Sheffield FC

Founded in 1857 Sheffield FC is the oldest club in the world playing association football (soccer) and a place of pilgrimage for soccer fans. Watching a game here is really a part of living sporting history.

When the club was originally founded the English Football Association (FA) had not been established and it played to a set of rules that had been formulated within the city of Sheffield, known, unsurprisingly, as Sheffield Rules.

Much of the Sheffield rulebook was incorporated into the Football Association’s rules when it was founded in 1863 (largely merging with rules formulated at Cambridge University called, again unsurprisingly, Cambridge Rules). Sheffield FC did not officially adopt the FA rules until 1878 maintaining their use of Sheffield Rules, particularly when playing against local teams, for as long as they could. They still play an annual match against another old Sheffield club, Hallam FC, called the “Rules Derby” although for over a century the rules have been those of the FA

Sheffield FC must not be confused with Sheffield Wednesday or Sheffield United which both play in the professional football leagues in England. Sheffield FC plays at about the 8th level of football in England and maintains a largely amateur tradition.

Sheffield FC has only owned its own stadium since 2001. It has played at various places in Sheffield (including several of the local municipal pitches and both Bramall Lane, now the home of Sheffield United, and the Don Valley Stadium which was built for the 1991 World Student Games and demolished in 2013). The current, very modest, stadium is not even in the city of Sheffield, being in Dronfield a small town a couple of miles over the southern city boundary in NE Derbyshire and even calling it a “stadium” is a little pretentious.

In 2004 the club was awarded the FIFA Order of Merit in recognition of their status as the  world’s oldest club. The only other club to have  been given the Orxdr of Merit at the time was Real Madrid. During their 150th anniversary celebrations the club was visited by both legendary Brazilian player Pele and the FIFA president.

Their greatest playing success came in 1904 when they won the FA’s Amateur Cup.