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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. 



In an article in the Sheffield Star before the fourth round game journalist Simon Meeks said “A decent cup run, maybe the final four, is a realistic target and attainable with reasonable luck in the draw.” It proved to be more than that.

1998 - Year of the Eagles The Eagles had finished the 1997 season in 8th position, with John Kear having taken over as coach part way through that season. The last game of 1997 was a loss against Wigan in the Premiership Semi-Final. Through those 19 games in charge that season, John Kear saw the potential that the squad of players had. Not just as individuals but their ability to play together as a team and for each other. Before the start of the 1998 season John Kear approached the board of The Club and set out his idea of winning the Challenge Cup in 1998.
[Quote: "They didn't believe me. But as the campaign went on, and after such a great pre-season, the belief grew and grew." Author: John Kear]
Once he had convinced the board it was then a case of convincing the players.
[Quote: "No-one ever gave us a chance, we thought John was mad when he came into our first pre-season training camp and said 'we're going to Wembley and we'll win it'" Author: Mark Aston]

Fourth Round The fourth round game was the Eagles first competitive game of the 1998 season. They played Leigh away, who they had knocked out of the Challenge Cup five times in the previous nine seasons. They went on to beat Leigh 66-11, with Matt Crowther scoring four tries, a career best for a game for him at that point.

Fifth Round The fifth round saw the Eagles drawn against the amateur team Egremont Rangers, this time at home. The Eagles won comfortably 84-6, with Nick Pinkney this time scoring four tries, meaning the Club were in the Challenge Cup quarter finals for the first time in their history.

Quarter Final This first ever quarter final appearance was against Castleford, live on Grandstand – another first for the Eagles. This was a much tougher challenge for the Eagles, with a strong Castleford team who has beaten both Leeds and Bradford in previous rounds. The Eagles scored first through Paul Carr with them leading 16 – 8 at half time, before winning the game 32-22 with a man of the match performance from Waisale Sovatabua.The Yorkshire Post described the Eagles performance as an “exciting, clinical and high speed approach in scoring six tries against the competition’s in form team.” After the game John Kear said “I think everyone’s got to take us seriously now.’

Semi Final The semi-final against Salford was played at Headingley. The Eagles scored first through Whetu Taewa, before Salford levelled the scores then pulled ahead. A converted try by Michael Jackson meant the scores were 10-10 at half time. Despite being 18-10 down with 14 minutes to go the Eagles managed to pull it back with tries from Mark Aston and man of the match Dale Laughton, with two conversions from Aston. The players started celebrating as the hooter went but Salford had played the ball just before it was sounded. The Eagles players had quickly switch focus chase down Steve Blakely who made a break down the pitch. The victory was marred by a Salford supporter running onto the pitch after the final hooter to attack the referee Stuart Cummings, with the Eagles players quickly on hand to rescue the referee.

The Cup Run Going into the final the odds of the Sheffield Eagles beating Wigan were 14-1 against. With the Super League season starting after the semi-final the Eagles weren’t in the best of form – losing three out of the four games before the Challenge Cup final. Wigan had won the Challenge Cup eight times between 1988 and that point. No one outside The Club was predicting a victory for the Eagles, in fact many fans doubted it themselves. For them it was a day out and a chance to experience the atmosphere at Wembley, as it may never happen again. The coaches and players had a different idea.

Author Richard King

How the Sheffield Eagles Reached the Challenge Cup Final

The Road to Wembley



The Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project was contacted by long time Sheffield Eagles Fan Dean Palmer to let us know he has a digital version of a VHS tape of the first ever Sheffield Eagles game. We're delighted to be able to share it, but also make sure it as archived for the future. 

Sheffield Eagles v Rochdale Hornets The Heritage Project has produced previous stories about the first Sheffield Eagles game and was able to share digitised versions of the match programme, photos from the game and people's memories. We're delighted now to be able to share a full video, including commentary of that first ever game. Dean's parents were both at that first game and had a VHS copy of the game that was digitised. Dean's parents helped run the Eagles Colts team in the late 1980s with Dean playing for them and the original Hillsborough Hawks team.
Commentary on the game was by Martyn Sadler now the editor of the League Express - at the time he was a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. 
As you can imagine the picture quality isn't what we're used to today - it's transferred from an almost 40 year old VHS tape. It does capture the occasion though and the historic first appearance of the Sheffield Eagles.

