Barnes Rugby Football Club, formerly known simply as the Barnes Club, is a rugby union club which is claimed by some sources to be the world's first and oldest club in any code of football. The club, from Barnes in London, also played a major role in the early years of Association football (soccer), and was one of the teams in the first ever game of football.
Accounts of the date that the club was formed are contradictory: club records give 1839, The first three secretaries of the FA were members of Barnes.
Of the "only and original" clubs forming the Football Association the Barnes Club alone has throughout the ages been an active and faithful member of The Football Association. This is a matter of historical fact. (Geoffrey Green, The History of The Football Association, The Naldrett Press, London, (1953); p.428.)
For many years the club played at the Harrodian Club before moving to its Barn Elms location in 1987.
Barnes RFC first XV has been promoted seven times since being positioned in Surrey Division Three in 1987. The first XV now play in the London Division 1 league.