The Oldest Football Club

When talking about football, we are not just talking about just any sport, we are actually talking about the most famous sport in the world. A sport that has brought people together and a sport that has been known to transcend any kind of ideology or religious belief.

But this is not an article about the rules of football. No. This is more like a tribute to a football club that was there at the beginning. A club that although today is not the biggest club or, for that matter, the most famous one, it’s the club that shaped football into what it is today. This club we talk about is Sheffield FC, the oldest official football club in history, born in 1857, in Sheffield England.

The club has been officially recognized by The FA (Football Association) as the oldest club in the world and they have also been awarded with the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit in 2004 (only two clubs have been given this award, Sheffield and Spain’s Real Madrid). The latter merit is truly a big deal, since it’s the highest honor awarded by FIFA, handed to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to the football association.

They have pioneered the writing of a commonly accepted set of rules, as well as they have played a key role in the forming the FA, as much as they  were involved hosting many innovations used today.

Some of these innovations are:

· The First free kick

· The First Throw-in

· The First Floodlit Match

· The First Corner Kick

· The First Header

· The First use of a solid crossbar

Just imagine how the game of football would be without any of these.

Today Sheffield FC are playing their sixth season in the Northern Premier League One South, directly below the Northern Premier League Premier Division. They are based at the Coach and Horses Ground in Dronfield, Derbyshire, the first ground they have owned themselves.

At their 150th anniversary, they played a friendly match against Italia's Inter de Milan, where Brazil´s football legend Pele introduced the two teams. The match ended with a score 5-2 to Inter.

Photos were taken from wikipedia and littletimemachine

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