[Video: Sheffield Eagles v Rochdale Hornets, 2nd September 1984]
 

Share Your Memories Were you at the first game? What are your memories of it?
We're also keen to track down the players from that first game as we'd like to organise an event with them later in the year. If you were a player in that first game or you are a relative of them then please get in touch.
You can contact the Heritage Project ,HERE,. 

Author Richard King

Below you can find full footage (including commentary) of the first ever Sheffield Eagles game on 2nd September 1984 against Rochdale Hornets.

Footage of the first ever Sheffield Eagles game discovered



Does programme from the 1998 Challenge Cup bring back memories for you? Would you like to share them with the Heritage Project as part of the 25th Anniversary celebrations?

Share Your Memories Were you at the 1998 Challenge Cup final at Wembley? Did you watch it on television? What are your memories of that game, the previous rounds, the build up to the final and what happened afterwards?
As part of the celebrations for the 25th Anniversary of the historic win we'd like you to share your memories. Let us know by email or by commenting on our Facebook page. Have you got photos from the day? Have you got any memorabilia? Why not send us a voice note or short video of your memories and we'll include it as part of the activities we're putting together to mark the day. 

You can contact us ,HERE,. 

Read the Programme You can read the full version of the 1998 programme below.

Part 1


[File: undefined]
Part 2

[File: undefined]
Part 3

[File: undefined]

Share your memories from the historic 1998 Challenge Cup victory

Share Your Memories of 1998



Work was completed on the stadium in September 1990 ahead of the World Student Games which were to be held there in July 1991.

The Stadium The grandstand could hold 10,000 spectators with capacity for a further 15,000 in open air terrace seating. The whole of the athletic running track and infield was lit up by floodlights. The track was designed and built sunken 16 feet below ground level resulting in it being sheltered, thus giving ideal viewing conditions for the crowd and the athletes the ability to produce peak performances.
In addition to being a sporting venue Don Valley was also used as an open air concert facility with a 15,000 seating area and room for a further 50,000 standing. The first concert was in 1993 when Sheffield band Def Leppard performed there. Other major stars followed, such as Bon Jovi, U2, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion and The Spice Girls.
Don Valley was the training base of the City of Sheffield Athletics Club and held the Sheffield Half Marathon. Rotherham United played their home league games there between 2008 – 2012 when the New York Stadium was being completed. Sheffield FC and Sheffield Wednesday Ladies also for a time played at Don Valley and American football was held at the stadium between 1999 – 2007.
The celebrity sports show The Games also used the facilities at Don Valley as part of its filming.


A home for the Sheffield Eagles  In 1991 Don Valley Stadium was the new home of Sheffield Eagles.The club’s record attendance was set in August 1997 when a crowd of 10,603 watched The Eagles play Bradford Bulls.

Personal Memories At the time, the World Student Games was the largest sporting event to be held in the United Kingdom since the 1948 summer Olympics and the only time the event has taken place in the UK. More than 3,000 athletes took part from 101 nations. Hyde Park flats in Sheffield were refurbished and used to house the athletes village. Three new venues were purpose built, all on land which had previously been industrial works in Sheffield - Don Valley, Ponds Forge and Sheffield Arena.
I can clearly remember attending the opening ceremony and being in awe of the grand spectacle of it all, seeing the athletes proudly parade around the track carrying flags to represent their countries, I had never seen anything like it before. There was a wonderful atmosphere in Don Valley and Sheffield as a whole at that time as the city got behind the event to support it.
As a spectator, I attended the swimming and diving at Ponds Forge and also badminton which was held at a local sports facility close to where I lived at the time, but it was Don Valley which I loved the best. There was something about the venue unlike anything I had experienced before which I think the athletes and spectators alike could appreciate. 
The World Student Games and Don Valley Stadium have remained fondly in my memory and hopefully also in the memories of the competitors who spent a couple of weeks in Sheffield in July 1991.
[Image: Don Valley Stadium - Caroline Guest]
[Image: Don Valley Stadium - Caroline Guest]
[Image: Don Valley Stadium - Caroline Guest]
[Image: Don Valley Stadium - Caroline Guest]
[Image: Don Valley Stadium - Caroline Guest]

Share your memories If anyone else has any memories of what made Don Valley Stadium special to them please do get in touch and let us know, it would be lovely to hear your stories and to remember this special place. Contact us ,HERE,. 

