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Oldest football clubs

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The history of the formation of the oldest football clubs is of interest to sport historians in tracing the origins of the modern codes of football from casual pastime to early organised competition and mainstream sport. Many early clubs did not use the word "football" in their name. Although the terms "football club" and "FC" are now strongly associated with association football (aka soccer in some countries), early rugby clubs also 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 also refer to themselves as football clubs. 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. The oldest football clubs with a well-documented, continuous history are Durham School Football Club, 1850[1] and the Dublin University Football Club, a rugby club founded in 1854 at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The Football Association and FIFA, the English and international governing bodies of association football, both officially recognise Sheffield F.C. to be the world's oldest association football club.[2][3]

Defunct clubs

It is possible that football organisations existed in London as early as the fifteenth century. For example, the records of the Brewers' Company of London between 1421 and 1423 mention the hiring out of their hall "by the "football players" for "20 pence", under the heading "Trades and Fraternities".[4] The listing of football players as a "fraternity" or a group of players meeting socially under this identity is the earliest allusion to what might be considered a football club.[5] Other early sporting bodies dedicated to playing football include "The Gymnastic Society" of London which met regularly during the second half of the eighteenth century to pursue two sports: football and wrestling[6] The club played its matches – for example between London-based natives of Cumberland and Westmoreland – at the Kennington Common from well before 1789 until about 1800.

The Foot-Ball Club (active 1824–41) of Edinburgh, Scotland, is the first documented club dedicated to football, and the first to describe itself as a football club.[7] The only surviving club rules forbade tripping, but allowed pushing and holding and the picking up of the ball.[8] Other documents describe a game involving 39 players and "such kicking of shins and such tumbling".

Other early clubs include the Great Leicestershire Cricket and Football Club present in 1840.[9] In 1841 two clubs are documented in a contemporary challenge to play "foot-ball" in Lancashire: "The Body-Guard club" (Rochdale) and the "Fear-noughts Club"[10] A club for playing "cricket, quoits and football" was established in Newcastle on Tyne in or before 1848.[11] The Surrey Football Club was established in 1849 and published the first non-school football list of rules (which were probably based upon the eighteenth century Gymnastic Society cited above[12])

Continuous clubs

It is claimed that the Barnes Club (later Barnes Rugby Football Club), from Barnes in London, was formed in 1839 and is the oldest club to have played football for its entire history.[13] 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.[14]

Another of the oldest football clubs with a well-documented, continuous history is the Dublin University Football Club, founded in 1854 at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The club plays rugby union.

Sheffield Football Club, in Sheffield, England is the oldest documented stand-alone club, that is, the oldest club not associated with an institution such as a school, hospital or university. It was founded in 1857.[15] It initially played a code of its own devising. The club joined the English Football Association (FA) in 1863 and is recognised by both the FA and FIFA as the world's oldest club now playing association football. The club's rules influenced the FA including handball, free kicks, corners and throw ins; it did not adopt the Association's code in full until 1877.

Liverpool Football Club (not to be confused with Liverpool Football Club of the English Premier League), later known as Liverpool St Helens F.C. were formed in 1857, who claim to be the oldest open rugby club in the world. The club only ever played the Rugby School rules.

Cambridge University Association Football Club has been described by the university as the oldest club now playing association football.[16][17] Other sources take the foundation date back earlier. For example : "Salopians formed a club of their own in the late 1830s/early 1840s but that was presumably absorbed by the Cambridge University Football Club that they were so influential in creating in 1846".[18] According to Charles Astor Bristed, in the early 1840s at Cambridge, there were games played between clubs from different colleges and houses.[19] Cambridge rules dates from 1848 and football is documented as being played on the original club ground, Parkers Piece, as early as 1838.[20] The earliest existing evidence of the Cambridge University Football Club comes from "The Laws of the University Football Club" dated 1856, and held at Shrewsbury School.[17]

German side 1860 Munich (formed in 1848) was reestablished as a gymnastic and fitness club in the year indicated by its name, but did not play football until 1899.

