Oldest football clubs
1870–1879

Oldest football clubs

Section Title: 1870–1879
Table Section Text: None

Date	Club	Original code	Current codes	City/Suburb	Country	Status	Notes

1870	Maidenhead United	Association football	Association football	Maidenhead	England	Conference South

1870	Southend	Rugby football	Rugby union	Southend	England	National League 2 South

1870, 12 May	Port Adelaide	Australian football	Australian football	Port Adelaide	Australia	Australian Football League	Played in the SANFL until 1997 when it entered the AFL. Only pre-existing non-Victorian club to be competing in the league.

1870	Stranraer	Association football	Association football	Stranraer	Scotland	Scottish League One

1870	Abingdon Town	Association football	Abingdon	England	Hellenic Football League

1870	Darwen	Rugby football	Association football	Darwen	England	West Lancashire Football League	The club was wound up in 2009 and later reformed as AFC Darwen.

1870	Burton	Rugby football	Rugby union	Burton upon Trent	England	Midlands 1 West	The club has since changed its name to Burton Rugby Football Club

1870, 22 November	Marlow	Association football	Association football	Marlow	England	Southern Football League

1870	Reigate Priory	Association football	Association football	Reigate	England	Surrey Elite Intermediate Football League	Participated in the first ever FA Cup draw. Believed to be the oldest club in Surrey.

1871	Ararat Football Club	Australian football	Australian football	Ararat	Australia	Wimmera Football League

1871	Streatham-Croydon RFC	Rugby Football	Rugby Union	Thornton Heath	England	Surrey 2	Founded as Streatham Rugby Club but later incorporated Croydon following a move from Streatham Common to Thornton Heath.

1871	Uxbridge	Association Football	Association Football	Uxbridge	England	Southern Football League Division One Central

1871	Birkenhead Park	Rugby Football	Rugby union	Birkenhead	England	National League 3 North

1871, 9 November	Oxford University	Association football	Association football	Oxford	England	BUCS Football League

1871, 25 December	Reading	Association football	Association football	Reading	England	Football League Championship

1872	Lutterworth	Rugby Union	Rugby Union	Lutterworth	England	Midlands 2 East (South)

1872	Dumbarton	Association football	Association football	Dumbarton	Scotland	Scottish Championship	Founder member of the Scottish Football League, and joint winners of the first Scottish Football League title in 1890-1.

1872	Rangers	Association football	Association football	Glasgow	Scotland	Scottish Premiership	Founder member of the Scottish Football League, and joint winners of the first Scottish Football League title in 1890-1.

1872	Clifton	Rugby union	Rugby union	Clifton	England	National League 2 South

1872	Havre Athletic Club	Rugby football	Association football	Le Havre	France	Ligue 2	Founded as Rugby and Athletics Club in 1872 by English expats. Oldest football and rugby club in France.

1872	Cefn Druids	Association Football	Association Football	Wrexham	Wales	Welsh Premier League	Year of 1872 claimed in clubs official history. Lots of discrepancies in clubs official history when compared to primary historical sources.

1872	Wigan Warriors	Rugby football	Rugby league	Wigan	England	Super League

1873	Chippenham Town	Association football	Association football	Chippenham	England	Southern Football League

1873	Exmouth	Rugby football	Rugby union	Exmouth	England	National League 2 South

1873	Halifax	Rugby football	Rugby League	Halifax	England	Championship	Founding members of the Northern Rugby Union.

1873, 2 April	St Kilda	Australian football	Australian football	St Kilda	Australia	Australian Football League

1873, 7 June	Essendon	Australian football	Australian football	Essendon	Australia	Australian Football League

1873	Toronto Argonauts	Rugby football	Canadian football	Toronto	Canada	Canadian Football League	Founded as a rugby team by the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club, itself founded the year previous in 1872.

1873, 1 October	Kirkcaldy	Rugby football	Rugby union	Kirkcaldy	Scotland	Scottish National League Division Two	Founded in 1873 but played its first recorded match on 3 January 1874.

