by 66-1112520797 » Sun Nov 11, 2007 4:20 am
The title of the world's oldest football club, or the oldest club in a particular country, is often disputed, or is claimed by several different clubs, across several different codes of football.
It is possible that a football-related organisation existed in London between 1421 and 1423. The records of the Brewers' Company of London, a guild, mention the hiring out of their hall "by the "ffooteballepleyers" for "20 pence", under the heading "Crafts and Fraternities".[1] The listing of football players as a "fraternity" is the earliest allusion to what might be considered a football club.[2]
Many early clubs did not use the word football in their name at all. Early rugby clubs sometimes referred to themselves, or continue to refer to themselves, as simply a "football club", or as a "Rugby football club". Similarly, most Australian rules football teams still refer to themselves as " Football Club".
There is evidence that in the 18th century, English cricket clubs regularly played football in the winter.[citation needed]
The first documented football club is one in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the period 1824-41, and associated with a man named John Hope. Several documents relating to this "Foot Ball Club" exist.[3]
A club for playing "cricket, quoits and football" was established in Newcastle on Tyne in or before 1848[4]
It is has been claimed that the Barnes Club (later Barnes Rugby Football Club), from Barnes in London, was formed in 1839[5]. However, this has not been conclusively documented. It is also argued, and supported by the Guinness Book of Records, that Guy's Hospital Football Club, founded by staff at Guy's Hospital in London in 1843, is the oldest club. While a rugby club still exists at Guy's Hospital, the connection between the present club and the one formed in 1843 is poorly-documented[6].
The oldest football club with a well-documented, continuous history is the Dublin University Football Club, founded in 1854 at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The club now plays rugby union.
Cambridge University Association Football Club has been described by both the university itself and the BBC as the oldest club now playing Association football (soccer), having been formed in 1856/57. [7] However, this is a matter of controversy and some sources state that the club was not founded until 1866.
Sheffield Football Club, in Sheffield, England is the oldest documented non-university club, and was founded in 1857. It initially played a code of its own devising. The club joined the English Football Association (F.A.) in 1863 and is recognised by both the F.A. and FIFA as the world's oldest club now playing Association football. The club's rules influenced the F.A.; it did not adopt the Association's code in full until 1878.
The German club 1860 Munich was founded in the year indicated by its name, but did play any kind of football until 1899.
That being said Notts County are the oldest league club.