English club Notts County, formed in 1862, is the world's oldest fully professional association football club.[21]

The first football club in France was established in Paris in 1863 by English expatriates, as the following excerpt from a contemporary newspaper shows: "A number of English gentlemen living in Paris have lately organised a football club... The football contests take place in the Bois de Boulogne, by permission of the authorities and surprise the French amazingly.[22]

The claim of oldest continuous football club in North America is still a matter of much debate. In terms of gridiron football the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League can trace their roots back to the Hamilton Football Club (nicknamed the "Tigers") which formed in 1869, then later merged with the Hamilton Wildcats in 1950 to form the current franchise. Their rivals to the north, the Toronto Argonauts, were founded four years later in 1873 and boast a mostly unchanged franchise history. It should be noted, however, that both clubs began as rugby football clubs and only later adapted to the gridiron-style of play which would become known as Canadian football. The oldest continuous rugby club in North America which still plays rugby is the McGill University Rugby Football Club which was established in 1863, although their first recorded game was not until 1865.[23] The oldest independent (non-university) rugby club is the Westmount Rugby Club of Montreal, which formed in 1876.[24]

Though football variants have been played in the United States since the 1820s, gridiron-based variants of the game did not distinguish themselves from existing codes until 1871, when Harvard University began playing a variation known as the "Boston Game." This allowed a player to pick up the ball and run with it if he were chased and it quickly spread, with innovations added by Yale University student Walter Camp. The oldest existing non-university semiprofessional football club is the Watertown Red & Black, which was founded in 1896. The Arizona Cardinals, formed in Chicago in 1899, are the oldest club currently in the National Football League, although they relocated to St. Louis in 1960 and then to Arizona in 1988. The Green Bay Packers, founded in 1919, are the oldest NFL club still in their original city.

Timeline, 1839–78

Year Date Club Original code Current code Location Current status/league Notes
1839* Barnes Club Rugby Rugby Union Barnes, London, England London
Division 1 		The club claims formation in 1839, while other sources say 1858 or 1862. Its first recorded result was in 1862. A founding member of the Football Association (F.A.) in 1863 and one of the first two clubs (the other being Richmond) to play a game of Association football.
1843* Guy's Hospital Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Southwark, London, England RFU London and South East – Kent Division 1 See above. There is no documentation for the claim to continuous existence since 1843 and the club may have been inactive for one or more seasons.
1863 St. George's Hospital Medical School RFC Rugby football Rugby union Hyde Park Corner, London, England, but moved to Tooting, South West London in 1970s BUCS league, South Eastern Conference, League 2A Founding member of United Hospitals RFC, and the only one of the original United Hospitals members that is in the same form as at inception
1850 Durham School Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Durham, England Fourth oldest recorded Rugby Club.
1850* Now Trinity Saint David: Lampeter RFC Rugby football Rugby union Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales Officially recognised by the Welsh Rugby Union as the oldest Rugby Club in Wales, when the Reverend Rowland Williams brought the game with him to the College in 1850. The club currently plays within the British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) league system.
1854 Dublin University Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland AIB League Oldest documented football club and the oldest to later play Rugby union. Now playing in AIL Division 2.
1857 Liverpool St. Helens Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Liverpool, England North 1 West The club's first match took place in 1857 when old boys from Rugby school challenged local boys to a game under their school rules. Liverpool Football Club were then formed. The oldest open rugby club in the World.
