The oldest football clubs trace their origins to the mid-19th century, a period when football evolved from being a casual pastime to an organised mainstream sport. At that time, twenty-two men were believed to kick a pig’s bladder around in a field.
The game has since grown and evolved in many aspects, including the use of technology. However, the foundations remain the same.
The identity of the oldest football clubs in the world, or even in a particular country, is often disputed or claimed by several clubs, across several codes of football. Many early rugby clubs did and continue to, call their team’s football clubs as well.
However, this list, brought to you by best online casino ca, consists of what are believed to be the five oldest association football (soccer) clubs in the world. All of them were formed around the same time and many lack proper records of their exact founding dates.
- Melbourne University Football Club (Australia – 1859)
Since there are no records of the club’s exact formation, it is disputed whether or not the Melbourne University Football Club is the second or third oldest football club in Australia. The club’s first recorded match took place in June 1859, around the same time as the Castlmaine Football Club’s first game, but no one knows for sure which team was formed first.
The university’s club played in the Victorian Football Association from 1885 – 1888, which was Australian football’s governing body at the time. In 1907, the eight founding clubs of the Victorian Football League (now the Australian Football League) voted to include Melbourne University as the league’s ninth team.
- Castlemaine Football Club (Australia – June, 1859)
The Castlemaine Football Club was the second oldest Australian football club and formed a few months after the Melbourne Football Club. The club was formed on June 15, 1859, but the team’s first game was delayed a week because the ball did not arrive on time from Melbourne – the team had its first official game on June 22 on the Cricket Ground Barkers Creek.
Castlemaine’s founding date was only discovered in 2007, making it older than the Geelong Football Club, which was believed to be formed earlier. The club joined the Bendigo Football League in 1925 and remains a part of that league today.
- Melbourne Football Club (Australia – May, 1859)
The Melbourne Football Club is the oldest in Australia and is one of the founding clubs of the Australian Football League. The origin of the team dates back to 1858 when members of the Victoria cricket team formed a loosely organized football team. Tom Wills, the captain of the cricket team called for the formation of a “foot-ball club” with its own “code of laws” to keep cricketers fit during winter.
The following year, Wills and a few other cricketers drafted “The Rules of the Melbourne Football Club”, which formed the basis of Australian rules football. The football club celebrated its 150th birthday in 2008 and released a list of “150 Heroes” as well as a special birthday logo that appeared on the official jerseys.
- Cambridge University Association Football Club (England -1856/1867)
According to Cambridge University, its association football club is the oldest club now playing association football. However, the club’s founding is often disputed and believed to either be in 1856 or 1857. Due to the uncertainty over the date of the club’s formation, it is not widely recognized as the oldest football club and it might just be included in the slot games available at nz online casino.
Other sources say the club may date back further than 1856 as there is confirmation that games were played between football clubs from different colleges and universities at Cambridge in the 1840s. The Cambridge University Association Football Club did receive a special award from the National Football Museum in 2016 that recognizes it as the oldest football club in the world.
- Sheffield Football Club (England – 1857)
Sheffield Football Club is the oldest football club in the world, dating back to the fall of 1857. The club is officially recognized by FIFA and The Football Association of England (FA) as the world’s oldest football club.
Prior to the formation of the FA, early football clubs used their own rules and the Sheffield Rules were the first official set of rules and laws used for football games – the Sheffield Rules even influenced the rules of the FA. Sheffield became a member of the FA in 1863, but continued to use its own rules. The club finally adopted the FA’s rules in 1878.