Sheffield F.C.

Sheffield F.C. was one of the world's first football clubs and is the oldest still-existing club to now play football (soccer), having been founded in 1857.

It is often said to have been founded in 1855, although there is no evidence of this. The team was originally based on various grounds in Sheffield, England, including Bramall Lane, now home of Sheffield United.

History

In 1855, members of a Sheffield cricket club organised informal kick abouts without any official basis. On October 24, 1857 Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, two former Harrovians formed Sheffield Football Club. The Sheffield club is the oldest football club in the world among those that have played, or do play, football. It is the oldest documented club, in any code of football, in England.

Creswick and Prest were responsible for drawing up the club's rules of play in 1857, a code referred to as the Sheffield Rules. At the time, before the formation of the Football Association (FA), many different kinds of football were popular in England. For example, each of the various public schools played football according to their own rules and these varied widely.

The first Sheffield Rules were distinctive. For example, there was no offside rule, opposing players could be pushed, and a player catching the ball would get a free kick. Australian rules football, which began to develop the following year, resembles the original Sheffield code in all of these respects. The similarities probably resulted from the common influence of earlier codes such as the Cambridge Rules). Initially, Sheffield FC games were played among club members themselves and took the format of "Married Vs Singles" or "Professionals Vs the Rest".

Sheffield's near neighbour, Hallam F.C., was formed in 1860 and in 1861 the two clubs first played each other in a local derby which is still contested today. By 1862 there were 15 clubs in the Sheffield area who all adhered to the Sheffield Rules. They later formed the Sheffield Football Association, to play their code of football and did not join the FA.

They became members of the FA in December 1863. In 31 March, 1866, there was a match between a team representing Sheffield and one representing London clubs, at Battersea Park. Rules that differed only slightly from the FA rules was used. However, Sheffield continued to play by their own rules, with modifications, until they adopted the FA rules in 1878.

Its decline from the top echelon of football began with the introduction of professionalism in July 1885, with the amateurs of Sheffield failing to compete with professional teams, losing heavily that year to Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Notts County.

Today

Sheffield F.C. are now based at the Bright Finance Stadium (formally called Coach & Horses Ground and sometimes referred to as the Stadium of Bright) in Dronfield, Derbyshire, the first ground they have owned themselves. They play in the Northern Counties East League Premier League, which is directly below the Northern Premier League in the National League System. There’s now 2 senior teams, 9 junior teams, 1 women’s team (formed by a merger with Norton F.C.) and 1 disability team.

They have recently started a membership drive, notable members are Sven Goran Eriksson, Sepp Blatter and Michael Vaughan. They have also enjoyed links with Real Madrid since both clubs received the FIFA Order of Merit and there are plans to play a match against them to celebrate their 150th Aniversary.

Current squad

Honours

FA Amateur Cup	Winners	1904
FA Vase	Runners Up	1976/77
Yorkshire League Division Two	Champions	1976/77
Yorkshire League Cup	Winners	1977/78
Whitbread Trophy	Winners	1987/88
Northern Counties East League Division 1	Champions*	1988/89, 1990/91
NCEFL Cup	Winners	2000/01, 2004/05
NCEFL Cup	Runners Up	2002/03
Sheffield & Hallamshire FA Senior Cup	Winners	1993/94, 2004/05, 2005/06

*They were not promoted to Premier League after the 88/89 season due to lack of floodlights

Other Awards

FIFA Order of Merit awarded in 2004 (Real Madrid is the only other club in the world to receive this award)

External links

English football clubs | Northern Counties East Football League | Sport in Sheffield