The current Airdrieonians FC is a semi-professional football club from the North Lanarkshire town of Airdrie, who were formed in 2002 following the liquidation of the original club, which went under with debts of £3M. The new incarnation initially started back up as Airdrie United with the same supporters and wearing the same club colours.
Airdrieonians (1878)
The original Airdrieonians, more commonly known as Airdrie, were formed as Excelsior FC in 1878 before changing their title three years later. Broomfield Park in the town centre opened in 1892 before the club was admitted into the Scottish League as members of Division Two for the 1894-95 season.
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The old pavilion at Broomfield Park |
Another Second Division second place followed in 1949-50 with the 'Diamonds’ managing to consolidate their place before suffering demotion in 1953-54. The team recovered to lift the Second Division title the following season to settle back in the First Division, remaining at that level until the end of the 1964-65 season when they were relegated.
Again, Airdrie recovered quickly to win promotion as runners-up in 1965-66 before the team put in a couple of mid-table finishes around general lower third positions until going down in bottom place in 1972-73. This came after Airdrie were runners-up to Derby County in the 1972 Texaco Cup.
This was a pre-season competition played initially between English sides before becoming a forerunner to the short-lived Anglo-Scottish Cup. The Division Two title was lifted in 1973-74 before reaching the 1974-75 Scottish Cup final, where Airdrie went down 3-1 to Celtic as Kevin McCann scored the consolation for Ian McMillan’s team.
The team then went on to finish just outside the places for the new Premier Division in its 1975-76 debut season. Airdrieonians were placed in the second tier Division One before star striker Sandy Clark put away the goals to fire the side to runners-up in 1979-80. Airdrie lasted a couple of seasons in the Premier Division, dropping back down in 1981-82 as Clark was sold to West Ham United.
The side put in a series of finishes midway in the table before ending up as runners-up in 1989-90, when only the champions were promoted. However, second place was enough to go up in 1990-91 for the Diamonds under manager Jimmy Bone before he was replaced by Alex MacDonald. Andy Smith scored Airdrie’s goal in the 2-1 defeat to Rangers in the 1991-92 Scottish Cup final defeat with Sandy Stewart captaining the team.
As Rangers had won the Premier Division title, it led to Airdrieonians qualifying for the European Cup-Winners Cup. The team went out in the first round to Sparta Praha before being relegated in the same season. Broomfield Park was sold to Safeway while the club went off to share with Clyde at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld.
In 1994-95, Airdrie won the Scottish Challenge Cup, defeating Dundee 3-2 after extra time with goals from Jimmy Boyle, Paul Harvey and Andy Smith. The club reached another Scottish Cup final in 1995-96, where the side went down 1-0 to Celtic. Airdrie made the 1996-97 play-offs, where they were denied promotion after an aggregate defeat to Hibernian.
Brian McPhee topped the scoring the following season as the club moved into their new Excelsior Stadium back in Airdrie. In 2000, KPMG were installed as the club's liquidator as the club found itself in deep debt. Manager Steve Archibald entered a deal with the company after he signed players, after most of the previous squad had their contracts terminated.
Airdrie lifted the 2000-01 Challenge Cup on penalties against Livingston after a 2-2 draw with goals from Martin Prest and David McGuire. KPMG ended their deal with Archibald as they said he had failed on repayments. The club was kept alive in the hope of a sale while Ian McCall came in as manager to lead the side to retain the Challenge Cup, as goals from Owen Coyle and Mark Roberts saw off Alloa Athletic 2-1.
Airdrie ended the 2000-01 season in second place in the First Division after looking a good bet for the title and promotion. Their final match was abandoned away to Ayr United, who were owned by Bill Barr, whose company had built the Excelsior Stadium and had become one of Airdrieonians' major creditors. Diamonds fans invaded the pitch and broke the crossbar of one of the goals.
Airdrie United
KPMG liquidated the club, at which point local man and Airdrie supporter Jim Ballantyne set up a new club, Airdrie United and applied to take up the Scottish League place left behind by the old club. However, the Scottish League had already accepted Gretna from the English Northern Premier League.
Instead, Ballantyne bought out the name and a few assets left of Clydebank FC, who were struggling in the Second Division under administration, along with a lease of the Excelsior Stadium. He controversially moved the club lock, stock and barrel to North Lanarkshire, changing the name to Airdrie United.
They adopted Airdrieonians' old colours to take up their old place in the Second Division as former skipper Sandy Steward was appointed as manager. United won the Second Division title in 2003-04 as Coyle and Alan Gow put away the goals, as Mr Ballantyne ensured that the club had to cut its cloth accordingly, meaning cut back backs and reverting to part-time football with a focus on youth.
Bryan Prunty scored regularly in 2005-06 before the side was relegated the following season, despite the goals of Gary Twigg, after Kenny Black had arrived as manager. Allan Russell and Stuart Noble scored the goals to take Airdrie to the play-offs in 2007-08, which saw victory over Raith Rovers before being promoted despite defeat to Clyde in the final.
The 2008-09 season ended in relegation play-offs as Peterhead were defeated, but Ayr United exacted revenge for the crossbar incident by winning the final, which should have demoted the Diamonds. Again, the club had a stroke of luck as Gretna went bust and Airdrie were reprieved. However, the 2009-10 season also ended in relegation play-offs as an aggregate defeat to Brechin City cost Black his job as the team went down to Division Two.
Jimmy Boyle came in as the new manager to take Airdrie to the 2011-12 play-offs, which saw a win against Ayr United before defeat in the final against Dumbarton. Yet again, the club gained through others' misfortune as Rangers’ administration saw both sides promoted.
However, the team finished bottom of the table in 2012-13 and were relegated back to the third tier, which was called League One following reorganisation in the Scottish game. The club changed their title to Airdrieonians in June 2013.
Airdrieonians
Gary Bollan replaced Boyle before Eddie Wolecki Black took over in December 2015, who was succeeded by Kevin McBride and then Mark Wilson, who took the side to the 2016-17 play-offs, which ended in semi-final defeat to Alloa Athletic. Willie Aitchison was appointed as manager in August 2017, lasting just a few weeks before being replaced by Stevie Findlay.
The changes continued in the post with Ian Murray taking over as team boss in October 2018. The team missed out a couple of times on the play-offs before finishing third when the 2019-20 season was ended early owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the help of the goals of Dale Carrick and Calum Gallagher.
The playoffs were reached once more in 2020-21, which ended in a final defeat to Greenock Morton. Twelve months later, it was the turn of Queen's Park to end any dreams of promotion in the playoff final. Rhys McCabe was appointed as Airdrie boss in May 2022, for whom Calum McGregor banged in the goals.
Falkirk and Hamilton Academical were defeated in the playoffs for the team to win promotion to the Championship. Partick Thistle ended hopes of successive promotions in 2023-24, with the Diamonds securing their status the following season following a playoff win against Cove Rangers.
Airdrieonians will play in the Scottish Championship in the 2025-26 season.
Wednesday 27th January 2010
A couple of weather-beaten regulars laughed and shook their heads that we were bothered enough to venture to the match. I think the comments they used to describe the Airdrie team were tongue-in-cheek. They recommended the pies, and they said it would be the highlight of our visit! The teams ran out without none of the shaking hands and anthem nonsense seen in most other countries.
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