Oldest football clubs
Before 1860

Oldest football clubs

Section Title: Before 1860
Table Section Text: None

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

1843	Guy's Hospital	Rugby football	Rugby union	Blackheath	England	BUCS Football League	Oldest documented football club in the world and founding member of United Hospitals RFC Now known as Guy's, Kings and St Thomas' Rugby Football Club.

1854	Dublin University	Rugby football	Rugby union	Trinity College	Ireland	All-Ireland League	Oldest documented football club in Ireland and the oldest to later play Rugby union. Now playing in AIL Division 1A.

1857, 24 October	Sheffield	Sheffield Rules	Association football	Sheffield	England	Northern Premier League Division One South	English FA and FIFA officially recognise this club as the oldest now playing association football.

1857, 10 November	Liverpool St Helens	Rugby football	Rugby union	Liverpool	England	North 1 West	The club's first match took place in 1857 when old boys from Rugby school challenged local boys to a game under their school rules.

1857, 26 December	Edinburgh Academical	Rugby football	Rugby union	Edinburgh	Scotland	Scottish Premiership	Oldest football club in Scotland. Oldest documented rugby club in the UK.

1857	Edinburgh University	Rugby football	Rugby union	Edinburgh	Scotland	BUCS Rugby Union Premier North B	Joined the RFU in 1871 but resigned to become a founder member of the Scottish Football Union in 1873. The Edinburgh University Association Football Club (AFC) was formed in 1878 and was a founder member of the Scottish Football League.

1858/59	Cambridge University	Cambridge rules	Association football	Cambridge	England	BUSA Midlands Division 2A	See above. The 1856/57 foundation date has been claimed by the university, which would make it the 2nd oldest club now playing association football.

1858	Blackheath	Rugby football	Rugby union	Blackheath	England	National League 1	Foundation member of the FA.

1858	University of St Andrews	Rugby football	Rugby union	St Andrews	Scotland	BUCS Scotland Div. 1	Founder member of the SRU.

1859, 14 May	Melbourne	Australian football	Australian football	Melbourne	Australia	Australian Football League	A loosely organized side played as Melbourne on several occasions in 1858. The club was officially formed the following year on 14 May 1859.

1859, 14 June	Castlemaine	Australian football	Australian football	Castlemaine	Australia	Bendigo Football League	Foundation date recently rediscovered, but dormant for a period.

1859	Melbourne University	Australian football	Australian football	Melbourne University	Australia	Victorian Amateur Football Association Section A	Records of its formation are lost, however there are references of the club dating back to June 1859 and its first match was also in June 1859.

1859, 18 July	Geelong	Australian football	Australian football	Geelong	Australia	Australian Football League	The club's own code was played in the Geelong region and influenced the rewriting of the laws of Australian football in 1866.

Sentence(s)

The oldest documented Dublin University Football Club, founded in 1854 at Trinity College, Ireland is one of the oldest football clubs.

final_sentence: The oldest documented Dublin University Football Club, founded in 1854 at Trinity College, Ireland is one of the oldest football clubs.