Sheffield was neveer an area historically associated with rubgy league and as such the Eagles are a relatively new team being founded in 1984 by Gary Hetherington during the latter stages of his playing career. During the first season he was both manager and player for the club and he built up a team single handedly using players from traditional rugby towns. He also made a concious effort to sign up young players to play for the Sheffield Eagles including Mark Aston. The Sheffield Eagles first games were played at Owlerton Stadium however some safety concerns were highlighted and the team became quite nomadic, journeying around Yorkshire and Derbyshire and playing at temporary venues. It was not until 1991 when the Sheffield Eagles found a permanent home for themselves at the Don Valley Stadium.

The club has seen a surprising amount of success given the relatively young age of the Sheffield Eagles, and were able to improve their league position until in the 1988-1989 season they finished third in the league table and made it to the Premiership final at Old Trafford. They faced off against Swinton in the final and took victory 43-18 granting them promotion to the top flight of the leagues. Unfortunately Sheffield Eagles only survived in the top flight one season before being relegated. They quickly managed to regain lost ground in the First Division and won the Second Division title and Premiership. When the Super League was announced Sheffield were due to merge with Doncaster to form a South Yorkshire based team but this was opposed by supporters and fortunately the teams were able to maintain their identity. Sheffield Eagles were a founder member of the Super League in 1996. The team took part in many noticable firsts since the advent of the Super League including playing in the first game of the new season, being the first English team to beat an Australian team on English soil in the World Club Challenge in 1997. They also set a record attendance in August in 1997 when over 10,000 spectators watched Bradford play against the Eagles.

Just as the Sheffield Eagles were riding the crest of the wave to success they began to hit a period of bad luck, the team finished the season close to relegation only one short year after their massive victory at Wembley. In 1996 the club was franchised as a business under Paul Thompson who floated the club the same year on the alternative investment market.  In 1999 the team accepted an offer from the RFL and merged with neighbouring team Huddersfield Giants. The team was referred to by fans as Shuddersfield and lasted only one lone season before becoming Huddersfield again. Mark Aston (one of the Sheffield Eagles originally recruited players) reformed the team from scratch thanks to support from other Super League clubs and were able to play in the Northern Ford Premiership.

Since the rebirth the team have played in a large number of semi-professional leagues from the Northern Ford Premiership to the second division of the LHF Healthplan National League. Mark Aston was eventually replaced his father as Chief Executive of Sheffield Eagles and the team vowed to never overstretch themselves financially again. Unfortunately this resulted in the Sheffield Eagles being denied entry to re-enter some of the professional leagues as they were denied the money for TV rights. 2003 saw a bad year for the Eagles with a record defeat of 0-88 against Hull FC. However the same year the Sheffield Eagles beat London Skolars 98-4, setting another record. They went on to finish top of National League Two and lost out in the Grand Final to Keighley Cougars. 2006 saw the teams fortunes improve when they qualified for the play-offs in National League One and qualified for the Grand Final for a second time. They were promoted to National League One after beating Swinton Lions 35-10 in the Grand Final. 2007 proved to be another great year for Sheffield Eagles when they finished 6th in the league tables after being bookmakers favourite for relegation.