The Curious Beginnings of Football Clubs

Many of the world’s most famous names did not start out at standalone, dedicated football clubs. Many span out of other institutions. I mean, we’ve all formed a five-a-side team at work but taking it to the next level is something else…

Here’s a by no means complete list and I welcome your comments, just ping me a tweet if you have a suggestion.

Cricket clubs

The original Association rules football clubs sprang out of existing cricket clubs looking for winter pursuits to keep fit. Prior to the drafting of the Football Association rulebook (1863), Sheffield FC (1857) and Hallam FC (1860) played by ‘Sheffield rules’, some of which made it into the FA rulebook. Both of them started as cricket clubs, as did fellow Sheffield clubs Sheffield Wednesday, formed out of The Wednesday Cricket Club in 1867, and Sheffield United (1889), formed out of an eponymous cricket club, was set up as an outfit for the professional era and a way to fill Bramall Lane cricket ground over the winter.

In Italy, English-founded clubs Genoa and Milan also started out with cricketing wings that have long since disappeared, although the Ligurian club maintains the link in its full name, Genoa Cricket and Football Club.

Churches

Back in the 19^th century, the concept of ‘Christian muscularity’ encouraged young men to get into sport to entice them away from the sins of the world. In England, Aston Villa (1874) was established by four members of the Aston Villa Wesleyan Chapel. Down the road, Wolverhampton Wanderers (1877) started out as St Luke’s FC. In the north-west, St Domingo’s FC was set up in 1878, changing its name to Everton a year later, and Manchester City (1880) was founded as St Mark’s (West Gorton).

In west London, Queens Park Rangers sprang out of a merger between Christchurch Rangers and St Jude’s Institute. St Jude is the patron saint of lost causes, which explains a lot (disclosure: I’m a lapsed QPR fan). On the south coast, Southampton started life as Southampton St Mary’s in 1885, hence its name ‘Saints’ and halo on its crest.

In Scotland, Catholic institutions were instrumental in the founding of Hibernian FC (1875) in Edinburgh, which in turn inspired the foundation of Celtic in 1888. More on Irish-founded clubs in Scotland here.

Workplaces

There are so many examples of workplace-founded clubs across the world, but here are a few of the most famous. The original workplace club still playing with a nod to its roots is Arsenal FC. Founded as Dial Square FC in 1886 at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, ‘The Arsenal’ eventually moved north of the river to Highbury in 1913. Down the river, West Ham United sprang out of the Thames Ironworks in 1895, the nicknames, ‘The Iron’ and ‘Hammers’. Its arch-rivals Millwall were the works team of the cannery company J.T. Morton on the Isle of Dogs ten years earlier. 

Railway clubs have appeared all over the world. Manchester United started out in 1878 as Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club. South America’s most successful club of the 20^th century, Peñarol of Montevideo, started out as the Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club (CURCC) and took its yellow and black colours from Stephenson’s Rocket. Next door in Argentina, Ferrocarril Oeste (Western Railway) and Rosario Central came out of railway clubs. Romania’s FC Cluj came out of a railway side and, during the time of the Communist Bloc in Eastern Europe, any team with the prefix ‘Lokomotiv(e)’ was associated with the railway.

Talking of Communist Bloc-era clubs, ‘Torpedo’ would be associated with the automotive sector, ‘Chemie’ from the pharma and chemical industry, ‘Dynamo’ from the police, and ‘CSKA’ from the army. 

In South America, Brazilian side Bangu and Uruguay’s Defensor Sporting came out of factories. In Ireland, the Guinness Brewery side, St James’ Gate, played in early Irish competitions.

Gymnasiums and general sports clubs

A lot of German clubs have a date attached to them that pre-dates the emergence of football in the country, such as 1860 Munich. This will often be the foundation date of a Turnen club, a form of group gymnastics that was popular in the 19^th century. Similarly, many of Hungary’s leading clubs – including Ferencváros, MTK and Ujpest – came out of gymnasiums.

Spain’s oldest club, Recreativo de Huelva, was a general sports club for workers in the mines of interior Andalucia, while Deportivo La Coruña was formed in a gym. The advert calling for players to form the new FC Barcelona requested they meet at the Solé Gymnasium in 1899.

In Brazil, football clubs often sprung out of general sports clubs. Flamengo and Botafogo came out of rowing clubs.

Existing football clubs

Sometimes within football clubs, a rift occurred that was so great that new clubs broke away. This was the case with Liverpool, who split from Everton in 1892; Torino, which was formed from defectors from Juventus in 1906; and Internazionale who split from Milan Cricket & Football Club (AC Milan) in 1908.

Some Association football clubs simply switched codes from rugby, including Preston North End and Bradford City. In Scotland, Kilmarnock plays at Rugby Park, a clue to its origins as an oval-ball club.

Schools

The original Football Association Rulebook was built largely on the rules of football played at various educational establishments in England, such as Charterhouse and Cambridge University. Some teams with educational roots are now competing at the highest level in their country, such as Académica de Coimbra and Casa Pia in Portugal, and Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina, named after Kent-born Isaac Newell who set up a school in Rosario, Argentina, and introduced the game to boys in the area.

There are plenty more examples, I’m sure. Ping me a tweet to let me know and I’ll update this every so often. Also, if you’re interested in the roots of football around the world, please check out my first book, Origin Stories: The Pioneers Who Took Football to the World.