Edinburgh occupies a significant place in the pre-history of football, The Foot-Ball Club being active from 1824-1841. In the Association era, however, it was the west of Scotland that set the pace- the oldest clubs being Queen's Park (1867) and Kilmarnock (1869). The 8 clubs who formed the Scottish Football Association and the further 8 who joined them in the inaugural Scottish Cup (1873–74) were all from the west.
In order to spread the popularity of the game The Scottish FA arranged an exhibition match at Edinburgh. The game was played at Edinburgh Royal High School FP football ground (a Rugby ground) on December 27th 1873.
Morning Post - 20.12.73
Among those who witnessed this exhibition, the first time Association (the Queen's Park variant) had been played in the capital, were members of the Heart of Midlothian club. Originally a dancing club, the members had been playing a form of football in 1873 but now decided to adopt the Association rules. In 1875 the club became members of the Scottish Football Association and were founder members of the Edinburgh Football Association.
Tom Purdie, founder member and first captain.