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Association football club in Airdrie, Scotland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the Scottish Championship. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club following the liquidation of the original Airdrieonians club, formed in 1878. The club's official name was changed in 2013 with the approval of the Scottish Football Association to the traditional name of Airdrieonians. As with the previous club, this is often colloquially shortened to simply "Airdrie".
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| Full name | Airdrieonians Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | The Diamonds | |||
| Founded | 2002 (as Airdrie United FC) | |||
| Ground | Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie | |||
| Capacity | 10,101[1] | |||
| Chairman | Paul Hetherington | |||
| Manager | Rhys McCabe | |||
| League | Scottish Championship | |||
| 2023–24 | Scottish Championship, 4th of 10 | |||
| Website | http://www.airdriefc.com | |||
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The club have won three trophies in their short history – the Scottish Second Division in 2003–04 and the Challenge Cup in 2008–09 and 2023–24. Once described as "the luckiest team in the Scottish League",[2] the club have benefited in league division placements due to other club's misfortunes on three occasions (2008, 2009 and 2012). However the club have lost six Scottish league play-off finals (2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2021 and 2022), two semi-finals (2010 and 2017) and one quarter-final (2024) in total, eventually offset by a Championship play-off final victory in 2023 against Hamilton Academical.
The club was formed in 2002 as Airdrie United, following the bankruptcy of the original Airdrieonians.[3][4]
Airdrieonians had finished runners-up in the Scottish First Division in the 2001–02 season[5] but went out of business with debts approaching £3 million.[6] The collapse of "The Diamonds", as they were known due to their distinctive kits,[7] created a vacancy in the Scottish Football League (in the Scottish Third Division). Accountant and Airdrieonians fan Jim Ballantyne attempted, with the help of others, to gain entry with a club called "Airdrie United" who were essentially to be a reincarnation of Airdrieonians.[8] Their application however was rejected as the then English Northern Premier League side Gretna were preferred by league members over the new Airdrie United.[9]
Airdrie United then went on to complete a buy-out of the ailing Second Division side Clydebank[10] and with SFL approval the club was relocated to Airdrie,[11] the strips were transformed to resemble that of Airdrieonians, and the name was changed to Airdrie United. While this means that the club is therefore officially a legal continuation of Clydebank, it is almost universally accepted as a reincarnation of Airdrieonians, with a new version of Clydebank being reformed by supporters' groups and entering into the West Region Junior League.[12]
Managed by Sandy Stewart, Airdrie United's first match took place at New Broomfield[13] against Forfar Athletic in August 2002, with captain Stephen Docherty scoring the only goal of the game with Airdrie United winning 1–0.[14] Their debut season saw the club only narrowly fail to achieve promotion by one point[15] due to a late injury-time goal from Brechin City[16] which saw them promoted instead.[15] The club reached the second round of the Challenge Cup,[17] the third round of the Scottish Cup[17] and the third round of the Scottish League Cup[18] having beaten Premier League side Kilmarnock in the second round.[19]
During the rest of Stewart's tenure the club reached the final of the Challenge Cup in 2003 (losing 2–0 to Inverness Caledonian Thistle),[20] and won the Second Division title in 2003–04 season.[21] Having started poorly Airdrie went on a run that saw them unbeaten in the last 18 games of that season,[22][23] including the final game of the league campaign which saw a crowd of over 5,700 at New Broomfield to watch Airdrie defeat Morton 2–0 and lift the League Championship trophy,[24] the club having been confirmed champions the previous week following their 1–0 victory away to Alloa Athletic at Recreation Park.[22]
In November 2006, Stewart was sacked[25] and replaced by former Airdrieonians player and Airdrie United coach Kenny Black, his first management post.[26]
Under Kenny Black the club suffered four successive play-off defeats:
The club won the Challenge Cup in 2008, defeating Ross County 3–2 on penalties after a 2–2 draw,[36] and despite another play-off defeat by 6–2 on aggregate to Dumbarton in the promotion play-off final at the end of 2011–12 season[37] Airdrie were lucky again as the liquidation of the company that operated Scottish Premier League side Rangers[38] and the decision by Scottish Football League clubs that Rangers should play in the Scottish Third Division,[39] meant that an additional team from each tier of Scottish football was promoted for the 2012–13 season.[40] As Airdrie were runners up in the previous season's Second Division promotion play-offs, they were promoted to the Scottish First Division.[40] A season in the First Division came to an end in May 2013, with the club finishing bottom of the league and relegated to Division Two.[41]
