Club of Pioneers

The Club of Pioneers is a worldwide network of the oldest continuing association football clubs from each country.

The Club of Pioneers was founded in 2013 by Sheffield FC, the first and oldest association football club in the world. The Club of Pioneers aims to discover and connect the world's oldest existing football clubs, to build a global network of like-minded football clubs to promote the importance of football history and the grass roots and amateur game.

Definition of Pioneers

According to today's historical knowledge and available sources of football history, the Sheffield Football Club Foundation awards the honorary membership within the Club of Pioneers to those football clubs, who:

  1. Still play football in amateur or professional football competition today.
  2. Have constantly existed as a sports organisation since their date of foundation. (exceptions for periods of inactivity due to external reasons, for example war.)
  3. Are by definition the oldest existing football club of their country, referring to the foundation date of a football team as part of a multi-sport club or as a proper football club, playing to association football rules.
  4. Live and support the values of the game and amateur football: Integrity, Respect, Community.

Current members
Clubfounded inCountryContinent
Sheffield FC1857, 24 October EnglandEurope
Wrexham AFC1864, 4 October WalesEurope
Queen's Park FC1867, 9 July ScotlandEurope
Kjøbenhavns Boldklub1878, 24 October DenmarkEurope
FC St. Gallen1879, 19 April SwitzerlandEurope
Koninklijke HFC1879, 15 September NetherlandsEurope
Cliftonville FC1879, 20 September Northern IrelandEurope
Royal Antwerp FC1880 BelgiumEurope
Savages FC Pietermaritzburg1882, 26 August South AfricaAfrica
Hong Kong F.C.1886, 12 February Hong KongAsia
Yokohama C&AC1886, 26 December JapanAsia
Associação Académica de Coimbra1887, 3 November PortugalEurope
North Shore United AFC1887 New-ZealandOceania
BFC Germania 18881888, 15 April GermanyEurope
Mohun Bagan AC1889, 15 August IndiaAsia
Real Club Recreativo de Huelva1889, 23 December SpainEurope
St. George's FC1890 MaltaEurope
Albion Football Club1891, 1 June UruguaySouth America
Tvøroyrar Bóltfelag1892, 13 May Faroe IslandsEurope
Santiago Wanderers1892, 15 August ChileSouth America
Genoa CFC1893, 7 September ItalyEurope
Odds Ballklubb1894, March 31 NorwayEurope
First Vienna FC1894, 22 August AustriaEurope
CS Fola Esch1906, 9 December LuxembourgEurope
FK Ljuboten1919, 28 March North MacedoniaEurope
FK Sveikata1919, 8 June LithuaniaEurope

(Update : July 2020)

Pioneers Cup

Members of the Club of Pioneers, can also take part in a Pioneers Cup: a football tournament where only 'oldest' clubs can participate, to showcase their pioneering heritage. The teams themselves do not play, but are represented by 'Pioneer' teams of fans, former-players, and staff of the club.

Pioneers Cup 2013 - Sheffield
Date16 November 2013
VenueSheffield F.C. Stadium - England
Participating teamsSheffield F.C. (England) with Chris Waddle, Carlton Palmer, John Beresford,
RC Recreativo de Huelva (Spain)
Genoa CFC (Italy)with Tomáš Skuhravý, Gennaro Ruotolo
WinnersSheffield F.C.
Pioneers Cup 2014 - Haarlem
Date30 August 2014
VenueHaarlem - Netherlands
Participating teamsSheffield F.C. (England) with Chris Dolby
Koninklijke HFC (Netherlands) with Tom Van Schaick
Royal Antwerp Fc (Belgium)
WinnersSheffield FC
Pioneers Cup 2014 - Huelva
Date6 September 2014
VenueNuevo Colombino - Huelva - Spain
Participating teamsRC Recreativo de Huelva (Spain)
Koninklijke HFC (Netherlands)
Genoa CFC (Italy)
WinnersRC Recreativo de Huelva
Pioneers Cup 2016 - Antwerp
Date21 May 2016
VenueBosuilstadion - Antwerp - Belgium
Participating teamsRoyal Antwerp F.C. (Belgium) with Jonas De Roeck
Koninklijke HFC (Netherlands) with Tom Van Schaik, Paulo Meijnderhagen
CS Fola Esch (Luxembourg) with Pascal Welter
WinnersKoninklijke HFC
extra infoPioneers Cup Ambassador : Laszlo Fazekas
Pioneers Cup 2019 - Haarlem
Date31 August 2019
VenueHaarlem - Netherlands
Participating teamsFK Sveikata (Lithuania) Gintaras Cibirka, Audrius Paškevičius
Koninklijke HFC (Netherlands)
Royal Antwerp Fc (Belgium)
WinnersFK Sveikata

References
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