Sheffield FC – the world’s oldest football club – is bidding to Unesco to turn its original Olive Grove ground a World Heritage site.

Founded in 1857, the team, which plys its trade in the eighth tier of English football is trying to raise funds to move back to the ground where it was first first founded.

Sheffield FC, which currently calls Dronfield’s Coach and Horses ground home, has in recent years been determined for a move back to its original ground, with hopes a World Heritage designation could the club achieve that goal.

“This move for world cultural recognition is not only a celebration for the club but also for our fans and world football as we aim to protect the game’s roots through internationally recognising Olive Grove, the field on where football and the world’s first football club, was founded on 24 October 1857,” said Sheffield FC chair Richard Tims, announcing the bid on the club’s 159th birthday. “We continue to raise funds to rebuild the original Home of Football stadium and move the club's stadium back to Olive Grove.”

Sheffield Wednesday also called the ground home for just over a decade at the end of the 19th century, with £5,000 spent on developing the site to turn it into a stadium.

Close to Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane stadium, Olive Grove held its first competitive match as a stadium on 12 September 1887 – a match between Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers, which ended in a 4-4 draw. Sheffield Wednesday left the ground in 1899, when a decision was made to expand the railway track beside the ground. Wednesday paid £4,500 to transfer the main stand brick by brick to their new ground of Owlerton – now known as Hillsborough.

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