The Ball kicks off at the site of the first official game to FA rules, which was toasted with “Success to football irrespective of creed or class”. Sheffield FC, the world’s oldest football club, predates this game by 5 years — yet its values of “Integrity, Respect and Community” reveal that the game was universally considered to have inclusion and tolerance at its core.
https://youtu.be/74uSbcdyjgA
The Ball supports Sheffield FC’s campaign to rebuild and relocate to Olive Grove, the original Home of Football. It also visited some of football’s earliest clubs in the Americas in its role as “Protector of Football” in the 1857 Football “Club of Pioneers” programme, which celebrates the heritage of the beautiful game and helps to connect some of its pioneering clubs.