage Game - 1980s]
[Image: Postcard produced for the 2023 Heritage Game - 1990s]
[Image: Postcard produced for the 2023 Heritage Game - 2000s]
[Image: Postcard produced for the 2023 Heritage Game - 2010s]
[Image: Postcard produced for the 2023 Heritage Game - 2020s]

Share Your Memories Linked to the free postcards was a further postcard asking fans to share their memories and post them in the Heritage Project postbox. You can find a selection of the comments below.

[Quote: "Been watching since 88, there’s been so many memories to choose from but my favourite is Wembley 2019" Author: Eagles Fan]
[Quote: "Winning back to back championships was amazing and I’ll never forget it" Author: Eagles Fan]
[Quote: "Mark Aston saved the Club" Author: Eagles Fan]
[Quote: "Being Freddy the Eagleman at the launch of Super League in St Helens. The mascot race was fixed – Ronnie the Rhino was the academy winger" Author: Eagles Fan]
[Quote: "A very wet and cold trip to the Watersheddings in Oldham. Daryl Powell scored a drop goal for the win. Snowed all the way home and only just made it over Woodhead Pass. " Author: Eagles Fan]
[Quote: "Winning the Challenge Cup against Wigan was amazing, being able to “look after” the Challenge Cup in our house was legendary" Author: Eagles Fan]
[Quote: "Two of my abiding memories are the coach breaking down on the way back from Salford and having to wait in Hyde Road bus garage. The other is the first trip to Paris – very contrasting times" Author: Eagles Fan]
[Quote: "The first ever Eagles shirt I bought and wore, then my 4 year old daughter started coming to the matches so I cut it down to fit her and now her teddy is the proud owner of it" Author: Eagles Fan]
[Quote: "The Eagles have given me some of the best days of my life. The Challenge Cup and the 1895 victories being the obvious standouts. It’s definitely more than just a sports team to me" Author: Eagles Fan]
[Quote: "Hitting the target for money raised to save the Club – absolutely priceless" Author: Eagles Fan]

Banners Using the same images from the postcards banners were produced and placed around the ground showing people the rich history of the Club. These stayed up for the rest of the 2023 season and will be used again in 2024 for the 40th anniversary.
[Image: Photo of the banner at the 2023 Heritage Game. Photo by Jake Borrill]

Retro Shirts and Selfie Frames Fans were encouraged to wear their favourite old Sheffield Eagles shirt, with the ground full of different designs dating back to 1984. Selfie fames were also produced for fans to be able to show off their shirts.
[Image: Selfie Frame 2023 Heritage Game - Photo Jake Borrill]
[Image: Retro Shirts 2023 Heritage Game - Photo by Jake Borrill]

Further Photos Further photos from the 2023 Heritage Game by Jake Borrill.

[Image: Postcards 2023 Heritage Game - Jake Borrill]
[Image: Share Your Memories 2023 Heritage Game - Jake Borrill]
[Image: Old Programmes 2023 Heritage Game - Jake Borrill]
[Image: Old Shirts 2023 Heritage Game - Jake Borrill]

Author Richard King