Images of Sport: Airdrieonians FC

Images of Sport: Airdrieonians FC

This is the most definitive history to date of Airdrieonians Football Club, one of Scotland’s oldest and arguably most successful senior clubs.

Airdrieonians gained some notoriety in May 2002 as the first Scottish senior club to go out of business since Third Lanark in 1967. That notoriety lifted Airdrieonians from the back pages of Scotland’s national newspapers and placed it firmly on the front pages. Even the Financial Times covered the story, underlining the breadth and depth of its appeal.

Images of Sport: Airdrieonians Football Club chronicles the history of the club from before its conception to after its death, a 124-year long tale of hope and despair, success and failure, life and death, and life again.

Anyone with an interest in football, whether as fan, player, manager, official or club director, will find this an engaging case study in what to do to, and, perhaps more importantly, in what not to do. Don’t let your grasp exceed your reach. Don’t let short-term results become more important than long-term strategy. Don’t neglect your grass roots. Don’t sell your stadium and move out without a home to go to.

The club which has arisen from the ashes, Airdrie United, is the first to benefit from the undebated introduction of a de facto franchise system into Scottish football (after failing to win election to the Scottish League, Airdrie United simply bought another ailing club, Clydebank FC, whose only asset was a place in the Scottish League Second Division, and shut them down).

The unfortunate events surrounding the demise of Airdrieonians and the birth of Airdrie United give the book a unique status, enhancing its appeal to social historians and football followers the length and breadth of the UK, as well as in Airdrie.

Airdrieonians are associated with many historic moments:
the first penalty in world football took place at their ground in 1891 (diagram included);
the worst ever home defeat suffered by Glasgow Rangers was at the hands of Airdrieonians (2-10 in 1886; match report included);
the first penalty shoot-out in world football took place at Airdrie’s ground in September 1971, when the home team beat Nottingham Forest (pictures included).

It is packed with stories, photos and other images that reek of social and economic history as well as footballing history. The elegance and eloquence of some of the early accounts of the club’s activities and match reports put much modern literature to shame.