{{short description|English football club}} {{about|the English football club|the southern Africa people|Zulu people}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox football club | clubname=The Zulus | image= | fullname=The Zulus Football Club | nickname= | founded= 1879 | dissolved=1882 | ground=touring side | capacity= | chairman= | mgrtitle=Promoters | manager=Messrs Brewer and Rolling | league= | season= | position= | website = | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=|pattern_so1=|leftarm1=000000|body1=000000|rightarm1=000000|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000 }} '''The Zulus''' were a short-lived football team established in Sheffield, England that existed from 1879 to 1882. They were initially set up to raise funds for the wives and families of soldiers killed in the Zulu war. The team disbanded after accusations that they were bringing the game into disrepute and receiving payment for playing.<ref name=Ward>Andrew Ward. ''Football's Strangest Matches: Extraordinary But True Stories from Over a Century of Football'', Robson, 2007 {{ISBN|1-86105-292-8}}, {{ISBN|978-1-86105-292-6}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=0Z3XDW43adcC&pg=PA1&dq=Zulu+Warriors+++football+team#PPA2,M1 pp.1,2]</ref>
==Beginnings== In 1879, a match was played at Bramall Lane against a Sheffield XI to raise money for the widows and orphans of the soldiers killed that year in the Zulu war. They won their second game 5–4 (their first match took place in Scarborough).<ref name=Ward/> Many of the players were taken from local teams, especially The Wednesday. They played in an all-black kit and decorated themselves with beads and feathers and, instead of using their own names, they adopted Zulu names such as Ulmathoosi. After the success of the match, they started touring the country.<ref name="Sheffield Zulus">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040908044035/http://www.sasoccer365.com/Breaking_News/story_6737.shtml The Sheffield Zulus]}}</ref>
==The Zulus on tour== The tour started against Chesterfield touring the town in full costume before the match. They subsequently also took on teams from Barnsley and a combined team from Nottingham and Derby.<ref name="The Owl Historian">[https://web.archive.org/web/20121011235032/http://www.btinternet.com/~a.drake/sheff/zuluz.htm The History of Football in Sheffield]</ref> After it transpired that players were receiving payments for playing they were subsequently banned from playing in official matches. The situation became critical in Sheffield where the 1881 Wharncliffe Charity Cup final was cancelled because of the number of players banned for professionalism.<ref name="FootballInSheffield">Percy M. Young (1962), ''Football in Sheffield'', S. Paul</ref> They subsequently also played in Edinburgh and had an offer to also tour South Africa. They never lost a match. However, they were forced to disband by the Sheffield F.A. in 1882.
==Aftermath== After increasing pressure from players and clubs, professionalism was legalised by The Football Association in 1885. However, opposition remained stronger in the Sheffield area. Sheffield's first professional football club, the short lived Sheffield Rovers, was formed mainly from players of the former Zulus team. The Wednesday followed suit the next year.<ref name="Wednesday">Keith Farnsworth (1982), ''Wednesday'', Sheffield City Libraries</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zulus}} Category:Sports clubs and teams in Sheffield Category:Defunct football clubs in England Category:Association football clubs established in 1879 Category:Association football clubs disestablished in 1882 Category:Defunct football clubs in South Yorkshire Category:1879 establishments in England Category:1882 disestablishments in England