Yahoo Sports Blue plaque honours former football club captain
A blue plaque honouring a former captain of Sheffield FC has been unveiled.
John Charles Shaw became captain of Sheffield FC after it was established in 1857 and went on to be one of the founding members of Hallam & Stumperlow Foot-Ball Club in 1860 - better known as Hallam FC.
Steve Wood, trustee of charity Sheffield Home of Football, which was behind the plans to honour Shaw, said he was a "forgotten but significant figure".
The plaque was unveiled on Norfolk Row, near to where Shaw ran his Law Stationer's business.
Shaw was born in 1830 in Penistone, the son of a bootmaker, and later moved to Sheffield before marrying local girl Mary Ann Garnett.
During his time at Hallam FC he was the victorious captain of the world's first association football tournament - the Youdan Cup in 1867 - and helped to unify the rules of the game.
"Modern football was forged during the two decades between 1857-1877," Mr Wood said.
"Sheffield was the world's leading crucible during this formative time and developments in the world's first city of football helped ignite developments nationally."
'Debt of gratitude'
Shaw became vice-president of the Sheffield Football Association in 1868, before becoming president a year later, a position he held for 14 years.
During his time as president, he helped to develop a universal code of football in England, collaborating with Charles Alcock from the Football Association, based in London.
He died in 1918 at the age of 88 and is buried in an unmarked grave at Brandwood End Cemetery, Birmingham.
"The name of John Charles Shaw is the forgotten significant figure from this era," Mr Wood said.
"Any one of these achievements would each deserve an individual blue plaque, but he did all that and much more."
Kevin Neill, also from Sheffield Home of Football and a former teacher at Penistone Grammar School, said Shaw's contribution to the sport "cannot be underestimated."
"I'm absolutely thrilled and delighted we've now got this plaque to commemorate him."
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