1874, 8 June	Rochester Football Club	Australian football	Australian football	Rochester	Australia	Goulburn Valley Football League

1874, 19 June	Sydney Swans	Australian football	Australian football	Sydney	Australia	Australian Football League	Previously located and known as South Melbourne. Relocated to Sydney in 1981.

1874	Port Melbourne	Australian football	Australian football	Port Melbourne	Australia	Victorian Football League

1874	Invercargill Blues	Rugby Union	Rugby Union	Invercargill	New Zealand	Southland Premier Division	Reputedly the oldest rugby club still in existence in New Zealand.

1874	Bolton Wanderers	Association Football	Association Football	Bolton	England	Football League One	The club was founded as Christ Church and was one of the founder members of the Football League in 1888.

1874	Greenock Morton	Association Football	Association Football	Greenock	Scotland	Scottish League One

1874	Arthurlie	Association Football	Association Football	Barrhead	Scotland	Scottish Junior Football West Premier League

1874	Heart of Midlothian	Association football	Association football	Edinburgh	Scotland	Scottish Premiership

1874	Hamilton Academical	Association football	Association football	Hamilton	Scotland	Scottish Premiership

1874	Aston Villa	Association football	Association football	Perry Barr	England	Football League Championship	Founded in 1874, also founder member of the Football League.

1874	Northwich Victoria	Association football	Association football	Northwich	England	Northern Premier League Premier Division	The foundation date of Northwich Victoria was at least as early as 1874. Founding member of the Cheshire FA, the Football League Second Division, The Combination and Cheshire County League.

1874	Macclesfield Town	Association football	Association football	Macclesfield	England	Football League 2

1875	Lampeter Town	Rugby football	Rugby union	Lampeter	Wales	WRU Division Four West	Officially recognised by the Welsh Rugby Union as the oldest Rugby Club in Wales, when the Reverend Rowland Williams brought the game with him to the College in 1850.

1875	Birmingham City	Association football	Association football	Small Heath	England	Football League Championship

1875	Blackburn Rovers	Association football	Association football	Blackburn	England	Football League Championship	Founder members of both the Football League and the Premier League.

1875, 11 September	Bournemouth	Association football	Association football	Bournemouth	England	Wessex League	Known as Bournemouth Poppies to avoid confusion with the League Club AFC Bournemouth Founder Member of the Football Association, the Hampshire F.A.

1875	Dewsbury Rams	Rugby Football	Rugby League	Dewsbury	England	Championship (rugby league)	Won 2 Challenge Cups (1911–12, 1942–43) and 1 Championship (1972–73).

1875	Hibernian	Association football	Association football	Edinburgh	Scotland	Scottish Premiership	The Edinburgh derby match between Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian is the oldest regularly played derby match in the world.

1875	Club Mercedes	Association football	Association football	Mercedes	Argentina	Torneo Federal C	The oldest club currently competing in any Argentine association football league.

1875	Redruth	Rugby football	Rugby union	Cornwall	England	National League 2 South

1875	Taunton	Rugby union	Rugby union	Taunton	England	National League 2 South

1875	Widnes Vikings	Rugby football	Rugby league	Widnes	England	Super League	Formed late 1875 as Farnworth & Appleton FC, becoming Widnes FC in May 1876 playing rugby rules although two games were played under Association rules versus Northwich Victoria in the first two seasons.

1875	Newtown AFC	Association football	Association football	Newtown	Wales	Welsh Premier League	Year of 1875 claimed in clubs official history as this is the foundation date of Newtown White Stars. Newtown AFC formed in 1885 when Newtown White Stars merged with Newtown Excelsior.

1875	Montevideo C.C.	Cricket	Rugby union	Montevideo	Uruguay	Campeonato Uruguayo	The first sport practised was cricket, then adding association football and rugby. 1875 indicates the first registered rugby game by MVCC, although the sport had been introduced before.

1876	Old Carthusians	Association football	Association football	Surrey	England	Arthurian League

1876	Old Foresters	Association football	Association football	London	England	Arthurian League	Forest School, Walthamstow, started playing football c.1857. The Old Foresters played from shortly after this year, the earliest recorded match versus Forest School in September 1864, but the club was not officially formed until 1876.