1857 24 October Sheffield Football Club Sheffield Rules Association football Sheffield, England Northern Premier League Division One South English FA and FIFA officially recognise this club as the oldest now playing Association football,[25] although some sources say Cambridge University is the oldest (see below).
1858/59* Cambridge University Football Club Cambridge rules Association football Cambridge, Cambridge, England BUSA Midlands Division 2A See above. The 1856/57 foundation date has been claimed by the university, which would make it the 2nd oldest club now playing Association football.
1857 26 December Edinburgh Academical Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Edinburgh, Scotland Scottish Premiership Division 1 Oldest football club in Scotland. Oldest documented rugby club in the UK.
1858 Blackheath Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Blackheath, London, England National Division Two Foundation member of the F.A.
1858 University of St Andrews Rugby Football Club Rugby football Rugby union St Andrews, Scotland BUCS Scotland Div. 1, Caledonia Two Midlands Founder member of the SRU.
1859 14 May Melbourne Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Melbourne, Australia Australian Football League The club was officially formed on 14 May 1859. On 17 May 1859, members of the club codified Australian rules football.
1859* 15 June Castlemaine Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Bendigo Football League Foundation date recently rediscovered, but dormant for a period.[26]
1859* * Lima Cricket and Football Club Cricket Association football Lima, Peru Copa Perú Is the oldest club in the Americas and one of the oldest in the world.
1859* * Melbourne University Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Melbourne University, Australia Victorian Amateur Football Association Section A Records of its formation are lost, however there are references of the club dating back to June 1859 and its first match was also in June 1859. Won Australian rules first ever trophy in 1861 by defeating Melbourne. Disbanded during World War I, but later reformed.
1859* * Wanderers Football Club Association football Association football Epping Forest, London, England Surrey South Eastern Combination The club existed as Forest FC from 1859 until 1865. Wanderers played until 1887 and were reformed in 2009.
1859 18 July Geelong Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Geelong, Australia Australian Football League The club's own code was played in the Geelong region and influenced the rewriting of the laws of Australian football in 1866.
1860 20 May Ballarat Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Ballarat, Australia Ballarat Football League Formed as a junior club; senior club established in 1862.[27]
1860 Cray Wanderers Football Club Unknown Association Football Bromley, London, England Isthmian League Premier Division Oldest existing association football club in Greater London
1860 Hallam Football Club Sheffield Rules Association football Sheffield, England Northern Counties East League Premier Division Took part in first ever football tournament.
1860 Manchester Football Club (now known as Manchester Rugby Club) Rugby football Rugby union Manchester, England National Division Two No connection to Manchester United F.C. or Manchester City F.C..
1861 Montevideo Cricket Club Rugby football Rugby union Montevideo, Uruguay Campeonato Uruguayo de Rugby
1861 Worksop Town Football Club Sheffield Rules Association football Worksop, England Northern Premier League
1861 Sandhurst Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Bendigo, Australia Bendigo Football League Founded by J. B. Thompson, one of the inventors of Australian rules football.
1861 Richmond Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Richmond, London, England London Division 1 One of the first two clubs (with Barnes) to play a game of Association football, despite not being a member of the FA.
1861 Sale Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Manchester, England. Guinness Premiership Currently in the peak domestic competition for rugby union in England.

