Historedia
EuropeEvent

Heart of Midlothian F.C. founded

When
1874–1875
Where
Bonnington; East Meadows
Episodes
2

Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club was formed in 1874, with its name influenced by Walter Scott's novel The Heart of Midlothian. While the exact date of formation was never recorded, 1874 is regarded as the year when association rules were adopted, though some claimed an earlier start in 1873.

Episodes

  1. 1874 · BonningtonAdoption of Association Rules

    Members from the dance club viewed a match in December 1873 and decided to adopt Association rules in 1874.

  2. 1875 · East MeadowsEarly Matches and Organization

    Led by captain Tom Purdie, the club played matches in the East Meadows and became members of the SFA in 1875.

Background and detail

Background. Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas.

Formation. Hearts is the oldest football club in the Scottish capital. The exact date of the club's formation was never recorded, but 1874 is regarded as the year of formation because it was when association rules were taken on. However, Tom Purdie claimed the club was formed in 1873. The name was influenced by Walter Scott's novel The Heart of Midlothian (1818).

Early Activity. In December 1873, a match was held between XIs selected by Mr Thomson from Queen's Park and Mr Gardner from Clydesdale at Raimes Park in Bonnington. Members from the dance club viewed this match and in 1874 decided to adopt the Association rules. Led by captain Tom Purdie, the club played its matches in the East Meadows.

People involved

Sources

  1. Heart of Midlothian F.C. Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05
  2. Edinburgh Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.