1876	South Adelaide	Australian football	Australian football	Adelaide	Australia	SANFL	South Adelaide is the 2nd oldest football club in South Australia.

1876	Bangor City	Association Football	Association Football	Bangor	Wales	League of Wales

1876	Chirk AAA	Association Football	Association Football	Wrexham	Wales	Welsh National League (Wrexham Area)	Formed in 1876 as Chirk FC. Welsh Cup winners on 5 occasions.

1876	Westmount	Rugby football	Rugby union	Montreal	Canada	2nd Division of Quebec Rugby Federation	Oldest active rugby club (excluding university teams) in North America. Founded as Montreal Football Club.

1876	Port Vale	Association Football	Association Football	Burslem	England	Football League One	The club claim to have been founded in 1876, though contemporary research suggests the club was probably founded in 1879.

1876	Falkirk	Association football	Association football	Falkirk	Scotland	Scottish Championship

1876	Stafford Rangers	Association football	Association football	Stafford	England	EVO-STIK Premier, England

1876	Middlesbrough	Association football	Association football	Middlesbrough	England	Football League Championship

1876	Partick Thistle	Association football	Association football	Glasgow	Scotland	Scottish Premiership

1876	Kjøbenhavns Boldklub	Danish longball	Association football	Copenhagen	Denmark	Danish Superliga	Formed in 1876, but association football was only added in 1878. The club itself claims to be the oldest football club in continental Europe.

1876	Tynedale	Rugby football	Rugby union	Corbridge	England	National League 1

1877	Clyde	Association football	Association football	Glasgow	Scotland	Scottish League Two	Moved to Cumbernauld

1877	Crewe Alexandra	Association football	Association football	Crewe	England	Football League One

1877	St Mirren	Association football	Association football	Paisley	Scotland	Scottish Championship

1877	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Association football	Association football	Wolverhampton	England	Premier League	Formed as St. Lukes, before merging with The Wanderers two years later. Founding member of the Football League.

1878	Norwood Football Club	Australian football	Australian football	Adelaide	Australia	SANFL	One of the oldest football clubs in South Australia

1878	West Bromwich Albion	Association football	Association football	West Bromwich	England	Football League Championship	Founded as West Bromwich Strollers, before adopting the Albion suffix two years later. Founding member of the Football League.

1878	Everton	Association football	Association football	Liverpool	England	Premier League	Also a founding member of the Football League. The club played cricket for two years before adopting association football, so could be said to have been formed in 1876.

1878	Manchester United	Association football	Association football	Manchester	England	Premier League	Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.

1878	Kirkintilloch Rob Roy	Association football	Association football	Kirkintilloch	Scotland	Scottish Junior Football West Premier League

1878	Lugar Boswell Thistle	Association football	Association football	Lugar	Scotland	Scottish Junior Football Ayrshire Division One	Founded as Lugar Boswell and played until 1939 and reformed 1945 as Lugar Boswell Thistle.

1879	Fulham	Association football	Association football	London	England	Premier League

1879	Brora Rangers	Association football	Association football	Brora	Scotland	Highland Football League

1879	Sunderland	Association football	Association football	Sunderland	England	Football League One

1879	Koninklijke HFC	Association football	Association football	Haarlem	Netherlands	topdivision sunday	Oldest Dutch club

1879	Doncaster Rovers	Association football	Association football	Doncaster	England	Football League One

1879	Swindon Town FC	Association football	Association football	Swindon	England	Football League Two	Founded as Swindon AFC in 1879, they became Spartans in 1880 and Swindon Town in 1883.

1879, 20 September	Cliftonville F.C.	Association football	Association football	Belfast	Northern Ireland	NIFL

1879, 19 April	St. Gallen	Association football	Association football	St. Gallen	Switzerland	Swiss Super League

1879	Canterbury	Rugby union	Rugby union	Christchurch	New Zealand	ITM Cup	Oldest provincial rugby team in New Zealand.

Sentence(s)

Le Havre AC was founded as an athletics and rugby club in 1872, making it the oldest football club registered in France.

final_sentence: Le Havre AC was founded as an athletics and rugby club in 1872, making it the oldest football club registered in France.