Airdrie United F.C.
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Airdrie United Football Club are a Scottish association football team currently playing in the Scottish Football League First Division. They are currently managed by Sandy Stewart.
The club was formed in May 2002 on the bankruptcy of a previous club, Airdrieonians, who had finished runners-up in the Scottish League Division One but gone out of business with debts of almost £3million. The collapse of Airdrieonians had left a vacant place in the Scottish Football League (in Division Three) but Airdrie United lost this place to Gretna. But the following month, Airdrie United owner Jim Ballantyne completed a buy-out of the ailing Division Two side Clydebank and this allowed Airdrie United to compete in Division Two for the 2002-03 season culminating in the death of Clydebank F.C.'s existence, or at least at that time it was thought so.
Airdrie United play their home fixtures at New Broomfield as the fans call the stadium, but officially known as Excelsior Stadium, their previous home having been sold to Safeway who where given permission to build a new Supermarket on the site. It was this which helped trigger the financial ruin of Airdrieonians as their old ground was demolished several years before the new ground was given planning permission. The years away from Airdrie meant that the money from the sale of Broomfield which was to be used for building a new stadium, slowly started to drain away. This and the fact that the board of directors built a stadium with a capacity in excess of 10,000 despite crowds being less than 2,000 which was the criteria for joining the SPL at the time, didn't help the clubs cause, ironically the requirement is now 6,000 all seater stadium, which may or may not have been enough to have saved Airdrieonians from the financial burden they would face on building the new stadium.
Airdrie United have inherited Airdrieonians distinctive playing colours and nickname, 'The Diamonds' since the team play in white top with a red diamond although a few fans refused to follow or appreciate United due to the way they came about - actually killing another team - although some may say that Clydebank would not have survived anyway even without the intervention of Airdrie United Football Club.
Airdrie United reached the final of the Bells Challenge Cup in 2003-04 and lost to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but consolation came in the form of the Division Two championship and promotion to the Scottish Football League 1st Division, a game which was watched by over 5,000 fans at New Broomfield.
The Club has just finished fifth in the Scottish Football League 1st Division, the club now has ambitions to build itself firstly as a quality 1st Division side and eventually try to make the move up to the Scottish Premier League. There is no doubt this will prove to be very difficult on home crowds of 1,500, but like Airdrieonians before them, Airdrie United will not be afraid of the challenge they face and it does look United are a club that is really going "onwards and upwards" as their club motto reads.
External links
- Official website (http://www.airdrieunitedfc.com)