Montevideo Cricket Club

1861 Modbury Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Modbury, South Australia South Australian Amateur Football League
1862 Nottingham Football Club (later Notts County F.C.), Own code Association football Nottingham, England Football League One NCFC official site history.[28] Oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional.
1863* Bradford Football Club Rugby football Association football Bradford, England Northern Premier League Division One North Now known as Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C. Founding member of rugby league in 1895. Entered top soccer league in 1907 in what was known as the "great betrayal".
1863 Christchurch Football Club Own code Rugby union Christchurch, New Zealand Division One — Telecom Cup Oldest club now playing rugby union in NZ.[29]
1863* Sydney University Football Club Rugby football/
Australian rules football[30] 		Rugby union University of Sydney, Australia New South Wales Rugby Union Foundation date disputed by historican Tom Hickie who argues that it was actually 1865.[31] The oldest Australian rugby union club; according to fullpointsfooty.net, it "flirted with 'Victorian Rules' [Australian rules] in its formative stages."[30] The current Australian rules club at the university, Sydney University Australian National Football Club, claims to be a spin-off of SUFC, although the university did not play an inter-club Australian rules game until 1887.
1863 Royal Engineers Football Club Unknown Association football London, England. British Army competition Won the FA Cup in 1875.
1863 Stoke Ramblers Football Club Unknown Association football Stoke-on-Trent, England. Premier League
1863* Civil Service Football Club Association football Association football London, England. Southern Amateur League Foundation member of F.A. Sometimes referred to as the "War Office Club".
1864 Saturday 22 October Wrexham Football Club Association football Association football Wrexham, Wales Conference National The oldest football club in Wales and the third oldest of all the football clubs in the world that are now professional
1864 July Carlton Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Carlton, Melbourne, Australia Australian Football League Source: Carlton Football Club.[32] Carlton has participated at the highest level of its code longer than any other club.
1864 Huddersfield Athletic Club Various sports Rugby league Huddersfield, England Super League
1864 Williamstown Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Williamstown, Victoria, Australia. Victorian Football League The second club from Williamstown which exists to this day.
1864 Montevideo Cricket Club Cricket, Rugby football Cricket, Rugby union, Association football et al. Montevideo, Uruguay. Club Championship
1864 Brigg Town F.C. Association football Association football Brigg, Lincolnshire, England. Northern Premier League Division One South
1865 West of Scotland F.C. Rugby football Rugby union Glasgow, Scotland. Scottish Premiership Division 2 One of the founder members of the SRU.
1865 Bath Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Bath, England. Guinness Premiership Currently in the peak domestic competition for rugby union in England.
1865 Hull Rugby football Rugby league Hull, England. Super League
1865 Nottingham Forest Football Club Unknown (possibly Bandy) Association football Nottingham, England Football League Championship
1865* Sydney Football Club Rugby football Defunct Sydney, Australia Defunct No connection to Sydney FC, the Sydney Roosters, or Sydney Swans.
1866 Harlequins Rugby football Rugby union Twickenham, England Guinness Premiership Originally called Hampstead Football Club, the Club was renamed Harlequin Football Club in 1870 as the membership had ceased to be mainly Hampstead based. As the Club's equipment and stationery was all monogrammed HFC, a dictionary was used to find an acceptable alternative name to "Hampstead" beginning with an H and all members agreed on "Harlequin".
1866 Glasgow Academical Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Glasgow, Scotland. West Regional League division 1 One of the founder members of the SRU.
1866 Kapunda Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Kapunda, South Australia Barossa, Light and Gawler Football Association
1866 Rochdale Football Club Rugby football Rugby league Rochdale, England Lower League
1866 Swinton and Pendlebury Football Club Rugby football Rugby league Swinton, England Lower League Won three Rugby League Challenge Cups and six championships
1867 9 July Queen's Park Football Club Own code Association football Glasgow, Scotland. Scottish Football League Second Division
1867 4 September Sheffield Wednesday Football Club Sheffield Rules Association football Sheffield, England Football League Championship The Wednesday Cricket Club formed in 1820, in 1867 became known as The Wednesday Football Club.
1867 19 October Chesterfield Football Club Sheffield Rules Association football Chesterfield, England Defunct - present club established 1919 Despite the year 1866 having been widely cited, the club's historian Stuart Basson has found no evidence to support the formation of a club prior to October 1867. It was the first of four incarnations called Chesterfield F.C. or Chesterfield Town F.C.[33]
1868 Fordingbridge Turks Football Club Unknown Association football Fordingbridge, England. Bournemouth Saturday Football League
1868 Perthshire Rugby Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Perth, Scotland Scottish Premiership division 3
1868 York Football Club Rugby football Rugby league York, England National League Two York FC was formed in 1868 and joined rugby league in 1901. They went bankrupt in 2002. A new club, York City Knights, was formed in 2003.
1869 Glasgow University Rugby Football Club Rugby football Rugby union Glasgow, Scotland Scottish University competitions
1869 3 November Hamilton Foot Ball Club (later Hamilton Tiger-Cats) Rugby football Canadian football Hamilton, Canada Canadian Football League The HFBC were nicknamed the "Tigers" in 1873. Merged with the Hamilton Flying Wildcats in 1950 to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.[34][35][36][37] Oldest current professional gridiron football team.
