About this Event
Join us for this thrilling talk by Alex Jackson at the Silver Room at Sheffield Town Hall on Friday 7th November 2025 at 6.30pm-9.00pm
About our speaker
Dr Alexander Jackson has been a curator at the National Football Museum since 2011. For the last eight years, he has been researching and writing, Football’s Great War: Association Football on the English Home Front, 1914-1918, out now with Pen & Sword.
He has written on various aspects of football history and has a particular interest in football in the first half of the twentieth century.
Football Continued Despite War
Contrary to popular belief, football did not cease during WWI. While the Football League was suspended after the 1914–15 season, regional competitions and charity matches flourished.
The FA Cup was paused, but clubs organised wartime leagues to maintain morale and raise funds for war-related causes.
Football faced criticism for distracting men from enlisting. The famous "Khaki Cup Final" in 1915 between Chelsea and Sheffield United symbolized this tension. Many players joined the armed forces, including the Footballers’ Battalion (17th Middlesex Regiment), which saw action on the Western Front.
The FA banned player wages in 1915, challenging the professional model and forcing clubs to rely on volunteers and local talent. The Club’s struggled financially, with some closing temporarily or permanently due to lack of income and players.
Women’s football gained prominence during the war, with teams like Dick, Kerr Ladies drawing large crowds and raising money for wounded soldiers. This period laid the groundwork for the post-war popularity of women’s football, though it faced institutional resistance later.
Matches became venues for fundraising, recruitment drives, and patriotic displays.
Football helped maintain public morale and community identity during a time of national crisis. The war deeply affected football communities, with many players and fans killed or injured. Post-war, football became a space for remembrance, with memorials and commemorative matches honouring the fallen.
Find out about this great topic on the night with a time for a drink and questions
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Silver Room, Sheffield Town Hall, sheffield town hall, Sheffield City Centre, United Kingdom
GBP 6.13
