Formed
in 1969 and originally known as the Sheffield Sunday Sports League,
the League has developed to become one of the top adult Sunday football
leagues in the Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA area and
possibly the country.
Since it
started, the League has been sponsored by a number of local companies, but
we believe it to now be unique in that it is sponsored by one of the
country’s top professional football clubs, Sheffield United. The
sponsorship is through the club’s Promotions wing, Blades Super Draw,
and as well as financial incentives for clubs and tickets for games, the
package also sees the League's Cup Final staged at the Blades'
famous Bramall Lane stadium.
As well
as the Blades Super Draw sponsorship, local football equipment
company twentytwo are sponsors of the Leagues
Leading Goalscorer Award and the League's CBC Premier
Division
is sponsored by CBC Computer Systems. CBC also sponsor the
League’s prestigious
monthly Merit Awards, while Angel IT
Solutions are the
sponsors of the monthly Peak Performer Awards and
it’s through these monthly awards that many celebrities from football,
entertainment and beyond have been associated with the League.
development.
Former Blades boss Bryan Robson and his assistant Brian Kidd are among the other presenters, while their mentor, the Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has presented the awards three times. Four previous England managers, Kevin Keegan, Glenn Hoddle, Terry Venables and Graham Taylor have also done the honours.
The late John Charles CBE, the former Juventus and Leeds United star has also presented the awards and John, the 'Gentle Giant' was also the League's honorary Vice President, but he's not the only 'all time great' to have done the honours.
Among
the many others to have presented the awards are World Cup winners Jack
Charlton, the late Alan Ball, Gordon Banks, Nobby Stiles, Martin Peters
and Roger Hunt, while
other world famous
stars include George Best, Kenny Dalglish, Denis Law, Jimmy
Greaves and the late Sir Stanley Matthews as well as the late
Brian Clough.
Other past and present Premiership managers to have done the honours include Dave Bassett, Graeme Souness, George Graham, Ray Wilkins, Joe Royle, Jim Smith and Roy Evans, but not all the presenters have come from within football.
Hollywood star Sean Bean, Donny Osmond, David Essex, The Monkees, rock and roll legends The Crickets and former Monty Python star Michael Palin have all done the honours, while the awards have even received royal approval when HRH The Duke of Gloucester presented the award to Handsworth Old Boys.