Author Caroline Guest

A short history of Don Valley Stadium and some personal memories

Remembering Don Valley Stadium



If you click on each of the player names you'll be taken to their playing profile showing their heritage number and playing record. We'll be adding profile pictures over the next week. 

2023 Playing Squad 
[Player 401, Cory Aston]
[Player 527, Jason Bass]
[Player 508, Connor Bower]
[Player 485, Blake Broadbent]
[Player 534, Matty Chrimes]
[Player 545, Matty  Dawson-Jones]
[Player 514, Tyler Dickinson]
[Player 533, Brandon Douglas]
[Player 510, Izaac Farrell]
[Player 494, Joel Farrell]
[Player 491, Josh Guzdek]
[Player 542, Titus  Gwaze]
[Player 528, Vila  Halafihi]
[Player 544, Jack Hansen]
[Player 548, Joe Hird]
[Player 522, Evan Hodgson]
[Player 513, Ryan Johnson]
[Player 525, Ben Jones-Bishop]
[Player 529, Liam  Kirk]
[Player 381, Quentin Laulu-Togaga'e]
[Player 535, Bayley Liu]
[Player 543, Aaron Murphy]
[Player 526, Ross Oakes]
[Player 547, Lewis Peachey]
[Player 426, Oliver Roberts ]
[Player 546, Jesse  Sene-Lefao]
[Player 541, Ben Sheils]
[Player 492, Anthony Thackeray]
[Player 530, Kris Welham]
[Player 531, Mikey Wood]
The playing figures were last updated on 13th March 2023. The aim is to update them on a monthly basis but if you want the most up to date figures then go to the Rugby League Record Keepers Club website ,HERE,. 

Author Richard King

This is the 2023 playing squad who currently have heritage numbers. 

2023 Squad



Heritage Certificate Presentation Every player who has ever played for the Sheffield Eagles is given a heritage number to mark the point they played for the Club. The Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project, is going to produce certificates for all players and present them over the next year.
On the evening of 17th February 2023 we were delighted to be able to welcome the player with heritage number one to the field to receive his certificate. Not only is Andy Tyers player number one but he is also Sheffield Eagles Chief Executive. Andy was presented with his certificate by Club President Chris Noble.
[Image: Chris Noble and Andy Tyers]
Andy then went on to present certificates to a number of players who played for the Eagles in the early 2000s or had connections with Jon Bruce who also received his certificate that night. 
Andy Young, heritage number 95, made his debut on 15th November 1987 against Wigan
Gavin Brown, heritage number 230, made his debut against Lancashire Lynx on 28th December 2000
Glen Freeman, heritage number 233, made his debut against Lancashire Lynx on 28th December 2000
Wayne Freeman, heritage number 234, made his debut against Lancashire Lynx on 28th December 2000
Andy Brent, heritage number 239, made his debut against Batley on 16th January 2000
Lee Bettinson, heritage number 240, made his debut against Hull KR on 23rd January 2000
Richard Goddard, heritage number 242, made is debut against Hunslet 25th January 2000
Jack Howieson, heritage number 260, made his debut against Doncaster on 13th April 2001
Greg Hurst, heritage number 276, made his debut against Huddersfield on 11th August 2002

[Image: Andy Young and Andy Tyers]
[Image: Gavin Brown and Andy Tyers]
[Image: Glen Freeman and Andy Tyers]
[Image: Wayne Freeman and Andy Tyers]
[Image: Andy Brent and Andy Tyers]
[Image: Lee Bettinson and Andy Tyers]
[Image: Richard Goddard and Andy Tyers]
[Image: Jack Howieson and Andy Tyers]
[Image: Greg Hurst and Andy Tyers]


RECEIVE YOUR CERTIFCATE If you're a former Sheffield Eagles player or a member of their family and would like to receive your heritage certificate then please get in touch ,HERE,.

Share Your Memories Do you have any memories of the players who received their certificates? Share your memories ,here,. 

Photographer Alex Coleman

Author Richard King