The present club considers itself to be a continuation of the original Leith Athletic F.C., which was founded in 1887. They played in the Scottish Football League in four different spells between 1897 and 1953, but went out of business in 1955. The name was revived at local youth level in 1996. In 2008, Leith Athletic returned to senior football when they amalgamated with Edinburgh Athletic and took the latter's place in the East of Scotland League.