It seems the official line is that they are related to clubs, but I just don't see how that can be right, hence my question. It's a bit disappointing if they're making a big thing of the heritage/history point, and can't even back it up with facts.
I've done a fair bit of research here (I was involved in getting the club to change from the previously stated 1879 date to 1876), so it's something close to my heart. I'm pleased to see they want to make reference to the history of the club, but it'll pee me off if I just think they're paying lip service to it, because it's good from a marketing perspective or 'what the fans want'.
There were 7 young guys in 1876 who formed the club. It was named Warrington Zingari for the 1876/7 season, but changed its name for 1877/8; the previous Warrington FC that was formed in 1872/3 had stopped playing by this point, so they just dropped the Zinagri, and took over the name (there's documentation of a dispute between the defunct club & the new club over this!). From this point, I'm fairly certain that we merged with Padgate Excelsior in 1881. I haven't researched the mid-1880s anywhere near as much, but by this point there's a lot more press coverage, so it's likely that the Wanderers 1884 merger is correct. I don't know of any others (apart from the St Mary's one I mentioned, that I can't recall much about off the top of my head, and might be me getting confused with something else!).
The interesting one for me is the 1879 point. The quote above about Padgate & Zingari members getting together is widely available. This seems to originate not from contemporary evidence, but from the club report and accounts from 1889 which lists an overview of the club's results from 'its formation in 1879'. This is shown in Bill Garvin's centenary book. Interestingly the secretary who included this is JE Warren, who joined the club in 1881 having previously played for Padgate Excelsior.
I have researched around the 1879 point extensively through the local papers of the time, and found nothing to indicate that there was a merger. Although the 1889 club report appears convincing, I'm just not sure it's accurate. In truth we may never know for sure, but my judgement call is that it's wrong. The evidence around the 1876 formation, and subsequent name change (and continued use of this name from that point on) is overwhelming as far as I'm concerned. I was delighted when the club recognised this.
Unfortunately, most web sources are out of date, refer to 1879, or just contain a lot of rubbish. I've been wanting to re-write the Wikipedia page for ages, but just haven't got around to it. I hope the revamped website will have a good history section, but I'm not holding my breath.
I'll be contacting the club re. the 7 shields. I'll post back here if/when I hear back. Any other views on this in the meantime appreciated.