1869 North Melbourne Football Club Australian rules Australian rules North Melbourne, Australia Australian Football League Was briefly known as the 'Hotham Football Club' between 1877 and 1888, due to a change in the town's name.
1869 Kilmarnock Football Club Rugby football Association football Kilmarnock, Scotland Scottish Premier League
1870 late April or early May Port Adelaide Football Club Australian rules Australian rules Port Adelaide, Australia Australian Football League [38] Formerly played in the SANFL as the Port Adelaide Magpies until 1997 before awarded a licence to enter the AFL in 1996. Entered AFL in 1997 as the "Power". A new club known as the Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club was formed in 1997 to fill its void in the SANFL
1870 Abingdon Town F.C. Abingdon, Oxfordshire
1870 Darwen Football Club Rugby football (and cricket) Association football Darwen, Lancashire, England West Lancashire Football League The club was wound up in 2009 and later reformed as AFC Darwen.
1870 Burton Football Club Rugby football Rugby Union Burton Upon Trent, Staffordshire, England Midlands Division 1 The club has since changed its name to Burton Rugby Football Club
1870 22 November Marlow Football Club Association football Association football Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England Southern Football League
1871 Ararat Football Club Australian Rules Football Australian Rules Football Ararat, Victoria Wimmera Football League
1871 Birkenhead Park Football Club Rugby Football Birkenhead, Merseyside, England National League 3 North
1871 25 December Reading Football Club Association football Association football Reading, Berkshire, England English Premier League
1872 Rangers Football Club Association football Association football Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland Scottish Third Division
1873 7 June Essendon Football Club Australian Rules Football Australian Rules Football Essendon, Victoria Australian Football League
1873 7 June Essendon Football Club Australian Rules Football Australian Rules Football Essendon, Victoria Australian Football League
1873 2 April St Kilda Football Club Australian Rules Football Australian Rules Football St Kilda, Victoria Australian Football League
1873 Toronto Argonauts Rugby football Canadian football Toronto, Canada Canadian Football League Founded as a rugby team by the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club, itself founded the year previous in 1872.
1874 8 June Rochester Football Club Australian Rules Football Australian Rules Football Rochester, Victoria Goulburn Valley Football League
1874 19 June South Melbourne Football Club (Sydney Swans) Australian Rules Football Australian Rules Football Sydney, New South Wales Victorian Football League Relocated to Sydney in 1981
1874 Port Melbourne Football Club Australian Rules Football Australian Rules Football Port Melbourne, Victoria Victorian Football League
1874 Bolton Wanderers F.C Association Football Association Football Bolton, England Championship The club was originally known as Christ Church and was one of the founder members of the Football League in 1888
1874 Heart of Midlothian F.C. Association football Association football Edinburgh, Scotland Scottish Premier League
1874 Aston Villa F.C. Association football Association football Perry Barr, Birmingham, England Premier League Founded in 1874,[39] also founder member of the Football League.[40]
1874 Northwich Victoria F.C. Association football Association football Northwich, Cheshire England Northern Premier League Premier Division Their foundation date is given as at least 1874. Founding member of the Cheshire FA, the Football League Second Division, The Combination and Cheshire County League. Their home ground Drill Field, at the time of its demolition in 2002, it was believed to be the oldest football ground in the world.[41]
1875 Birmingham City F.C. Association football Association football Small Heath, Birmingham England Championship
1875 Blackburn Rovers F.C. Association football Association football Blackburn,England Championship
1875 11 September Bournemouth F.C. Association football Association football Bournemouth, England Wessex League Known as Bournemouth Poppies to avoid confusion with the League Club AFC Bournemouth Founder Member of the Football Association, the Hampshire F.A. and the Bournemouth F.A. [42]
1875 Dewsbury Athletic and Football Club Rugby Football Rugby Football Dewsbury, England Lower League Won 2 Challenge Cups (1911/12, 1942/43) and 1 Championship (1972/73).
1875 Hibernian F.C. Association football Association football Edinburgh, Scotland Scottish Premier League The Edinburgh derby match between Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian is the oldest regularly played derby match in the world.
1876 Westmount Rugby Club Rugby football Rugby union Montreal, Canada 2nd Division of Quebec Rugby Federation Oldest active rugby club (excluding university teams) in North America. Founded as Montreal Football Club.
1876 Port Vale F.C. Association Football Association Football Burslem,Stoke-on-Trent, England Football League 2
1876 Falkirk F.C. Association football Association football Falkirk, Scotland Scottish Football League First Division
1876 Stafford Rangers F.C. Association football Association football Stafford, England EVO-STIK Premier, England
1876 Partick Thistle F.C. Association football Association football Glasgow, Scotland Scottish Football League First Division
1877 Wolverhampton Wanderers Association football Association football Wolverhampton, England Football League Championship Founding member of the Football League.
1877 Clyde Association football Association football Glasgow, Scotland but moved to Cumbernauld Scottish Football League Third Division
1878 Everton F.C. Association football Association football Liverpool, England Premier League Founding member of the Football League. The club played cricket for two years before adopting Association Football, so could be said to have been formed in 1876.
1881 Glasgow Association football Association football Glasgow, Scotland Defunct 1881 First women's association football club. First match played on May 7 at Hibernian Park, Edinburgh, an unofficial international 'Scotland' 3 'England' 0 with all players from the club.[43]


