Airdrieonians
Formed 1878
Elected to Scottish Division Two 1894. Resigned 2002
Kit History
1878-1885 a g
1885-1887 g
1892-1895 g
1903-1904 a
1904-1905 a
1907-1908 g
1909-1912 a b g
1912-1917 a c g
1917-1931 a g
1931-1936 a g
1936-1937 a
1939-1940 a b
1945-1946 a
1946-1950 g
1950-1951 a g
1953-1954 b
1954-1955 a
1956-1958 a d
1958-1959 b
1959-1960 a
1961-1962 a
1962-1963 a
1963-1964 d
1969-1971 a b
1971-Sept 1974 a b g
Oct 1974-1977 a g
1973-1976 c d g
1977-1980 a c g
1980-1982 a c
1984-1988 a h
1988-1989 a
1989-1990 a
1991-1992 a
1992-1993 a
1993-1995 a f
1995-1996 a
1999-August 2000 a
Nov 2000-2001 e
2001-2002 e
Background
The club was originally formed as Excelsior FC in the North Lanarkshire mining town of Airdrie, adopting the title Airdrieonians in 1881. After being admitted to the Scottish Second Division in 1894, they were elected to the top flight in 1903. Records from the late nineteenth century are rather ambiguous but it is thought the club adopted vertical red and white stripes rather than the more common hoops.
The club enjoyed its greatest period of success during the 1920s, finishing in second place on four consecutive seasons (1923-1926) and appearing in four Scottish FA Cup finals, winning the competition in 1924.
The club's nickname of "The Diamonds" derives from the distinctive design of the club's shirts adopted in 1912. Manchester United had worn similar jerseys in the 1909 English FA Cup Final but there is no evidence to suggest that Airdrie were trying to emulate the English club.
In 1936 the club was relegated to the Second Division and it was not until 1947 that they returned to the top flight, albeit for a single season. Between 1950 and 1954 they were again in Division One before they were relegated once more. After winning the Second Division championship the following season (1955) the club enjoyed a long spell in the top flight, broken only by two short periods in Division Two (1965-66 and 1973-74). In 1975, with the formation of the Scottish Premier League, Airdrie found themselves in the new Division One (now the second tier) and in 1981 they were promoted to the top level where they spent two seasons.
In 1992 they won promotion back to the Premiership and were losing finalists in the Scottish FA Cup, which qualified them to compete in the European Cup Winners' Cup the following season.
Faced with financial pressures and ambitious to secure a new stadium to meet Premier League standards, the club's Broomfield ground was sold and demolished to make way for a supermarket, a decision that would lead to their downfall. Without planning permission for a new stadium, the club spent several years sharing Clyde's Broadwood ground in Cumbernauld while the proceeds of the sale and their support ebbed away. When work finally began on the 10,000 all-seated New Broomfield ground, the financial burden proved too great. On 1 May 2002, Airdrieonians declared bankruptcy and resigned from the League owing £3 million. Ironically, the club had been doing well on the pitch having finished in second place in Division One and winning the Bell's Scottish Cup in 2000 and 2001. Their final match had to be abandoned when furious fans invaded the pitch and broke a crossbar.
Immediately a new club was formed but Airdrie United's application to fill the vacancy in Division Three was denied in favour of Gretna. In an extraordinary turn of events, the head of the Airdrie consortium, Jim Ballantyne bought out Clydebank FC, then homeless and in administration, and moved them to Airdrie. With the approval of the Scottish Football League, the reformed club took over Clydebank's place in Division Two.
Sources
- (a) Airdrieonians FC - Images of Sport (Brian Bollen 2002)
- (b) London Hearts
- (c) Ayr United FC - Images of Sport (Duncan Carmichael 2002)
- (d) Riccardo Bertani
- (e) BBC Sport
- (f) SNSpix
- (g) Alick Milne
- (h) Ralph Pomeroy