Airbus UK Broughton F.C.
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| Full name | Airbus UK Broughton Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Wingmakers |
| Founded | 1946 (as Vickers-Armstrong) |
| Ground |
Hollingsworth Group Stadium Broughton |
| Capacity | 1,600 (500 seated) |
| Owner | Broughton Wings Sports and Social Club |
| Chairman | Michael Mayfield |
| Manager | Andy Thomas |
| League | Welsh Premier League |
| 2015–16 | Welsh Premier League, 6th |
Airbus UK Broughton Football Club 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 play at The Hollingsworth Group Stadium (previously known as The Airfield), Broughton (capacity 1,600, of which 500 are seated); however as their pitch could not be brought up to Welsh Premier League standards in time following their promotion, for their first two games they shared Conwy United's ground. The Airfield features three unusual retracting floodlights as it is adjacent to an operational runway. In 2014, the grass surface was replaced with a 3G synthetic pitch which is also available for hire.
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 1999–00 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.
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