Jackhmfc1348 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 Heart of Midlothian as we know were founded in 1874 however Tom Purdue (one of the founders and first captain) claims we were founded in 1873 Does anyone know the reason 1874 is recognised as the year we were founded or if he got something wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemclaren Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 18 minutes ago, Jackhmfc1348 said: Heart of Midlothian as we know were founded in 1874 however Tom Purdue (one of the founders and first captain) claims we were founded in 1873 Does anyone know the reason 1874 is recognised as the year we were founded or if he got something wrong The precise date of the club's formation was never recorded, but as it was during 1874 that the players and members adopted Football Association Rules, this has become the accepted date that the Hearts, as they are popularly known, was established. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackhmfc1348 Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 Just now, davemclaren said: The precise date of the club's formation was never recorded, but as it was during 1874 that the players and members adopted Football Association Rules, this has become the accepted date that the Hearts, as they are popularly known, was established. Thanks. Was wondering why it was considered 1874 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddysBar Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 I think we were defunct in 1876 before reforming so all a bit fluid back in those days. You have to remember the club was probably similar to a Sunday league bunch of mates back in the early 1870s. I wonder if Tom Purdie etc ever imagined we’d have crowds of 50k plus or 16,500 season ticket holders, or that 8,500 people would chip in £16m to save the club in the 21st century. What a club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preston Jambo Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 52 minutes ago, Jackhmfc1348 said: Heart of Midlothian as we know were founded in 1874 however Tom Purdue (one of the founders and first captain) claims we were founded in 1873 Does anyone know the reason 1874 is recognised as the year we were founded or if he got something wrong The team may well have started playing in 1873 but it would not be to Association rules. The first game according to folklore was apparently against a team called The Blue Bonnets. They played a mixed game which involved handling the ball. They later adopted the Asscciation rules and changed their name to Thistle. Thistle played in the first EFA cup final, which they lost to the 3rd Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers 6-0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydney Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Interesting news article after a Hearts vs Hibs match in November 1879. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamstomorrow Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 26 minutes ago, Sydney said: Interesting news article after a Hearts vs Hibs match in November 1879. H1b5 class? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Quaresma Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Purdie, pal, Purdie Didn't his Grandson / Great Grandson work for the club, around the time of Levein's first Managerial stint, or am I imagining that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 6 hours ago, PaddysBar said: I wonder if Tom Purdie etc ever imagined we’d have crowds of 50k plus or 16,500 season ticket holders, or that 8,500 people would chip in £16m to save the club in the 21st century. I doubt it tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Black 8 Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 6 hours ago, PaddysBar said: I think we were defunct in 1876 before reforming so all a bit fluid back in those days. You have to remember the club was probably similar to a Sunday league bunch of mates back in the early 1870s. I wonder if Tom Purdie etc ever imagined we’d have crowds of 50k plus or 16,500 season ticket holders, or that 8,500 people would chip in £16m to save the club in the 21st century. What a club. Aye ur right there pal.. what a club 🇱🇻🇱🇻 a think the fans of this club don’t get spoken about enough n get the credit they deserve by the media n the footballing world but maybe that’s just me as u said £16million to save the club then also the thousands of people who donate every month just goes unnoticed for me anyway 🇱🇻🇱🇻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S Form Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 I didn’t realise until I came across it yesterday on Wikipedia that the world’s oldest ‘football’ club was The Foot-ball Club of Edinburgh which was in existence from 1826 to 1841. Maybe it helped sow the seeds for our glorious club 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCW1976 Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 16 minutes ago, S Form said: I didn’t realise until I came across it yesterday on Wikipedia that the world’s oldest ‘football’ club was The Foot-ball Club of Edinburgh which was in existence from 1826 to 1841. Maybe it helped sow the seeds for our glorious club 😀 If it’s the same club I think it is, then they were from/played in Dalry (of all places). So, must’ve influenced teams in Edinburgh to start their own clubs. There’s a book you can buy on that first club you mentioned 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PortyBeach Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 9 hours ago, Jackhmfc1348 said: Heart