What's the oldest football club in Asia?

Discussion in 'Asian Football Confederation' started by IraqiFootball, May 21, 2005.

  1. I'd like to know what football club is the oldest in Asia, and what year it was founded, and maybe post a photo if you can.

    Also if you want, talk about the oldest club in your country, and when it was founded, and some info on it.

    Let's make this nice, clean, and productive (like it's going to happen)
     
  2. greenlion

    greenlion Member

    Apr 22, 2004
    CHINA
    Club:
    Beijing Guoan
    Nat'l Team:
    China PR
    I don't know but the first Chinese club is South China of Hong Kong, they founded in 1908, before 1949 the hong Kong clubs also took part in Chinese national competitions, South China won their first national Champions in 1910.
     
  3. I assume Football was introduced to most Asian countries by the British? Well, Iraq's no exception.

    I think the oldest Iraqi club is Al-Shorta (Police Club). I think they're might of been an older club that was started out by the British...maybe Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (Air Force Club) On the ACL website it says it was founded in 1945, but I have this photo of Al-Shorta (Police) that dates back from 1937.

    [​IMG]

    Here's the description from the ACL website:

    "Al Shorta could have written their name in Asian football history by becoming the first Arab winners of the Asian Club Championship but the political climate of the day held sway, and the Iraqi side withdrew from the 1971 final, which was against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel.

    It would be almost three decades before the Police club would contest an AFC competition and they fared reasonably well, reaching the quarter-final round-robin stage of the 2000 Asian Club Championship. They beat Kazakhstan’s Irtysh Pavlodar (3-2) and drew 0-0 with Iran’s Pirouzi but an earlier 1-0 defeat to eventual champions Al Hilal saw them miss out on a semi-final berth.

    On the domestic front Al Shorta have won the league just twice and although they have yet to claim an Iraq FA Cup title, they did enjoy a hat-trick of victories in the Umm Al Ma’arak (mother of all battles) Cup, winning the tournament, which was initiated in 1991 following the Gulf War, in 2000, 2001 and 2003."

    Honours
    Domestic Honours
    League Champions – 2 (1998, 80)
    Cup Winners – Nil

    Continental Record
    ACC - 2000 - QF; 1971 - Runners-up
    ACWC - Did Not Participate
    ASC - Did Not Participate

    Previous ACL Record
    2004 – Group Stage
    2003 – Did Not Qualify

    Today:

    [​IMG]
     
  4. greenlion

    greenlion Member

    Apr 22, 2004
    CHINA
    Club:
    Beijing Guoan
    Nat'l Team:
    China PR
    yes,I think it was by british, the first football club in China - the San jonh university Football club of Shanghai, was founded by Brithsh in 1903, they were already dismissed and Still don't know if there is any Chinese players in that club, so we consider South China is the first Chinese club and they are still one of the strongest clubs in the Hong Kong league now, In Current CSL the oldest club should be Beijing, they were founded in 1957, but the Beijing team appeared in 1955, I remember before PRC founded there should be another beijing club but we don't consider it as the same one with today's Beijing Guo'an~

    1955 The Beijing Football team, Which is actually the 'citizen" team, participated in the qualification tournament of 1956 City Cup, They won all their 5 group matchs

    1956 The National team, which was just back from Hungary after 2 years study, was named as "Beijing Youth Team" and Joined in the Division 1 Championship,they beat Shanghai Sports Institute 2-0 In the Champions Match, that is the First League Champions of beijing!

    In the same year, the Beijing 'Citizen' team played in the City Cup and ranked the third place!

    1957 The Beijing Football Team declared its' foundation. with 13 players from the National team: Nian Weisi,Shi Wanchun,Zhang honggen,Fang Renqiu,Xu Fusheng,Cheng Wenkuan,Wang Defa,Zhang Junxiu,Sun baorong,Sun Fucheng,Chen Jialiang,Zhang Jingtian,Piao Wanfu;and some players from other teams joined Beijing too.
    Beijing won the division 1 Champions again, with the result 8 win 3 draw No lose!

    name Changing of Beijing FC
    1955 Beijing
    1956 Beijing Youth; Beijing
    1957-1960 Beijing
    1960-1964 Beijing Youth
    1965-1991 Beijing; In a short time of 1980s, the team was named Beijing Xuehua
    1992- Beijing Guo'an, started from 2003, Hyundai sponsord the club and their name added on the team name.
    Honors:
    Domestic:
    League Champions: 7, 1956,1957,1958,1963,1973,1982,1984
    FA Cup champions: 4, 1985,1996,1997,2003
    Super Cup Champions2, 1998,2004
    Continental Record
    ACWC: 1998 third place, 1999 Second Round
     
  5. !Bob

    !Bob Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    UK
    If you want it to be clean you should open the thread in the main Asia & Middle East part. If one of the mods are watching, it may be a good idea to move it! But you may actually want there to be some rivalry....your choice.
     
  6. Well, I posted here mostly because I would probably get more feed back, and quicker. But I guess a little rivalry won't hurt :eek: Even though we're just talking about facts here!
     
  7. Holyjoe

    Holyjoe Member

    Jul 15, 2003
    ROK/SCO
    The history of football clubs in Korea becomes a bit clouded by the division of the country after the Korean war, and the lack of current information about North Korean football sides.

    I believe that Pyeongyang Athletic (winners in one of the 1922 All-Joseon Football Championship tournaments) are still on the go and/or were direct predecessors of the current Pyongyang City Sports Group club.

