History of the Look Local Hallamshire Nomads Sunday Football League

In 1968 the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Football Association SHCFA decided to introduce a Sunday League to Sheffield due to the upsurge in interest for Sunday morning football. The name of the league was decided as The Hallamshire Sunday Football League and it was born with three divisions of fourteen clubs in each. The growing interest in Sunday football was born from the success of the England team in the 1966 World Cup, and a more liberal attitude of the Church Lobby in the late 60’s.

A number of Sunday Leagues were born in this era and most of them survive today albeit with differing names due to the advent of Sponsorship. The HSFL has maintained its name throughout its history apart from a brief encounter with sponsorship when it was known as Shefftax Hallamshire Sunday Football League.

The league itself was initially wholly run by the County Association under the guidance of the Secretary, Ernest Kangley, from the Association Offices on Waingate. This was how it remained until the summer of 1979 when the then Association Secretary, Geoff Thompson invited all club Secretaries to a meeting at the new offices at 253 Pitsmoor Road.

Upto 200-2001 season Granville Grayson the Secretary of Stannington Village, and Dennis Sanderson are the only survivors of that meeting. We were told that the County Association could no longer oversee the running of the league due to increasing workloads. If we wished to continue then we would have to form our own Committee of Officers and administer the league as a Management Committee.

Volunteers were asked for and the first Secretary was Keith Parsonage from Handsworth who was well respected in both Local Football and Cricketing fraternity. A committee was formed and the league carried on as it does today. The first President was Arnold Kettel after whom our sporting award is named following his death.

Keith Parsonage tragically died on New Years Day 1991, Dennis Sanderson was cajoled into taking over as Secretary which he agreed to do on a ‘Temporary’ basis. (10 years until 2001)

During the 90’s it was decided to cut the number of teams from 14 to 12 per division. This was in line with other leagues and also to accommodate other cup competitions and the fact that most pitches were closed for a two-week period over Christmas.

More recently as we enter a new millennium, Sunday morning Football has seen a steady decline. Some leagues have been forced to amalgamate or cut down the number of divisions. In 2002-03 Season The Hallamshire Sunday League amalgamated with the Nomads Sunday League to form the Hallamshire Nomads Sunday League.

In 2005 the league entered a new phase of Sponsorship with the Announcement of Look Local Newspaper as the leagues main sponsor. A five year sponsorship will see another change for the league, from 2005/2006 season the league will be know as Look Local Newspaper Hallamshire Nomads League.

Mark Senior Secretary