The eventful history of Sheffield Eagles is to be extensively chronicled with the help of a near six-figure grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Eagles Foundation are to advertise for an officer to lead the project which they will run over the next two years.
The charity, which aims to enrich individuals’ lives in the Sheffield City region through the power of sport, has received £93,650.
The Eagles were established in 1984 and famously won the Challenge Cup in 1998 before being relaunched in 2000 after the original club’s merger with Huddersfield.
The project, entitled ‘Sheffield Eagles – the story of a Rugby League club battling against the odds’, will be split into six areas:
1 Researching archives: Looking through information held by the club, at the Rugby Football League, within local archives and by supporters.
2 Digitisation of key documents and items: Documents, photographs, programmes, season-tickets, videos and memorabilia held by the club and supporters will be collected, catalogued and added to an online database.
3 Collecting stories: Volunteers will interview key people (officials, players, supporters and coaches) and record and film their stories.
An audio history of the club will be produced, available through a series of podcasts, with a short film capturing the history of the club.
4 Training and support to volunteers.
5 Sharing the stories: This will include the creation of a website, pop-up exhibitions, learning packs, publications, events and public talks to share the stories and involve people.
6 Working with the local community: The project will extend beyond the club and the existing fanbase to the community within the immediate area around the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park and the wider city.
Eagles Foundation chair David Butler said: “Compared to their rivals, Sheffield Eagles are a very young Rugby League club.
“That gives an opportunity to preserve the heritage by engaging with people who were there in the beginning using modern technology that simply wasn’t available when longer-established clubs started playing the game back in 1895.”
