Worldwide

Incredibly, the United Kingdom is home to more than 20 football clubs that can trace their roots back to the 1870s or beyond, all of which are still competing in the UK's top-flight football leagues. Let's take a closer look at five of the oldest football clubs in the United Kingdom, many of which will be familiar to those who follow English football.

Which are the oldest football clubs in the United Kingdom?

Instead of listing all of them,, let's start by taking a look at five of the UK's oldest confirmed football teams, revealing the year they formed and which league they competed in as recently as the 2023/24 campaign:

1. Club: Notts County. Year formed: 1862. 2023/24 league: League Two
2. Club: Stoke City. Year formed: 1863. 2023/24 league: Championship
3. Club: Wrexham AFC. Year formed: 1864. 2023/24 league: League Two
4. Club: Nottingham Forest. Year formed: 1865. 2023/24 league: EPL
5. Club: Sheffield Wednesday. Year formed: 1867. 2023/24 league: Championship

League One's Reading formed in 1871, while EPL side Aston Villa formed in 1874, which is the same year that League One side Bolton Wanderers formed.

In 1875, Championship sides Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers formed, and in 1876, Championship side Middlesbrough and League One side Port Vale formed.

Other notable UK football teams that formed in the 1870s and 1880s include Crewe Alexander, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Ipswich Town, Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion, and Grimsby Town.

There are also Doncaster Rovers, Fulham, Sunderland, Swindon Town, Manchester City, Preston North End, Watford, Burnley, and Tottenham Hotspur, to name a few.

England may be considered the birthplace of football, but have they ever won a UEFA European Championship?

To some people's surprise, England has never actually won the UEFA European Championship. The most successful European Championship trophy winners are Germany (the host nation of Euro 2024) and Spain.

These two nations have both lifted the trophy on three separate occasions and will be looking to win an unprecedented fourth trophy this year. Germany first won the Euros in 1972 and then again in 1980 and 1996, while Spain first won in 1964 and then in 2008 and 2012.

Here are the names of all countries that have won the UEFA European Championship since the tournament began in 1960:

● Nation: Germany. Wins: 3. Years: 1972, 1980, 1996
● Nation: Spain. Wins: 3. Years: 1964, 2008, 2012
● Nation: Italy. Wins: 2. Years: 1968, 2020
● Nation: France. Wins: 2. Years: 1984, 2000

The following nations have also won the Euros at least once: Russia (1960), Czech Republic (1976), Portugal (2016), Slovakia (1976), Netherlands (1988), Denmark (1992), and Greece (2004).

Can England win Euro 2024?

The quickest, easiest, and most reliable way to find out if England can win Euro 2024 is to closely examine the latest odds. For example, at the time of writing, England are the current odds-on favourites to win Euro 2024.

In the fractional odds format, they are priced at around 7/2 on average, which means they have a 22.20% implied probability of winning the tournament outright. In the decimal odds format, 7/2 equates to 4.50, and in the American/moneyline odds format, it's +350.

In comparison, Spain (the second odds-on favourite team to win Euro 2024 outright) are priced at around 4/1 (which is 5.00 or +400), meaning they have a 20.00 chance of winning, and third odds-on favourites France and Germany are both jointly priced at around 9/2 (5.50 or +450) with an 18.20% chance of winning.

Final thoughts

England may very well be the birthplace of football and home to the world's oldest domestic football teams, but if they want to go down in the history books as one of the world's most successful football teams and not just for having the oldest clubs, they must win Euro 2024.

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