Foot-Ball Club
| Full name | Foot-Ball Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1824 |
| Dissolved | c. 1841 |
| Ground | Dalry Park (1824–31) Greenhill Park (1831–41) |
The Foot-Ball Club was a football club in Edinburgh, Scotland, formed in 1824.[1] The club met in the summer months to play a form of football which involved picking up the ball.[1] Nevertheless, the organisation can claim to be the earliest recorded club with football in its name.[2] A modern association football club with the same name was formed in 2007, in an attempt to revive the legacy of the old club.
History
[edit]
The Foot-Ball Club of Edinburgh is thought to be the first recorded football club in the world with records going back to 1824.[3][4] Membership lists and accounts of the club between 1824 and 1841 are held in the National Archives of Scotland (NAS).[1]
Founded by John Hope in 1824, the club played its games in the city's Dalry Park until 1831, when they moved to Greenhill Park.[3] The club appears to have met and played every summer, but there is no record of it after 1841.[3] The game the club played included running with ball in hand, kicking the ball, full bodily tackling, and scrums.[5]
In 2017, a brief set of handwritten rules was found on the back of the club's 1833 budget statement. This has been described as the earliest known written rules of a form of football[6][7] although the rules allowed the ball to be handled which was standard in Scotland until the 1870's[8] and The Gymnastic Society was described as playing 'foot-ball' in the 1780's.
The rules stated:[9]
1. Single soled shoes, no iron
2. No tripping
3. Ball to pass imaginary line
4. A free kick if ball out of bounds
5. Pushing is allowed. Holding not illegal
6. Allow the ball to be lifted between fields
Reformation
[edit]In 2007, an association football club with the same name was formed by Kenny Cameron, a community coach at Spartans, after a tour of the Scottish Football Museum.[10] The club's men played in the Edinburgh Sunday Premier League and the women played in the Scottish Women's Football League Second Division South East Division.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "News: "Such kicking of shins and such tumbling"". The National Archives of Scotland. Archived from the original on 3 January 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- ↑ Lambie, Derek (11 November 2007). "Football Club of Edinburgh in the News: Scottish Sunday Express". Sunday Express. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- 1 2 3 Hughes, Mark (15 April 2008). "Edinburgh takes on Sheffield in 'oldest club' row". The Independent. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- ↑ Boyle, Mark (15 April 2008). "Oldest football club". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- ↑ Robertson, Forrest (2023). The History of Fair City Athletic Football Club: The Boots on Balhousie. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 3. ISBN 1-5275-2876-6.
- ↑ Hope, John. Papers of Messrs D and JH Campbell, WS, solicitors, Edinburgh, ID: GD253/183/7/3. National Records of Scotland.
- ↑ "Historic 'foot-ball' rulebook found". BBC News. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ↑ "BBC - A Sporting Nation - Scottish League formed". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
- ↑ "Playing the game in 1833 - the world's earliest known rules of football". Scottish Sport History. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
- ↑ Morris, Adam (2 February 2008). "Extra-time for the oldest club". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008.
Sources
[edit]- 1824: The World's First Foot-Ball Club, John Hutchinson and Andy Mitchell. Andy Mitchell Media, 2018. ISBN 978-1-9866-1244-9.