In June 2013, the club officially changed its name from Airdrie United Football Club to Airdrieonians Football Club.[4] The name change revived the name of the club it was formed to replace in 2002, following the liquidation of the original Airdrieonians.[42] The Airdrieonians all red club crest was also revived,[43][44] with an alternate black and red version used for the away kits.[45]
In June 2015 Jim Ballantyne sold control of the club to Tom Wotherspoon, a Lanarkshire businessman and owner of M & H Logistics (who had previously sponsored Hamilton Academical, East Fife and BSC Glasgow). Wotherspoon became chairman and Ballantyne vice-chairman, appointing former Scottish Sun newspaper Head of Sport Iain King as Chief Executive (King left the club in June 2016).[46]
Despite retaining his majority shareholding Tom Wotherspoon resigned as chairman and director of Airdrieonians on 5 June 2017, with former chairman Jim Ballantyne taking Wotherspoon's place as chairman.[47]
In January 2018, it was announced that a consortium of various businessmen (including former Airdrieonians manager Bobby Watson) had taken control of Tom Wotherspoon's controlling shares, bringing to an end a tumultuous period for the club. The majority of the previous board was replaced, including Jim Ballantyne, and subsequently Director of Football Gordon Dalziel (appointed October 2016) departed.
Manager Ian Murray led the club to fifth, third and two second place Scottish League One finishes in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively, with the club missing out on play-off games (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) in 2020, losing to Championship side Morton over a two-legged play-off final in May 2021, and losing to Scottish League One side Queen's Park over a two-legged play-off final in May 2022. After this defeat Murray departed the club for Raith Rovers in the Scottish Championship.
With Rhys McCabe subsequently appointed as player manager, Airdrie finished the 2022–23 season in third place, defeating Falkirk 7–2 on aggregate in the play-off semi-final and Hamilton Academical 6–5 on penalties after extra time in the Championship play-off final at New Douglas Park in May 2023, therefore relegating Hamilton to League One and earning Airdrie a place in the Scottish Championship.
At the beginning of the 2023–24 season, McCabe guided the side to a clean sweep of their group in the Scottish League Cup, gaining 12 points, including defeating top-flight Dundee 1–0, then losing 4–3 after extra time against Premiership side Ross County in the next round. Following a defeat of Premiership side St. Johnstone, Airdrie reached the fifth round of the Scottish Cup for the first time in over 10 years, but lost to Hearts 4–1.
In March 2024, Airdrie reached the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup, and defeated Welsh side The New Saints at Falkirk Stadium 2–1 through goals from Liam McStravick and Nikolay Todorov to lift the trophy for the first time since 2008.[48]
The club finished the league in fourth place and earned a play-off spot. However an aggregate defeat to Partick Thistle over two quarter-final ties saw the club remain in the Championship for another season.
Airdrie play their home fixtures at Excelsior Stadium, also unofficially known as New Broomfield. For sponsorship reasons the venue was originally known as The Shyberry Excelsior Stadium (after Shyberry Design Ltd. who had sponsored the construction), from 2018 to 2022 as The Penny Cars Stadium [49] and from 2024 onwards as The Albert Bartlett Stadium.
The ground was built when now defunct Airdrieonians' previous home, Broomfield Park, was sold to supermarket chain Safeway, who were given permission to build a new store on the site.[citation needed] This transaction has been cited as being the cause of the financial ruination of the club, as their old ground was demolished several years before they acquired planning permission for the new stadium. In the intervening years the club ground-shared Broadwood Stadium, in Cumbernauld, the home of Clyde.
Excelsior Stadium has an all-seated capacity of 10,101.[1] At the end of the 2009–10 season a new 3G artificial surface was installed.[50] This was replaced at the end of the 2021–22 season. The main pitch and adjoining small-sided facilities are all made available for local community use.[51]
In 2003 a ground share was proposed with Falkirk as their ground did not meet SPL requirements;[52] this was later refused as Falkirk could not prove the SPL fixtures would have priority.[53] Queen of the South played their Uefa Cup tie in 2008[54] at the stadium, as did Motherwell in 2009.[55] Queen's Park utilised the stadium for their "home" games from December 2013 until May 2014, due to the redevelopment of Hampden Park for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[56][57]
Airdrie United inherited Airdrieonians' distinctive playing colours of a white shirt with a red diamond. The design was the basis of Airdrieonians' nickname, The Diamonds, which has also been adopted by Airdrie.
