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The oldest professional football club in the world.


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I see @notts-joe has posted this topic in Facebook, so I'll get the ball rolling here again. I'm probably in a minority but I really have a bee in my bonnet about this one, so hear me out.

It's the tag "the oldest Football League club in the world". It's not quite right. Why?

The Football League is an English competition only, so the "in the world" bit makes no sense. It's like being the biggest English city in the world. Yes, we're the oldest of the 72 Football League clubs, but is that really so impressive? And if we got relegated we'd have to remove the line from the stands and all the club's literature.

In England and Scotland we traditionally differentiate between league and non-league clubs (with non-league being traditionally semi-pro or amateur, but that view is also out of date). In other countries, however, no such differentiation exists. Where would non-league start in Germany, division three or the regionalised fourth division? When we talk about a league club in an international context, what we really mean is a professional football club. And we are the oldest.

So what's more impressive? Being the oldest of the 72 Football League clubs? Or being the oldest of over a hundred professional clubs in England and thousands all over the world?

It might seem like pedantry, but if we want the slogan to be seen by people from outside the UK it should be right, after all it is our major selling point (now that Bajner has left anyway). Visitors would see the line and assume it means that we are simply the world's oldest football club, which we are not. So let's call ourselves what we are - the oldest professional football club in the world.

Thoughts?

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Well we can't say are are the oldest football club in the world because correct me if I'm wrong but Sheffield Fc were the first ever football club but since they are currently in the conference we are the oldest club that are still in the football league, but the oldest professional club would work the same way but it doesn't bother me that much since we don't use the title to our advantage, its just there

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Sheffield FC are the oldest club to be playing association football, but have never played in the football league and have always played at amateur level. So with that being the case, I like to think of us as the oldest professional football league club in the world, which to me means all professional leagues in the world, not just our league. 

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On 09/04/2016 at 23:00, Fozzy said:

Sheffield FC are the oldest club to be playing association football, but have never played in the football league and have always played at amateur level. So with that being the case, I like to think of us as the oldest professional football league club in the world, which to me means all professional leagues in the world, not just our league. 

Exactly the right way to see it, also didn't the original Sheffield FC go out of business at one point, therefore if they did then the current Sheffield FC cannot ever claim that title

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The Football League part needs dropping IMO, the Football League is just in England (and will be called EFL next season anyway). By adopting "professional" we're not just limiting ourselves to professional leagues, as there are also pro teams in predominantly amateur leagues. Of course, what is really meant by "league club" is "pro club", but a foreigner won't understand that as it's a uniquely English term.

Sheffield FC have a long and proud tradition of being an amateur club - they started falling behind in the 1880s, when other clubs started paying their players but Sheffield refused to. I think they will remain amateur, they're too conscious of their heritage to allow themselves to be bought by a billionaire and financially doped through the divisions. BTW they've played in the Evostik League Division One South for years, which is three levels below the Conference. They're 18th in the same division as Basford United and Shaw Lane Aquaforce. The chances of them ever playing in the League are extremely remote.

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So if they are not football leagues, what are the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga part of? To me they are part of the German, Italian and Spanish "Football League" system respectively.

 

 

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@Fozzy, it clearly refers to the English Football League, otherwise you could equally say that the Evostik league is also a "football league", thus making Sheffield the oldest "league" club.

In England, the top flight and the Conference, which is virtually all professional nowadays, are not run by the FL. In Germany the DFL is in charge of the first and second Bundesliga, but not the third division downwards. And so on. Its just very fragmented - so why not use the simple, catch-all word "professional" instead?

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The thing is, were we the first club to turn professional? In which case a club formed after us may well have been professional for longer, making them the oldest professional club in the world.

 

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And I'm just offering a different perspective, because I'm very happy with the fact that we are the oldest football league club in the world and don't want that to change (Take note prospective new owners)!

 

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14 minutes ago, Fozzy said:

The thing is, were we the first club to turn professional? In which case a club formed after us may well have been professional for longer, making them the oldest professional club in the world.

How can a club that formed professionally after us be older? I don't follow.

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6 minutes ago, Fozzy said:

The thing is, were we the first club to turn professional? In which case a club formed after us may well have been professional for longer, making them the oldest professional club in the world.

 

No. I don't think anyone knows which club was the first to pay its players as it was done in secret at the time. I think we officially turned professional with a number of other clubs when the Football League started in 1888. But then we're the world's oldest professional club, not the world's first pro club.

Let me put it another way - we're the oldest of the world's professional football clubs. If you're the oldest living person, it doesn't matter that other people were born before you - the main thing is that you're the oldest one who is still alive.

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