Made in Sheffield
Made in Sheffield the ancestral home of football
ITSA GOAL posts are “Made in Sheffield” where Association Football was born and first played.
THE FIRST FOOTBALL CLUB – THE FIRST FOOTBALL MATCH – THE FIRST FOOTBALL DERBY GAME – THE FIRST FOOTBALL GROUND – THE FIRST FLOODLIT FOOTBALL MATCH – THE FIRST GOAL POSTS – THE FIRST CROSSBAR & THE FIRST MINI SOCCER GOAL.
Goal posts being installed at Wembley stadium before the 1936 Football Association Challenge Cup Final between Arsenal and Sheffield United. Wooden crossbars and uprights were used to make football goals in the days before extruded aluminum. In the background is the podium where a conductor in a white suit used to lead community signing before the footballers anthem” Abide with Me” as the finale before kick off.
Sheffield & Association Football
Recognized by F.I.F.A as the oldest football club in the world Sheffield F.C who currently compete in the Football Association Non-League pyramid were founded in 1857. Initially members of the club played between themselves much the same as they did in the local golf clubs of the time. They were varied games married men against single men ,older men against younger men and chosen teams from club members. The second oldest team is also Sheffield based: Hallam F.C. who still play on their original ground, the oldest continually used existing football ground in the world.Sheffield F.C.,on the other hand, have played on numerous grounds in and around Sheffield since their formation.
The very first football challenge match between constituted football clubs was at the Hallam ground on Boxing Day 1860 and this fixture continues to this day and is the oldest derby game in the world. Forms of rugby type football that kicked ,punched, carried by hand and generally tried to force objects into opposing goals took place for many centuries prior to 1857 however Sheffield F.C pioneered the modern rules and practices of soccer, including corner kicks, free kicks for fouls, no use of hands other than goalkeepers, throw-ins ,heading,the first goal posts and the use of crossbars to determine the goal as a target area.
When professional football started Sheffield F.C. decided to maintain their amateur status and play for no other reward than the love of the game. Other local teams Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday who at that time decided to reward players went on to be more successful local teams both winning the F.A.Cup and League Championships. It is with this historical background that ITSA Goal developed the very first uPVC portable goal in a bag. With the concept of smaller proportional goals and pitches for children less players for more touches Mini-Soccer was born. The Football Association adopted the idea and the game has been introduced nationwide. Other innovative patented products have followed and the company has been the driving force behind safety and innovation in goal post design for over three decades. “Innovation that nets results”. This is why Sheffield is recognized the world over as being the Home of Football.
Association Football born in Sheffield played around the world
John Wilson – Itsa Goal Post Ltd – Sheffield -The Inventor of Mini Soccer Goals
Before the introduction of plastic children’s football goals by our company, it was “Jumpers for goals’ All who played in those games will remember the many squabbles that took place with every shot that was within inches of the jumper. When a young lad decided to make the very first 12’x 6’ Mini Soccer Goal from wood and pea netting in 1959 he did not realise that this would eventually change the way football would be played by future children around the world. Read more about the creation of mini soccer goals CLICK HERE
The first children’s 3.6m x 1.8m -12ft x 6ft pvc goals in carrying bags were manufactured by that same youngster in 1989 and the rest is history. The portable goals were easy to assemble, lightweight yet strong, virtually impossible to knock over and light enough to carry around, a set of goals could now be packed in the boot of a car and taken to a pitch for fast easy to set up matched for children.
Welcomed by the English Football Association they were approved to launch small-sided games for children where the introduction of proportional goal posts and pitches allowed more touches of the football for everyone. The small sided game introduced and encouraged girls to take up the game at a younger age which led to an explosion of girls and ladies football. An invitation to F.I.F.A. soon followed and our children’s goal post Goal was subsequently approved by the world’s governing body The Federation de-International de-Football Association. – See the letter below from FI.F.A dated 1992.
A new manufacturing industry producing low-cost safer children’s football goalposts was created around this original innovative idea. They say imitation is the best form of flattery and although numerous copies of our concept have been made none have bettered those original football goals we made. The photograph eblow demostrates the first goal design perfomring at Wembley in the Coca Cola Cup Final.
The brand name we adopted is a tribute to the first legendary football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme who said after the first ever televised BBC “Match of the Day” goal ( scored by Roger Hunt of Liverpool in 1964) “It’s a Goal” The company was formed in 1989 when the small sided game for children “Mini Soccer” was created and the first plastic goal in a bag was invented by our company. Many copies of the original concept of a goal post in a bag have been made but none surpass the speed of installation, the strength, the quality and the longevity of our football goals.
The biggest brand in the world “Coca-Cola “chose our original plastic goals for a unique scheme directed at helping introduce young children to the small sided game. The promotion “The Big Red Bag” was a collaboration with the Football Association aimed at developing the game in schools and junior grass roots football. The equipment provided a complete football pitch in a bag that included two football goals, proportional smaller footballs, corner flags, pitch markers, and players coloured bibs. This low cost easy to use training aid helped increase the participation in childen’s football