Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane is a football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United.
The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall family of file and graver manufacturers. The Bramalls owned The Old White House, on the corner of Bramall Lane and Cherry Street, and the Sheaf House, now a pub, that still stands at the top of Bramall Lane.
It was the largest stadium in Sheffield in the 19th century, and hosted the city's most significant matches, including the final of the world's first football tournament, first floodlit match and several matches between the Sheffield and London Football Associations that led to the unification of their respective rules. It was also used by The Wednesday F.C. and Sheffield FC. It has been the home of Sheffield United since the club's establishment in 1889. It is the oldest major stadium in the world still hosting professional association football matches.
Bramall Lane is one of only two grounds which has hosted England football internationals, an England Test cricket match and an FA Cup Final. It also regularly hosted FA Cup semi-finals and replays between 1889 and 1938. In 2022, it hosted UEFA Women's Euro 2022 matches, including the semi-final between England and Sweden.
The ground has also hosted rugby league games for the Sheffield Eagles, as well as for the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup in 2022. The ground also hosted a Billy Graham revival meeting in 1985, rock concerts by Bruce Springsteen in 1988, a friendly match for the 150th anniversary of Sheffield FC when they played Inter Milan in 2007, a Travis Pastrana Motor cross event in 2016, an IBF Welterweight title boxing match featuring Sheffield United fan Kell Brook in 2017, the Women's League Cup final and a Rod Stewart concert in 2019, and Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe rock concerts in 2023. The stadium has also been used to host England men's and women's senior and youth teams in friendly and competitive matches.
The record attendance at the ground is 68,287, set during an FA Cup fifth round tie between Sheffield United and Leeds United on 15 February 1936. The ground was extensively renovated in the wake of the Taylor Report and has an all-seated capacity of 32,050.
History
Cricket
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 city'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, one of whom was the Wednesday Cricket Club, which was founded in 1820 and turned out to be the direct forerunner of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club.Bramall Lane opened on 30 April 1855 as a cricket ground with a match between "The Eleven" and "The Twenty Two", The Eleven, despite being the senior team, lost by an innings and 28 runs.
A team representing Yorkshire played the first county match at the ground, on 27 August 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 stands to this day. Brown's score of 311 and Yorkshire's innings of 681–5 declared were also records when the cricket ground closed. Other notable scores include 582–7 against Surrey in 1935 and 579 against the touring South Africa team in 1951. Six 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 bowled Yorkshire out for 30 during a match in 1865. 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 thanks to a century by Clem Hill and the bowling of Saunders and Noble, who each took five wickets in England's first innings of 145 and Noble and Trumble who took six and four 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. Len Hutton scored unbeaten two double centuries, a 280 not out against Hampshire in 1939 and 271 not out against Derbyshire in 1937. W Barber posted 255 against Surrey in 1935 while the great Indian batsman V.S. Hazare scored 244 not out for the Indian tourists in the first season after World War II.
Among many notable partnerships W. Barber and Maurice Leyland amassed 346 for the second wicket against Middlesex in 1932 and the aforementioned V.S. 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 a remarkable 15 for 38 against Kent in 1936. Len Braund took 15 for 71 for Somerset in 1902 while 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 five 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.
International centuries
One Test century has been scored at the venue.| No. | Score | Player | Team | Balls | Opposing team | Date | Result |
| 1 | 119 | Clem Hill | NA | 3 July 1902 | Won |
International five-wicket hauls
Five five-wicket hauls have been taken at the venue.| No. | Bowler | Date | Team | Opposing team | Inn | Overs | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Result |
| 1 | Sydney Barnes | 3 7 1902 | 1 | 20 | 49 | 6 | Lost | |||
| 2 | Jack Saunders | 3 7 1902 | 2 | 50 | 5 | Won | ||||
| 3 | Monty Noble | 3 7 1902 | 2 | 19 | 51 | 5 | Won | |||
| 4 | Wilfred Rhodes | 3 7 1902 | 3 | 63 | 5 | Lost | ||||
| 5 | Monty Noble | 3 7 1902 | 4 | 21 | 52 | 6 | Won |
Football
The ground hosted its first football match on 29 December 1862, between Sheffield and Hallam. The game was played to raise money for the Lancashire Distress Fund during the cotton famine and ended 0–0.As Sheffield's primary sporting stadium, it held all the most important local matches. Bramall Lane hosted the semi-final, final and second-place playoff of the 1867 Youdan Cup. 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 permanent home between 1880 and the opening of their new stadium at Olive Grove in 1887.
The first inter-association match, between the FA and Sheffield FA, was also held at Bramall Lane on 2 December 1871. It was won 3–1 by the home side, who also arranged a number of games with other Associations including regular fixtures against the Glasgow FA.
On 22 March 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.
International matches
Bramall Lane was regularly used for international matches before the construction of a national stadium in London. The world's first ever floodlit football match took place at Bramall Lane on 14 October 1878 in front of an attendance of over 20,000. England's match against Scotland on 10 March 1883 was the first match between these two countries outside London or Glasgow. Bramall Lane is the second-oldest football venue in the world still capable of hosting international matches, after the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham.| Date | Result | Competition | ||
| 4 October 1883 | 2–3 | Friendly | ||
| 5 February 1887 | 7–0 | British Home Championship | ||
| 29 April 1889 | 4–0 | British Home Championship | ||
| 4 April 1903 | 1–2 | British Home Championship | ||
| 20 October 1930 | 5–1 | British Home Championship | ||
| 7 April 1990 | 1–0 | Euro 1991 qualifying group stage | ||
| 9 March 1997 | 6–0 | Friendly | ||
| 3 December 2024 | 1–0 | Friendly |