Public transport in South Yorkshire is aiming to be top of the league by following in the footsteps of Sir Tom Finney, Sepp Blatter and even the legendary Pele hailing the contribution made to world football by Sheffield FC.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the world’s first football club, and in recognition of the club’s work in the wider South Yorkshire community, South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) has named a bus in the club’s honour.
David Brown, Passenger Services Director at SYPTE, said: “We are the people’s champion of public transport in South Yorkshire and we wanted to take this opportunity to recognise the achievement of Sheffield FC, the oldest football club in the world.
“The entire football world owes a debt of gratitude to Sheffield FC for - amongst many things - first setting out the laws of the game. This contribution was recognised when FIFA conferred on the club its Order of Merit, the only other recipient of which is Real Madrid.
“Nowadays, the club is just as concerned with how it can contribute positively to the local community, as evidenced by the range of teams it has, including ladies, girls and disabled, in addition to its highly respected schools' coaching scheme.
“That’s why we wanted to give something back to a wonderful institution that has itself given so much.”
One example is the Boots for Africa campaign, heavily supported by Sheffield FC, which arranged for anyone who donated a pair of cleaned, laced and studded boots to Sheffield United before the Inter Milan clash to receive a free ticket for the unique match.
The branding and naming of the bus, which belongs to TM Travel, have been paid for by SYPTE which is also funding the cost of the services it is used on.
The bus mainly runs on rural routes between Crystal Peaks and Worksop, but it will also be seen in Sheffield when it is occasionally used on the new FreeBee service that carries passengers around the city centre.
At the unveiling, Pam Horner and Robert Shepherdson from SYPTE were joined by TM Travel’s Paul Hopkinson to hand over a commemorative model of the ‘Sheffield FC’ bus to Mr Tims.
“One of Sheffield FC’s sponsors, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, is also celebrating 150 years of community involvement,” added Mr Brown.
“The shared anniversary represents the coming together of two industries with the same guiding principles - aspiration, training, competition, self reliance and team work being as important in football as in business.
“We in the public transport field also share these values, and are confident that this bus will help ‘tackle’ some people’s transport problems.”
Sheffield FC Chairman Richard Tims, added: “This is a great honour for our club and quite a unique way of celebrating a special year.
“It is great to see South Yorkshire rallying around Sheffield FC like this. Hopefully some supporters may be able to travel in the bus on the way to our home games at the Bright Finance Stadium in Dronfield.”