The club was founded in 1883, and played in local five-a-side tournaments;[2] in 1884, the club took over Drumlanrig Rangers, which had been founded in 1877 and which had taken part in the Scottish Cup in 1883–84, losing in its only match in the competition to fellow Dumfriesshire side East End Rovers.

[3] The club is notable for playing in the main rounds of the Scottish Cup 14 times, without ever winning.

This was however because the game ended (while the score was 2–2) when the referee walked off, having been "caught by the throat" by a Thornhill player.

[6] The club went from Showfield to Shawfield for the replay, in front of another 2,000 crowd, but this time Clyde won with ease, Brown and Ballantyne both scoring in each half.

[10] On a local level, the club was a member of various attempts at the Southern Counties League, although none of the league competitions was played on a regular basis until the club's final season, in 1930–31; Thornhill finished 7th out of 9 and did not enter again.