    The oldest club currently playing in the K-League and K2 League set-up is Incheon Korail, founded in 1943 as Korea National Railroad and currently playing in K2. The oldest club in the K-League is Pohang Steelers, originally founded by the POSCO steel company in 1973.
    One could argue that Sangmu (the military side) are one of the oldest teams on the go but the current incarnation, Gwangju Sangmu Phoenix, were technically established as a separate professional entity in 2002.

    Before then, like many other Asian countries, the military and works sides were the dominant football sides. Army Special Forces College, Military Police, Quartermaster Corps, Joseon Dockyard and Jo-il Brewery were the big winners in the President's Cup and Amateur Adult Football Conference back in the 1940s and 1950s. Of course there were high school and University teams competing back then too.
     
  8. skipshady

    skipshady New Member

    Apr 26, 2001
    Orchard St, NYC
    I was thinking India might have the oldest club. They have the second oldest cup competition in the world (Durand Cup), but I'm not sure if any of the clubs that played then are still active.
     
  9. Hyok

    Hyok Member+

    Sep 4, 2002
    California
    Why is this in rivalries? Why does everything have to be in rivalries? I don't know if it will get more responses, but can you move this thread, Skip?
     
  10. Ferdosi

    Ferdosi Member

    Oct 6, 2004
    Mohunbagan club are the oldest football club in Asia and still active.

    '' It was year 1889. The Indian independence movement against the British rule was spreading rapidly after the uprising of 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. It was a period of growing political awareness, manifestation of Indian public opinion, and emergence of Indian leadership at national and provincial levels. The spontaneous and widespread rebellion fired the imagination of the Indian nationalists throughout the country. Under these circumstances, the birth of Mohun Bagan club on 15th august 1889 is not only organizing a football club but a step forward towards promoting a patriotic feeling, an awakening spirit in Bengali hearts. Mohun Bagan is not only a club, it is a national institution. ''

    http://www.mohunbaganclub.com/
     
  11. Ferdosi

    Ferdosi Member

    Oct 6, 2004
  12. !Bob

    !Bob Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    UK
    Did the second post get edited or are my eyes getting freaky on me?

    I think it the fastest post I ever read and might've been the fastest virulent ever wrote!
     
  13. HiJazzey

    HiJazzey Member

    Jan 29, 2002
    London
    Club:
    Al Ittihad Jeddah
    Oldest surviving club in Saudi Arabia is Ittihad, founded in 1928.
     
  14. greenlion

    greenlion Member

    Apr 22, 2004
    CHINA
    Club:
    Beijing Guoan
    Nat'l Team:
    China PR
    That's because I'm quite sure about Chinese football ;)
     
  15. !Bob

    !Bob Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    UK
    Sorry for the confusio...I was talking about virulent's second post which is a complete blank!
     
  16. Ferdosi

    Ferdosi Member

    Oct 6, 2004
    That was for thread close.
     
  17. Ferdosi

    Ferdosi Member

    Oct 6, 2004
  18. skipshady

    skipshady New Member

    Apr 26, 2001
    Orchard St, NYC
    Virulent, your pic doesn't show up on the page.

    But you're saying Mohun Bagan is the oldest team in existence?
     
  19. Hyok

    Hyok Member+

    Sep 4, 2002
    California
    Makes sense, given the history of British colonialism in the area...

    On a similar topic, in Korea, British diplomats were demostrating the sport of tennis to Korean royalty. The Korean king could not understand the point of it. He remarked to the British diplomat, "This looks so undignified. Running this way, and running that way, working up a sweat. If it truely must be done, could you not get a servant to do it?"
     
  20. skipshady

    skipshady New Member

    Apr 26, 2001
    Orchard St, NYC
    Yeah, the Football Association was formed in the mid-1800s and they had a competition in India by the 1880s. I just didn't know any club survived from then.
     
  21. Hyok

    Hyok Member+

    Sep 4, 2002
    California
    Really perplexes me that India is not better in soccer. With the long history, large population, passion for sports. For some reason, cricket is their game, instead.
     
  22. Elninho

    Elninho Member+

    Sacramento Republic FC
    United States
    Oct 30, 2000
    Sacramento, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Mohun Bagan is still one of India's top clubs; the Calcutta derby between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal attracts crowds of over 90,000.

    I suspect that the main reason India isn't very good at soccer is that there is very little high-level soccer outside the Calcutta area. The Indian league format is similar to Brazil's, in that clubs compete in both a national league and in state or regional leagues, and until recently the Calcutta/Bengal championship was considered to be at least as important as the national championship as almost all of the top clubs are in that area. The exception was FC Kochin in the late 90s and early 2000s, which was bankrolled by a multi-millionaire who spent a good deal of money trying to attract India's best players to Kerala.
     
  23. Hyok

    Hyok Member+

    Sep 4, 2002
    California
    Thanks for the info. How do you know so much about Indian soccer? I thought you were Portuguese or Brazilian.
     
  24. Elninho

    Elninho Member+

    Sacramento Republic FC
    United States
    Oct 30, 2000
    Sacramento, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    American, actually. I don't even speak Portuguese. As for why I know anything about Indian soccer: I have a friend from Calcutta who supports East Bengal, so I keep an eye out for their results.
     
  25. Hyok

    Hyok Member+

    Sep 4, 2002
    California
    Ha ha. Your userid fooled me.
     

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