of Midlothian as we know were founded in 1874 however Tom Purdue (one of the founders and first captain) claims we were founded in 1873 Does anyone know the reason 1874 is recognised as the year we were founded or if he got something wrong I don’t have it to hand, but in Albert Mackie’s book “The Hearts” (1959), I seem to recall a passage where Mackie refers to the recollection of an early Hearts player (can’t remember if it was Purdie) who claimed the club was established in 1873. So yes, I think you’re right in what you say. I’ll try and dig out my copy of the book… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamboinglasgow Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 8 hours ago, Preston Jambo said: The team may well have started playing in 1873 but it would not be to Association rules. The first game according to folklore was apparently against a team called The Blue Bonnets. They played a mixed game which involved handling the ball. They later adopted the Asscciation rules and changed their name to Thistle. Thistle played in the first EFA cup final, which they lost to the 3rd Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers 6-0. Always found the creation of all these sports around the same time fascinating. I had a book years ago which had a break down of quite of a lot of sports and how they came into being. Football has been around for centuries but never in one form until the 19th century when variations of it split off. The fact that a lot of it came from Public schools who had their own versions. Then sports split off from others, so one reason that Rugby split from Association football was due to (if I remember correctly) association football looking to not allowing hacking (kicking the shins) while Rugby did. Then Rugby split into Union and League around the issue over professionalism (League wanted to play players while Union wanted it to be amateur, because League paid players and got paying spectators in they changed the game to be faster and more enjoyable to watch.) Then Rugby went to America which was played at the Colleges there, but they decided as they have no history with it that they would change it more to suit them and thus American football was created. The weird fact is that of all the versions of football, the first one to have its rules written down is Australian Football Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whyskey Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 7 hours ago, Sydney said: Interesting news article after a Hearts vs Hibs match in November 1879. another first for hibs, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerryjambo41 Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 I'm sure I read that a reason for us not to use 1873 was that it clashed with a now defunct club from the south side of Glasgow and we didn't want our centenary celebrations overshadowed. which is ironic as they changed their date of founding to 1872 some time between 1973 and 2012 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martoon Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 I'm happy to stick with 1874. Not at all keen on 1973 becoming a retrospective centenary year after the way it started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddysBar Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 8 hours ago, Sydney said: Interesting news article after a Hearts vs Hibs match in November 1879. I wonder if this is the same incident where Tim Purdie used a horse whip to keep Hibs fans at bay. I think that may have been after the 1896 cup final though. Hibs fans acting like neds isn’t a new thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Potter Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Had the poster in 1974 for the 100 year celebrations, im sure it was in the Evening News. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PortyBeach Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 5 hours ago, PortyBeach said: I don’t have it to hand, but in Albert Mackie’s book “The Hearts” (1959), I seem to recall a passage where Mackie refers to the recollection of an early Hearts player (can’t remember if it was Purdie) who claimed the club was established in 1873. So yes, I think you’re right in what you say. I’ll try and dig out my copy of the book… Page 27 in Mackie’s book! He states that in 1939 (aged 83) a John Cochrane “who played as inside-right in the Hearts’ first three seasons…stated that a Heart of Midlothian Football Club had been in existence for a year” in 1874. Mackie goes on to say this seemed “to corroborate Tom Purdie’s claim to 1873 as the year of origin.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Berry Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Isn't the current thinking that the "club" may well have been around in 1873 but not neccesarily playing football, more like rugby with handling, before changing to football in 1874? I've also read accounts that 1875 was the date when some of the players joined St.Andrews and persuaded them to change their name to Heart of Midlothian. Never say never but I doubt definitive proof will ever be found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougie Masterton Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 I was on the Heritage tour last Sunday, Dave McLaren is correct that the 1874 date coincides with the adoption of SFA rules, prior to that it would have been Edinburgh association rules. The William Reid book of 1924 also suggests 1873 as to when the club was founded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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