‘First in the World’ meets ‘Unique in the World’ for Non-League Day 2026

As part of Athletic Club’s 2026 Euskal Non-League Day activities, representatives from the club, and members of our UK-based supporters’ group, Mr. Pentland Club, will attend Sheffield FC’s Non-League Day fixture against Tadcaster AFC at The Home of Football Stadium on March 28.

During half-time, Athletic Club's institutional guest will take to the pitch to receive official gifts from the English outfit including a commemorative jersey and a copy of their iconic ‘1857 Rules of Football’.

In addition to this visit, Athletic has invited Sheffield’s chief executive officer and director of business to attend a future fixture at San Mames.
 

Where it all begins

This partnership follows on from previous initiatives designed to link Athletic Club’s Euskal Non-League Day with the British version and the essence of this year’s team-up lies in Athletic’s deep respect for the sport’s history.

Sheffield FC, currently competing in England’s eighth tier, the Yorkshire outfit is the perfect partner for this year's UK Non-League Day collaboration: First in the World meets Unique in the World.

Ultimately, the reason why Athletic Club only fields players born or developed in the Basque Country, the nation we represent, stems from Sheffield FC's origins as the world’s first ever football club created specifically to serve a local community.

Although we now play at different levels, both organisations continue to proudly embody football’s pioneering spirit as a representational sport conceived to bring people together. An essence that fits perfectly with the motto of Euskal Non-League Day: Where it all begins.
 

Sheffield FC: the world’s first football team

Founded on 24 October 1857, Sheffield FC are globally recognised as the first ever football team. 

At a time when football was exclusively played by schools and universities, or as a mob sport in towns, each with its own respective set of rules, Sheffield became the first proper ‘club’ created to give the local community a chance to practice the sport, a value which resonates at Athletic Club to this very day.

Sheffield’s founders, Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, sought to establish a unified set of laws. After two years of experimenting with different codes, they published a first rulebook in 1859, known as the ‘Sheffield Rules’.

Many of the laws adopted in this rulebook influenced the Football Association’s own regulations upon its creation in 1863, the genesis of the football that is still played to this day.

Despite being FA members, Sheffield FC and other clubs in the region stuck to their own regulations until 1877, when the FA incorporated more laws from the Sheffield rulebook.

Sheffield FC also took part in the sport’s first inter-club match when they faced Hallam FC, another Sheffield-based club, on Boxing Day in 1860. The ‘Rules Derby’ lives to this day and the clubs organise regular pre-season friendlies against each other. 

The advent of professionalism in the English game saw Sheffield FC experience a decline, but they have since become a staple of the nation’s Non-League Football scene.

In 2004, coinciding with FIFA’s centenary celebrations, Sheffield FC, alongside Real Madrid CF, received the Centennial Order of Merit from football’s international governing body as recognition of their contribution to the game.

The club continues to champion local football and works hard to promote the history of football’s early development through initiatives like ‘The Club of Pioneers’, a global network of clubs featuring the oldest active football teams from each country in the world.
 

About Euskal Non-League Day

Inspired by the British movement, started by James Doe in 2010, the Athletic Club Foundation is preparing a fourth edition of Euskal Non-League Day for the weekend of March 28-29.

Non-League Day is an initiative that goes to the heart of Athletic Club’s values. In addition to its role in local communities, grassroots football is key to the club’s youth development strategy and Athletic have affiliate agreements with almost 180 teams across the Basque Country.

Athletic Club is the only side in LaLiga that organises such an event with the purpose of celebrating non-professional football and encouraging attendance at local grounds during the March international break.
 

Previous collaborations with UK Non-League Day

Since Athletic decided to organise a Basque Non-League Day, we’ve always looked to tie our event with its British counterpart as a nod of respect to the movement’s origins.

For example, Athletic have joined up with former English opponents now playing non-professional football, such as Dulwich Hamlet and Civil Service FC, among others, and last season we sent Zurigorri jerseys to several English non-league sides that also play in red-and-white stripes as a home kit.