| Full name | Airbus UK Broughton Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Wingmakers | ||
| Founded | 1946 (as Vickers-Armstrong) | ||
| Ground | The Airfield Broughton (Capacity: 1,600 (500 seated)[1]) |
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| Owner | Airbus | ||
| Chairman | Paul McKinlay | ||
| Coach | Gareth Owen[2] | ||
| League | Welsh Premier League | ||
| 2010–11 | Welsh Premier League, 8th of 12 | ||
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Airbus UK Broughton F.C. is a football team based in Broughton, Flintshire, Wales, a few miles from the English city of Chester. They had their origins as the works team of the Airbus UK aerospace factory where the wings of the Airbus airliner are produced, and are consequently nicknamed The Wingmakers or The Planemakers. The club was promoted to the Welsh Premier League for the first time in 2004, and normally play at The Airfield, Broughton (capacity 2,100, of which 250 are seated); however as their pitch could not be brought up to Welsh Premier League standards in time following their promotion, for their first season in the League they shared Conwy United's ground. The Airfield features unusual retracting floodlights as it is adjacent to an operational runway.
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Formed in 1946, the club has known several different names as the ownership of the factory has changed over the years. Originally called Vickers-Armstrong, it has variously been named de Havillands, Hawker Siddeley, British Aerospace, and BAE Systems.
The club's early years were spent in the Chester & District League and the Wrexham area leagues. The club won the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Division Two title during the 1991–92 season, when they won 28 of their 34 matches and scored 130 goals. They then spent four years making steady improvements in their position in the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Division One before being promoted to the Welsh National League Premier Division at the end of the 1995–96 season when they were runners-up in Division One. They spent another four years consolidating their position in the Premier Division before winning promotion to the Cymru Alliance at the end of the 1999–2000 season, when they won 21 of their 30 matches. To coincide with this promotion the club changed its name to Airbus UK.
Once again they spent four seasons in their new league, successively finishing in 11th, 8th, and 5th positions before running away with the league title in 2003–04 to earn promotion to the top level of Welsh domestic football for the first time.
Airbus' first season in the Premier League was a torrid time, with the team acquiring only 21 points in the first 32 matches and being in next-to-last position with only a few matches remaining. Their manager, Rob Lythe, who had led them to promotion, resigned in February 2005, citing "not having enough time" to do the job.
The Planemakers eventually avoided relegation in their debut season after a victory over local rivals Connah's Quay Nomads and a 1–0 defeat at Caersws on the last day.
Airbus made a promising start to their second season in the WP, reaching the semi-final of the League Cup eventually losing out to TNS Llansantffraid over two legs.
For the start of the 2007–08 season, the club changed its name once more, adding the village name to become "Airbus UK Broughton F.C.".
During their time in the Welsh Premier League, Airbus UK Broughton have gone from relegation strugglers, to a stable mid-table club. This has been shown in an upturn of results whereby the club compete with, and sometimes beat, the more illustrious clubs in the League.
As of 4 January 2012.[3] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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As of 30 December 2011.
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