Probably off piste so to speak but Hereford Thistle FC where did they play and were they associated with Hereford or Hereford City?
Not off piste at all! I have been researching Hereford Thistle to see if the club’s name indicates Scottish origins. I received some great help.
I believe “Hereford” were founder members of the Shropshire League in 1892/93. I think they added “Town” to their name in the 1895/96 season.
However, they played second fiddle to Hereford Thistle. The Thistle club was formed in 1885. To add further Scottish interest the club won “the Glasgow Cup” in the 1892/93 season. They left the cup to be played for by local teams when they advanced to join the Bristol & District League (later the Western League) in 1894/95. They were champions in their first season. In the 1895/96 season they joined the Birmingham & District League and were champions in 1896/97. In 1897/98 they were joined by Hereford Town in the Birmingham League. Thistle were a victim of their own success as players left to sign for professional clubs and they would be competing with the Town club for local players. They had one final season (1898/99) in the Birmingham League but continued to play, possibly in a Welsh League, after that. It is not known when Thistle were dis-banded. Hereford Town failed to win re-election for the 1902/03 season.
Hereford United was formed in 1924 and joined the Birmingham League for the 1928/29 season.
The origins of why the club adopted the Thistle name remains a mystery. Here are some of the possible reasons I looked at.
1) Hereford Thistle were often called the "Barrack Boys" in the local newspaper reports. However, this appears to be because they played at the Barracks Ground in the town rather than because of any military connection, i.e. a Scottish regiment stationed in the town.
2) The Reverend Thistle was appointed as Headmaster of Hereford Grammar School just after the team had been formed. A coincidence.
3) There is a Thistledown Road in Hereford but it is not the name of an area of the town. There is a village called Thistledown about 45 miles to the east near Evesham. These do not look likely.