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.

Many early clubs did not use the word football in their name at all. Conversely, early rugby clubs sometimes referred to themselves, or continue to refer to themselves, as simply a "football club", or as a "Rugby football club".

It is has been claimed that the Barnes Club (later Barnes Rugby Football Club), from Barnes in London, was formed in 1839.However this has not been conclusively documented. It is also argued 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.[http://www.gktgazette.com/2004/mar/features.asp#2 The oldest football club with a well-documented, continuous history is Dublin University Football Club, founded in 1854 at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, which is also a Rugby club.

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 and later switched to Association football (soccer). FIFA officially acknowledges it as the oldest Association football club in the world.

The oldest known football clubs (excluding school teams), and the codes they initially played, are:

• 1839: Barnes Club*, unknown, later Rugby football, Barnes, London, England. Later a foundation member of the F.A.

• 1843: Guy's Hospital Football Club*, Rugby football, London, England.

• 1854: Dublin University Football Club, Rugby football, Trinity College, Dublin Ireland.Oldest documented club to later play Rugby Union.

• 1856: Cambridge University Football Club*, Cambridge rules, later Association football (soccer); Cambridge, England.

• 1857: Sheffield Football Club, Sheffield rules, later Association football; Sheffield, England.

• 1857-58: Edinburgh Academical Football Club, Rugby football, Edinburgh, Scotland.

• 1858: Melbourne Football Club, Australian rules football, Melbourne, Australia. In 1859, members of the club published the first code of rules for Australian football.

• 1858: Blackheath Football Club, Rugby football, Blackheath, London, England. Foundation member of the Football Association.

• 1858: Liverpool Football Club (later known as Liverpool St Helens F.C.), Rugby football, Liverpool, England.

• 1859: Castlemaine Football Club*,^* unknown, later Australian rules football, Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia.

• 1859: Geelong Football Club, unknown, (later Australian rules football), Geelong, Australia.

• 1859: Melbourne University Football Club, unknown, (later Australian rules football), Melbourne, Australia.

• 1860: Cray Wanderers Football Club, unknown (later Association football) Bromley, Kent, England.

• 1860: Hallam Football Club, Sheffield rules, (later Association football), Sheffield, England.

• 1860: Forest Football Club (later Wanderers F.C.), unknown, later Association football; Leytonstone, London, England.

• 1860: Manchester Football Club, (no connection to Manchester United F.C. or Manchester City F.C.), Rugby football, Manchester, England.

• 1860: Lausanne Football and Cricket Club, unknown, later Association football; Lausanne, Switzerland.

• 1861?: Crystal Palace Football Club* (no connection to the later Crystal Palace F.C.), unknown, later Association football; London, England. Foundation member of F.A.

• 1861: Oneida Football Club*, unknown (possibly the Boston Game), Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

• 1861: Richmond Football Club, Rugby football, London, England.

• 1861: Sale Football Club, Rugby football, Manchester, England.

• 1862: Nottingham Football Club (later Notts County F.C.),^* own rules, later Association football, Nottingham, England.

• 1863: Christchurch Football Club,^* Rugby football, New Zealand. Oldest NZ Rugby club.

• 1863: Sydney University Football Club, Rugby football, Sydney, Australia. Oldest Australian Rugby union club.

• 1863: Civil Service Football Club, unknown, later Association football, London, England.

• 1863: Royal Engineers Football Club, unknown, later Association football, London, England.

• 1863?: N.N. Club*, unknown, later Association football; Kilburn, London, England. N.N. stood for "No Names". Foundation member of F.A.

• 1863?: War Office Club*, unknown, later Association football; London, England. Foundation member of F.A.

• 1863?: Crusaders Football Club*, unknown (later Association football), London, England. Foundation member of F.A.

• 1863?: Percival House Football Club*, Rugby football, London, England. Foundation member of F.A.

• 1863?: Surbiton Football Club*, Rugby football, Surbiton, London, England. Foundation member of F.A.

• 1863: Stoke Football Club*, unknown, later Association football, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Some accounts say the club was founded in 1868.

• 1864: Montreal Football Club*, Rugby football, Montreal, Canada.

• 1864: Carlton Football Club, Australian rules football, Melbourne, Australia. ^*

• 1864: Huddersfield Athletic Club, various sports, later Rugby League, Huddersfield, England.

• 1864: A shortlived club in New Town, Tasmania. Exact name and code played unknown.^*

• 1865: Hull Football Club, Rugby football, later Rugby League, Hull, England.

• 1865: Nottingham Forest Football Club, unknown (possibly bandy), later Association football, Nottingham, England.

• 1865: Sydney Football Club, Rugby football, Sydney, Australia. No connection to Sydney FC, the Sydney Roosters, or Sydney Swans.

• 1866: Brisbane Australian Football Club* Australian rules football, Brisbane, Australia ^* No connection to Brisbane Bears or Brisbane Lions.

• 1867: Chesterfield Football Club, Association football, Chesterfield, England

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

Oldest uniform

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The Guinness Book of World Records recognises the Essendon Football Club, which plays Australian rules football in the Australian Football League, as having the oldest uniform of any sporting club in the world. Essendon players have worn a black guernsey with a red diagonal sash in every season since 1873.^*

External links

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• University of Manchester, "Local studies in the History of Sport England" (Bibliography)
• The National Football Museum: History of the Game
• Clifton Rugby Football Club, "Oldest Rugby Clubs"

Football (soccer) culture | Football | Gründungsjahr (Fußball)