* = disputed, poorly documented or dormant for a period.

See also

References

  1. ^ www.durhamschool.co.uk/senior-rugby.asp
  2. ^ http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/2009/sheffield_flixton_280809.aspx
  3. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=621801.html
  4. ^ Magoun, Francis Peabody (1929) "Football in Medieval England and Middle-English Literature." The American Historical Review, v.35, no. 1
  5. ^ M. Marples, 1954, A History of Football, Secker & Warburg, London, p. 36
  6. ^ Football The First Hundred Years: The Untold Story by Adrian Harvey, Routledge 2005, page 54
  7. ^ John Hope, Accounts and papers of the football club kept by John Hope, WS, and some Hope Correspondence 1787–1886 (National Archives of Scotland, GD253/183)
  8. ^ The Foot-Ball Club in Edinburgh, 1824–1841 – The National Archives of Scotland
  9. ^ Football The First Hundred Years: The Untold Story by Adrian Harvey, Routledge 2005, page 60
  10. ^ Football The First Hundred Years: The Untold Story by Adrian Harvey, Routledge 2005, page 85
  11. ^ The Guardian, 10 June 1848.
  12. ^ Football The First Hundred Years: The Untold Story by Adrian Harvey, Routledge 2005, page 78-79
  13. ^ Inverdale, John (2 November 2005). "My assumptions about 'oldest' were confounded by Barnes". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  14. ^ "GKT Gazette – March 2004 – A history of rugby". Guy's, King's & St.Thomas's Hospitals Medical & Dental Schools Gazette.
  15. ^ http://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/page/HistoryDetail/0,,10426~1028224,00.html
  16. ^ "Cambridge University Newsletter July/August 2006" (PDF). University of Cambridge. 2006. p. 4. Retrieved 11 July 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  17. ^ a b "Cambridge... the birthplace of football?!". BBC Cambridgeshire. 13 June 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
  18. ^ Harvey, Adrian (2005). Football: The first hundred years. Routledge. p. 251.
  19. ^ Bristed, Charles Astor (1852). Five Years in an English University. p. 365.
  20. ^ http://www.cuafc.org/history.php
  21. ^ The five oldest football clubs in the world are: 1.Sheffield F.C. (1857), members of the Northern Premier League Division One South; 2. Hallam F.C. (1860) also a Sheffield football club, playing a division below the oldest club (Northern Counties East League Premier Division) 3. Cray Wanderers F.C. (1861) 4. Worksop Town F.C. (1861); 5. Notts County(1862). Notts County – A Pictorial History ISBN 0-9547830-3-4 page 8
  22. ^ The Scotsman Newspaper, 22 December 1863, page 8
  23. ^ http://www.mcgillrfc.com/Team/history.html
  24. ^ http://westmountrugby.com
  25. ^ "Famous Sons". Sheffield F.C.
  26. ^ "Goldfields club endures". The Age. Melbourne. [dead link‍]
  27. ^ Ballarat Football Netball Club – Club History
  28. ^ "The History Of Notts County". Notts County F.C.
  29. ^ "Rugby Union Football – History". The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
  30. ^ a b "Sydney University".
  31. ^ Hickie, T. A Sense of Union
  32. ^ "History of the Blues". Carlton Football Club.
  33. ^ Basson, Stuart (6 June 2010). "Four clubs for Chesterfield". Chesterfield F.C. Retrieved 31 August 2011. Although there is a widely-held belief that the first Chesterfield club was formed in 1866, no contemporary documentary evidence has been found to substantiate a claim for formation earlier than October 19th., 1867... The Chesterfield Town FC (1899) Ltd was put into voluntary liquidation in 1915... This left a vacuum that the Chesterfield Borough Council filled by the formation of the Chesterfield Municipal FC on April 24th, 1919... That Chesterfield FC is the one that we watch today... Having done the research I favour the 1919 date.
  34. ^ "Canadian Football Timelines (1860 – Present)".
  35. ^ "Tiger-Cats History".
  36. ^ "Grey Cup 06 Newsletter".
  37. ^ "Here's hoping the Ticats turn it around".
  38. ^ South Australian Register, 13 May 1870.
  39. ^ "History Timeline, avfc.co.uk".
  40. ^ "History McGregor, avfc.co.uk".
  41. ^ "Time called on Drill Field". BBC News. 19 October 2000.
  42. ^ http://www.bournemouthpoppiesfc.co.uk/club/12042/History
  43. ^ Sanders, Richard (2009). Beastly Fury: The Strange Birth of British Football. pp. 204–205. ISBN 978-0-593-05970-8.

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