Airdrieonians F.C. (1878)
information at time of demise
|
|
| Full name | Airdrieonians Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Diamonds The Waysiders |
| Founded | 1878 as Excelsior F.C. |
| Dissolved | 2002 |
| Ground |
Excelsior Stadium Airdrie, Lanarkshire |
| Capacity | 10,171 |
| League | Scottish First Division |
| 2001–02 | Scottish First Division, 2nd |
Airdrieonians Football Club, more commonly known as Airdrie, were a Scottish professional football team from the town of Airdrie, in the Monklands area of Lanarkshire.
The club became defunct at the end of the Scottish Football League 2001–02 season, despite the team finishing as runners-up in the SFL First Division to Partick Thistle and therefore only narrowly missing out on promotion to the Scottish Premier League.
During their 124-year existence the "Diamonds", as they were nicknamed, won the old Scottish Division Two three times, the Spring Cup once and the Scottish Challenge Cup on three occasions. The club also competed in four separate Scottish Cup finals; winning the competition in 1924.
Airdrieonians were the first club in the Scottish League to fold since 1967, when Third Lanark went bankrupt.
The team was founded in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire in 1878 as Excelsior Football Club, changing its name to Airdrieonians in 1881. It was elected to the Scottish Football League in 1894.
The club enjoyed its most successful era in the 1920s, following the signing of Hughie Gallacher from Queen of the South in 1921. Airdrie challenged the dominance of Rangers, as they finished in second place in the Scottish League championship four years in a row between 1923 and 1926 and won the Scottish Cup in 1924. Following this victory, in early summer 1925, the club visited Norway and Sweden, and made a big impression. Translations of local newspaper reports, and some photographs of the tour, are still available. This successful era came to an end after Gallacher and Bob McPhail were sold to Newcastle United and Rangers respectively.
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