The recent news over the resurrected Foot-Ball Club of Edinburgh claiming to be the world's oldest (founded 1824) instead of the long-accepted Sheffield FC (1857) has "experts" arguing as to which was truly Scotland's oldest club.
Queens Park - the pioneers of the Scottish game - started in 1867. However, various other clubs had pre-footballing origins, eg, Third Lanark and St Bernard's (both from rifle volunteer units formed in 1859), Vale of Leven (from a shinty club formed in 1872). Such claims are as dubious as those of the more moronic Rangers fans convinced their club was founded in 1690.
However, a decade before the Spiders converted them to the beautiful game, a Heart of Midlothion cricket team was mentioned in The Scotsman from 1864 onwards. The fact this club frequently complained about the umpire's decisions also adds to the evidence they were the same as the soccer club of today.
Mark Boyle, Johnstone, Renfrewshire.
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