Sir Nathaniel Creswick (31 July 1831 – 20 October 1917) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who co-founded

Sheffield FC Sheffield Football Club is an English association football, football club, currently based in Dronfield, Derbyshire. They compete in the , on the eighth level of the English football league system, English football pyramid. Founded in October ...

, the oldest football club in the world, in 1857. With

William Prest William Prest (1 April 1832 – 10 February 1885) was an English cricketer and Association football, footballer born in York. He lived most of his life in Sheffield where he went on to become co-founder of Sheffield F.C., Sheffield Football Club ...

, he established the

Sheffield Rules The Sheffield Rules was a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1858 and 1877. The rules were initially created and revised by Sheffield F.C., Sheffield Football Club, with responsibility for the laws pa ...

, which were highly influential upon the modern

laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. He was also a founder of the Hallamshire Rifles. He was the first footballer to ever score a goal in the history of association football, giving Sheffield FC the lead in the match against Hallam FC; the first recognised football match in history.

Biography

Creswick was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England to Nathaniel and Elizabeth. His father was a silver-plating manufacturer. He was educated at Sheffield Collegiate School and became a solicitor of a silver-plate company. He became involved with several local sports clubs including the Clarkhouse Road Fencing Club and Sheffield Cricket Club. While at Sheffield CC, he joined several other players in informal football matches that started in 1855. He and William Prest decided to create an independent football club which was founded on 24 October 1857 with Creswick as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer. The club, known as Sheffield Football Club, is officially accepted by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

as being the oldest football club in the world. They also established a set of playing rules to be used by the club. These were later used by other clubs in the area and eventually spread to many clubs in the north of England and became known as the Sheffield Rules. Creswick resigned the office of secretary in February 1862, being replaced by William Chesterman. Creswick and Prest were also involved in founding the 2nd West Yorkshire Rifles (better known as the Hallamshire Rifles) in 1858. He remained with them until 1897 rising to the rank of Colonel. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

for services to the volunteer movement in the 1909 Birthday Honours. On 2 July 1891, Nathaniel Creswick chaired the Founders' meeting of Sheffield's first, pioneering golf club - the Sheffield and District Golf Club - whence he served as the club's first Captain and President. Like Creswick, a number of his fellow Founders had been early Sheffield FC players and Hallamshire Rifles officers too. Almost immediately The Sheffield & District Golf Club's course on Lindrick Common gained renown as a regular championship golfing venue, which it still is. In 1934 the club's members changed its name to Lindrick Golf Club. Most famously, in October 1957, Lindrick hosted the Ryder Cup, and became the last course on which the Great Britain and Ireland team, led by Dai Rees, beat the USA before the inclusion of European players. Since then Lindrick Golf Club has played host to a number of events including the Curtis Cup in 1960, the Dunlop Masters (1966 & 1977), the Sun Alliance Matchplay (1975) and Martini International (1982). Lindrick also regularly hosts Open Championship Regional Qualifiers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Creswick, Nathaniel 1831 births 1917 deaths Footballers from Sheffield Sheffield F.C. players Creators of association football History of football in England Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Sheffield Collegiate School Men's association football players not categorized by position English men's footballers Sheffield Cricket Club cricketers