Sportsman, Sheffield

The Sportsman was built in 1958 by the Worksop and Retford Brewery and is remarkably little altered with three rooms and two sizeable lobbies. The pub was designed by W.S.Daniel, Estates Surveyor for the Worksop and Retford Brewery; building work was carried out by J.E.Smith (Worksop) Ltd., Kilton Road, Worksop. The pub was rebuilt for road widening reasons and it is situated in the Hackenthorpe Conservation Area. The previous pub fronted the road, the front of the new building being in the same place as the rear wall of the previous building. 

It was the last pub to be built by the Worksop and Retford Brewery - the previous building was previously in the hands of Sheffield-based Old Albion Brewery who were taken over by the WRB in 1939. WRB were taken over by Tennants Brewery of Sheffield in 1958, who, in turn, who were taken over by Whitbread in 1962.

There is a sizeable entrance lobby inside the front door. This originally included a hatch for off-sales. A door on the left leads to the games room which retains a bar counter of a distinctive 1950s style (new bar top 2016), the bar back fitting and the fixed seating are both original. It now has a pool table but until recently it was a three-quarter sized snooker table. A 1972 painting of the pub is displayed above the bar.

A door to the right of the lobby leads into the lounge bar with another distinctive 1950s style bar counter (new bar top 2016), the bar back fitting and the fixed seating are original. All bars have original canopies, the shape matching that of the bar. The linked bar feeds the three separate rooms.

A door on the right hand side of the lounge bar leads into a lobby with 1950s panelling to picture frame height all around. A door leads to the concert/function room at the rear with a new lino floor (2016), another bar counter of a distinctive 1950s style (new bar top 2016), the bar back has more bays than that in the lounge bar and the fixed seating is original. There is another large lobby at the rear off of which are the toilets. The wall tiles in the gents ante room and toilets themselves were 1950s light grey until replaced in 2016 and the original urinals have been replaced with a metal trough. The ladies has modern tiles.

All the doors have distinctive 1950s style wooden handles on one side (brass plates on the ‘push side’). The windows have been replaced with uPVC.