Airdrieonians F.C.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Airdrieonians F. C. (Football Club), more commonly 'Airdrie' was a Scottish football team from the town of Airdrie, in the Monklands area of Lanarkshire.

The club became defunct at the end of the 2001/02 season. This was despite the team finishing second in the SFL First Division to Partick Thistle, consequently just missing out on promotion to the Scottish Premier League by one place.

Airdrieonians were the first club in the Scottish League to fold since 1967, when Third Lanark went bankrupt. Meadowbank Thistle disappeared in 1995, but they reformed as Livingston.

[edit] History

The team was founded in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire in 1878 as Excelsior Football Club, changing its name to Airdrieonians Football Club in 1881. The club enjoyed its most successful era in the 1920s, finishing in second place in the Scottish League Championship four years in a row in between 1923 and 1926. Airdrieonians also appeared in four Scottish Cup finals, winning the competition in 1924.

For most of its history, Airdrie played at Broomfield Park in Airdrie town centre. The final game at Broomfield took place in May 1994, after which the ground was demolished. Airdrie went on to groundshare with Clyde at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld for four seasons. The club moved to its new home, New Broomfield, in time for the 1998/9 season and played their home games there until their liquidation in 2002.

In the 1992/1993 season the club competed in the European Cup Winners Cup as a result of the loss to the Rangers in the Scottish Cup finals during the previous season. Their last appearance in the final was in 1995, a mere seven years before disappearing, when they lost 1-0 to Celtic.

The club went out of business on 1 May 2002 due to overwhelming debts. The club's last match was played away from home at Ayr United. The match was abandoned after a crossbar was broken during a pitch invasion, and was never replayed.

A new team for Airdrie emerged the following season, under the banner of Airdrie United F.C.. Their initial bid for league status was rejected by member clubs as Gretna's application had already been accepted.

Airdrieonians fan Jim Ballantyne went on to buy Clydebank, who had financial difficulties of their own. With SFL approval, the club's name was changed to Airdrie United, and the club moved to Airdrie, with the club strip changed to the same style that Airdrieonians had used. Most view United as a continuation of Airdrieonians, with many of the same supporters attending Airdrie United games that had attended games of the previous club.