When Airdrie United were formed, they used a blue double-headed eagle device on a white shield for their badge, with a red scroll below the shield that read "Airdrie United F.C.", amended to bearing "Airdrie F.C." when the club rebranded in 2012.[58] The eagle recalled the Airdrie town arms.[58]
When the club inherited the Airdrieonians name in 2013, they also restored the badge worn by their predecessors:[58] the original AFC bore this emblem from 1974 until their demise in 2002, excepting the 2000–01 season.[59] This badge featured a cockerel sitting atop a shield containing two lions passant and the club's initials. The club were informed by the Lord Lyon King of Arms in March 2015 that as their badge features a shield, it constitutes a heraldic device, and heraldic devices are not permitted to carry lettering.[60] On 19 June 2015, Airdrieonians unveiled a new crest, removing the shield and instead using a chevron–representing the "Airdrie Diamond"–to separate the scroll from the remainder of the badge.[61]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Sandy Stewart (2002–2006)[63][25] Kenny Black (2006–2010)[64][65] Jimmy Boyle (2010–2013)[66] Gary Bollan (2013–2015)[67] Eddie Wolecki Black (22 December 2015 – 31 October 2016)[68][69]
Danny Lennon (10 March 2016 – June 2016)[70]
Kevin McBride (June 2016–30 October 2016)
Mark Wilson (31 October 2016 – 17 June 2017)[69][71] Willie Aitchison (4 August 2017 – 20 August 2017) Stevie Findlay (29 September 2017[72]–8 October 2018) Ian Murray (19 October 2018 – 24 May 2022) Rhys McCabe (26 May 2022–)| Record type | Record | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| Most league points in a season | 72 | in League One 2021–22 |
| Most league goals by a player in a season | 23, Andy Ryan | in League One 2016–17 |
| Record total league appearances | 159, Stephen McKeown | |
| Record total goals | 71, Calum Gallagher | including 59 league goals |
| Record home attendance | 9,044 | v Rangers on 23 August 2013 in League One |
| Record cup wins | 11–0 & 8–0 | 11-0 v Gala Fairydean on 19 November 2011 in Scottish Cup 3rd Round[74] & 8–0 v East Kilbride on 16 July 2024 in the Scottish League Cup Group Stage. |
| Record league win | 7–0 | v Peterhead on 18 March 2023 in League One and v Dundee on 11 March 2006 in Division One |
| Record loss | 0–7 | v Partick Thistle on 20 October 2012 in Division One[75] |
Only includes caps won while playing for Airdrieonians.
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18 players were selected for Scotland while playing for the original Airdrieonians, collecting 47 caps in total.[76]
On 18 May 2024 the club announced that the player of the year award would be renamed the Ian McMillan player of the year award after his passing earlier that year.
| Season | Ian McMillan Player of the Year[77] | Young Player of the Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | Charlie Telfer | Mason Hancock |
| 2022–23 | Calum Gallagher | Gabby McGill |
| 2021–22 | Dylan Easton | Callum Smith |
| 2020–21 | Callum Fordyce | Leon McCann |
| 2019–20 | Callum Fordyce | Leon McCann |
| 2018–19 | David Hutton | Josh Edwards |
| 2017–18 | Scott Stewart | Dean Cairns |
| 2016–17 | Andy Ryan | Scott Stewart |
| 2015–16 | David Cox | Nicky Cadden |
| 2014–15 | Paddy Boyle | Luca Gasparotto |
| 2013–14 | Jim Lister | Liam Watt |
| 2012–13 | John Boyle | Chris O'Neil |
| 2011–12 | Ryan Donnelly | Nathan Blockley |
| 2010–11 | Ryan McCord | Jamie Bain |
| 2009–10 | No Award | No Award |
| 2008–09 | Stephen Robertson | Bobby Donnelly |
| 2007–08 | Allan Russell | Kevin Watt |
| 2006–07 | Neil McGowan | Stephen McKenna |
| 2005–06 | Bryan Prunty | Steven McDougall |
| 2004–05 | Marvyn Wilson | Stephen McKenna |
| 2003–04 | David Dunn | Willie McLaren |
| 2002–03 | Jérôme Vareille | Stephen McKeown |
A Hall of Fame was established by the new club in 2002 to honour noted players of the previous entity (some of whom also played for the new club), with more entrants added each year.[78]
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