The oldest football club in the world celebrates its 155th birthday today.

Sheffield FC were formed on 24 October 1857 when wine merchant William Prest and his solicitor friend Sir Nathaniel Creswick went for a country walk.

They spoke about fencing and cricket – the sports of choice for the well-to-do young men of the city.

But their conversation veered towards the very young sport of football, which they knew public schools, colleges and sport clubs had been experimenting with since the beginning of the 1850s.

Their discussion continued and the pair agreed that football would be very well suited to be an organised sport during the winter months.

The outcome was that together with the Sheffield Committee, they drew up rules which they thought embodied the best points of the game.

A couple of days later, Creswick announced that Sheffield Football Club, the world's first football club, was officially formed.

Since those early days, the club has continued to be at the forefront of the development of football.

It claims to have been responsible for many notable firsts in the game including the first header, the first crossbar, the first corner kick, the first free-kick, the first throw-in and the first floodlit match.

In more modern times, Sheffield FC has developed into a complete community based football club incorporating both able bodied and disabled football teams alongside its own charity ‘Boots for Africa’.

So take a minute to remember where football began and wish all fellow fans of the beautiful game a ‘Happy Birthday’!

To share this wonderful day with Sheffield FC, log on to www.facebook.com/1857football or tweet your message on Twitter and use the hashtag #happybirthdayfootball