Sheffield FC: the world’s first football club prepares to turn 160 In the annals of football, the names of Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest deserve to be front and centre. They may […]

In the annals of football, the names of Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest deserve to be front and centre.

They may not be household names, and their legend may not live on in goals and trophies. But if it wasn’t for this pair of cricketers, football may not be the sport it is now.

On 24 October 1857, Crewsick and Prest founded Sheffield FC, and would write the laws and rules for a new game. Football.

Currently playing in Division One South of the Norther Premier League – the eighth tier of the football pyramid – Sheffield FC celebrate their 160th birthday this year, and their continued presence as the world’s oldest football club.

It’s a status the club cherishes and uses to promote the game, their city and their values: integrity, respect and community.

“It doesn’t matter which football team you support, you should still love your great-grandfather.”

“When Bobby Charlton spoke at our 150th year it was quite ironic that the biggest claim to fame Sheffield FC have got is it’s played football for the love of the game for 150 years – no boom, no bust, purely for the love of the game,” chairman Richard Tims tells i.

“In this day and age it is quite the achievement. Our brand and our club is all about representing what is good about the game and our values, the fact that the game is open to everybody – age, race, religion or ability.

“There is a place in the world for the ultimate grassroots football club.”

How it all began

“Two cricketers who played ball games at universities were looking for a winter recreation to keep themselves fit for cricket in the summer,” explains Tims, who gave up his career to become chairman of the club.

“[It was] about the same time as Cambridge University came up with an amalgamation of different laws from different universities and formed a common set of rules.

“The difference between Sheffield FC and Cambridge University is that we are not an educational institute, we were the first specific organisation formed with a sole intention of playing football, so we are a football club.”

Football pioneers

“Along the way we were a pioneer of the game,” Tims adds.

“It was very fluid at that time so the game evolved and we invented cross balls, corner kicks, headers, free kicks, the first floodlit game.

“It’s been a story which I suppose up until 2007 that had never been told.”

In 2007 the club celebrated its 150th anniversary. Roberto Mancini brought his Inter Milan team to play a friendly, while there were visits from Pele and Ajax.

What Sheffield FC and Real Madrid have in common

That same year they were inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, while in 2004 they were presented with the Fifa Order of Merit.

They are one of only two teams in the world to receive such an honour. The other is Real Madrid.

“You’ve got the biggest and richest football club in the world and then Sheffield FC who hold the same award,” says Tims. “Does that not tell you the great spread of the beautiful game?”

Celebrations for the 160th anniversary will be more low-key but special nonetheless, with special shirts to recognise their roots being launched with kit-makers Joma and sponsor Classic Football Shirts.

The club was recently been visited by 450 fans from Bundesliga side FC Köln at their Coach and Horses Stadium in the town of Dronfield, south of Sheffield. But they’ve pinpointed a site in the heart of the city.

“It’s not signed and sealed yet but it is quite close to Bramall Lane so it’s pretty much central Sheffield.

“It’s not one you’d probably choose to build a football stadium on because it is not in great open spaces. But the fact is that the historical importance of where the rulebook was written is absolutely key.

“So if you were on the original site of where club football started then you can build a heritage, history and visitor centre as well as a place to hold education.

“The main thing on our agenda is that we are around for the next 160 years.”

“That is an integral part of us getting back and really ingrained in the city.

“We are not only Sheffield’s oldest football club but England’s and the world’s oldest football, so we have a unique position – it just needs marketing.

“It will help us maintain sustainability.”

A one-club mentality

The first-team attracts a fan base in the mid-hundreds, but unlike most clubs there is a wider goal than the success of the main team.

There’s a host of youth teams, a women’s team who play in the second tier of the Women’s Super League, as well as veteran teams and futsal, while the club is developing its disability section.

Away from the field they coach in around 35 schools and have education link-ups with both of the city’s universities, and are launching an international education programme with Hallam University.

“We have a true one-club mentality,” says Tims.

“On our social sites we probably have about 60,000 followers which is quite a lot for a club of our size but the interesting fact is that 80 per cent of them are international football fans.

“They don’t support Sheffield FC, they love the world’s oldest football club. It doesn’t matter which football team you support, you should still love your great-grandfather.

“The main thing on our agenda is that we are around for the next 160 years.”