Yorkshire has a proud rugby league history, but it was not until 1984 that Sheffield, one of the county's biggest cities, boasted an RL club.

The club was established by a player - Gary Hetherington who was coming to the end of his career and he was appointed the Eagles' first player/manager.

Hetherington signed players from more traditional teams to establish his side, but he also had a strong policy of bringing through youngsters from the city.

The Eagles surprised a lot of people with their progress on the pitch. Indeed, they finished third in the Second Division in 1989 and made it to the Premiership final in Manchester, where they outclassed Swinton 43-18 to reach the top flight, with club legend Mark Aston named man of the match.

Sheffield lasted one season in the top league but they bounced back in 1992 by winning the Division Two title and Premiership, and in 1996 were one of the founder members of the Super League, taking part in the first ever game against Paris Saint Germain, which they lost 30-24.

However, the greatest day in the club's history came at Wembley in 1998 when they went into the Challenge Cup final as massive underdogs against Wigan.

Aston one of the youngsters who came to the club when it was formed was the star of the show as Sheffield upset the formbook to win 17-8.

That should have been the prelude to more success, but quite the reverse happened as financial pressures forced Sheffield Eagles to merge with Huddersfield Giants and the new club finished bottom of Super League.

The merger lasted one season before the club reverted back to Huddersfield and Aston went about re-forming the Eagles from nothing.

His efforts were rewarded in 2006 when the Eagles beat Swinton to win the Grand Final and regain their place back in National League One.