The above picture was taken the evening before England's World Cup semi-final against Croatia as Hallam FC welcomed a Sheffield Wednesday XI to Sandygate.
I've been to this pre-season fixture regularly over the past few years and it's invariably been played on a beautiful summer's evening which makes the oldest football ground in the world even more of an attraction than usual.
Although they ended the campaign falling just short of promotion from the Northern Counties East League Division One, Hallam enjoyed a good season, scoring plenty of goals, playing attractive football and claiming a couple of good scalps in the FA Vase (I was at Sandygate on the afternoon when the downward slope inspired a second-half comeback against Charnock Richard).
The club have made great strides over the years to make Sandygate a welcoming place to visit, embracing the history of the place without simply relying on that alone to attract people along and using social media well to spread the message.
It has been football for a fiver all season with some special offers along the way when either Sheffield Wednesday or Sheffield United have not been in action.
A word on the big two in the city and many congratulations to the Blades and especially manager Chris Wilder, an impressive figure who has earned his managerial spurs the hard way and who I have seen on the touchlines at Hallam on a couple of occasions over the past two seasons just taking in the game and spending time with friends.
Wednesday also look to be on the up under Steve Bruce. The team they send to Hallam generally contains some of the club's Under-18 side and they can end the season with some silverware when they take on Cardiff City in a National play-off final at Hillsborough this coming Friday, 3 May, at 7pm.
Admission to the game for non season-ticket holders is priced at £3 Adults, £2 Concessions.
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