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. The League Cup competition, currently
known as the twentytwo Cup is sponsored by the local sports
company twentytwo.
As well
as the Blades Super Draw and twentytwo sponsorships, local football equipment
company Sheffield Trophy Centre are sponsors of the Leagues
Leading Goalscorer Award and the League's CBC Premier Division
is sponsored by CBC Computer Systems. CBC also
and
it’s through these monthly awards that many celebrities from football,
entertainment and beyond have been associated with the League.
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, 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 Sir Stanley Matthews as well as 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.