Sheffield has a long history of involvement in sport. Although cricket was the first organised sport, it has gradually been supplanted by football. Both the main two local football teams grew out of cricket teams. Sheffield can claim many firsts in football the most famous one being Sheffield F.C. being the world's first and oldest football club. Today it has a club in every major team sport in England. Sheffield became the first UK National City of Sport in 1995 and is now home to the English Institute of Sport (EIS).

Today the city is home to two league clubs Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, top flight ice hockey (Sheffield Steelers) and basketball (Sheffield Sharks) and a Premier League speedway team (Sheffield Tigers). Sheffield Eagles is the main rugby league club and operates a level below the Super League.

There have been six boxing world champions from Sheffield, including the likes of Clinton Woods and Johnny Nelson. David Sherwood is a top ten British tennis player from the city and the former England cricket captain, Michael Vaughan, was brought up and lives in Sheffield. Joe Simpson, a famous climber also comes from the city.

The largest stadium is Hillsborough Stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday, which holds around 39,850. The now-demolished Don Valley Stadium was formerly the largest athletics stadium in the United Kingdom. Bramall Lane is the world's oldest major football ground and holds around 33,000 and Sandygate Road, home to Hallam F.C., is the oldest football ground. The World Snooker Championships has been held at the Crucible Theatre since 1977.

The earliest reference to cricket involving Sheffield was a match between Sheffield and Nottingham in 1771. The first recorded game of football in Sheffield was played in 1793 between Sheffield and Norton (a village in Derbyshire at the time but now a suburb of Sheffield). The game initially started as six a side but numbers swelled after both sides called for reinforcements. It continued for 3 days after which it descended into a general row.

Hallam Cricket Club was formed in 1804 and started using land in Sandygate as their ground. It continues to be used to this day and is acknowledged as the oldest ground in the world. Sheffield Wednesday Cricket Club was formed in 1820. The first cricket match between Yorkshire and Lancashire took place at Hyde Park in 1949.

By the 1850s the city had several cricket clubs, the matches mainly being played during the summer. Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest wanted to start a team that could keep the players together during the winter and formed Sheffield F.C. in 1857. In 1857 they decided to write the first rule book for football called Sheffield Rules and the first laws of Sheffield Football Club were approved in 1858. By 1860 there were 15 football clubs in the city.

Sheffield United Cricket Club was formed in 1854, so called because it was made up of the uniting of several local sides. It was the first club to be named United. The Bramall Lane ground was built a year later. Yorkshire County Cricket Club was also formed in the city in 1863.