Broomfield Bulletin

Issue 7 - Livi @ Home

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to issue 7 of the Broomfield Bulletin. Our historical articles continue with a feature on our tour of Norway in 1925. We also take a look at contemporary issues with 5 questions about our summer recruitment and the low down on Dundee North End. Happy reading and any questions, feedback or your own thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated.

Championship Round-Up

Airdrie’s dismal run of form continued since our last issue with a 4-0 defeat at home to Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton Accies, thanks to goals from Connor Smith, a Sam Graham OG, Kevin O’Hara and Dylan McGowan. This was followed up by two defeats on the road, 2-0 to Falkirk through Keelan Adams and Calvin Miller and 1-0 to closest league competitors Dunfermline, via Lewis McCann’s winner. Airdrie have now gone 7 defeats in a row in all competitions and 5 games without a goal. Raith Rovers and Ayr United kicked-off November for the Scottish Championship, the Fifers prevailing 2-0 thanks to a double from ex diamond Lewis Jamieson. Raith’s up-turn in form continued with a 1-1 draw at Firhill, Airdrie’s 21/22 player of the year Dylan Easton cancelling out Brian Graham’s early opener. However, Raith’s run of positive results ended last Saturday with them falling to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Morton. Raith managed to pull back a 2-goal deficit through a Zack Delaney OG and Dylan Easton, however, Michael Garrity’s injury time strike, after Filip Stuparevic’s early double, took the 3 points back to Greenock.  

Morton began the month with a 6-0 hammering off Falkirk. The Bairns triumphed courtesy of Keelan Adams, Ethan Ross, Gary Oliver, Calvin Miller and a Brad Spencer double. However, they did manage to pick up a point inbetween, drawing 1-1 at home to Ayr United, ex ‘Ton striker George Oakley equalising Iain Wilson’s opener.  

Ayr United picked up their first 3 points of the month, defeating Queen’s Park 3-2 on Saturday. Jay Henderson, Mark McKenzie and George Oakley put the Honest Men 3-0 up, before Josh Hinds and Jack Turner almost inspired a late Queen’s Park comeback. Queen’s Park had picked up 4 points in the previous couple of weeks, drawing 1-1 at Almondvale, goals from Stevie May and Seb Drozd, and defeating Dunfermline Athletic 2-1 at Hampden Park, Ryan Duncan and Jack Turner’s goals enough to prevail over the Pars and Matty Todd’s effort. Dunfermline had previously lost 1-0 to Partick Thistle and Scott Robinson, who picked up another 3 points on the 16^th, hammering Hamilton Accies 5-1. Kevin O’Hara pulled a goal back to make it 2-1 at half-time. But doubles from Scott Robinson and Brian Graham and a Logan Chalmers goal were enough to overwhelm the ML3 side. Despite their positive start to the month, Hamilton have picked up 0 points since that Lanarkshire derby win, also falling to a 3-1 defeat at home to Livingston. Kevin O’Hara had equalled Stevie May’s first-half goal to equal the tie at the break. But goals from ex Academicals Lewis Smith and Andy Winter condemned Hamilton to another defeat.  

By Sean Smith

Recent Head-to-Head

28th September 2024

Scottish Championship

Livingston 2-1 Airdrieonians

Shared History

If the previous programme showed there were similarities in the recent histories of Airdrieonians and Hamilton Academical, there is also a likeness if the Diamonds are compared with Livingston FC.

Both clubs have undergone changes of identity. Livingston was previously Meadowbank Thistle and played in Edinburgh at the old Commonwealth Stadium. Meadowbank entered the Scottish League in 1974/75, but had previously been called Ferranti Thistle. They were required to remove the company name as a condition of league membership. The club was moved to West Lothian and renamed Livingston FC at the end of 1994/95. If, like me, you've reached that stage in life where time seems to pass more quickly than it did before, you'll gulp when you realise that 'Livingston's' time in the league now exceeds 'Meadowbank's' by a decade.

As for us, well we all all know only too well that our beloved Diamonds ceased to be at the end of 2001/02. In something similar(ish) to what went on up the M8, Airdrie took Clydebank's league place and returned as 'Airdrie United' in time for 2002/03. The club was renamed Airdrieonians for season 2013/14.

Thus, if the changes are combined, the clubs have had no fewer than six guises, or seven if Airdrie's very early Excelsior incarnation is included.

Airdrieonians first played Meadowbank Thistle in 1983/84 but all three modern versions of the former has played matches against Livingston. For Diamonds fans, perhaps the most memorable were the ones that took place in the space of just over a week twenty-four Novembers ago. It was on the 11th then the 19th of that month in the year 2000 that the clubs met in the league at Almondvale then at Broadwood in the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup.

Both matches finished 2-2 but, if the first is remembered for a sublime goal for Airdrie by Antonio Calderon, the second provided the high point of Steve Archibald's short time at the club. The Diamonds won on penalties but no less than seven of his feted 'International Brigade' made an appearance that day. Calderon featured again but prominent amongst them were Catalan goalkeeper Javier Sanchez Broto, who saved three penalties during the shoot-out, and Martin Prest, an Argentinian, who scored our first equaliser.

Another Spaniard, David Fernandez, also played for Airdrie that day but, like all the other imports, he had to leave New Broomfield soon after amidst the chaos of Archibald's exit. In another link with Livingston, he accompanied Broto to Almondvale. They would help Livingston to take the title but Fernandez would go on to pick up a League Cup winners medal in 2003/04.

Livingston's run to the championship included a 5-0 win over the Diamonds in West Lothian in May 2001. Airdrie were, by then, a shadow of the side that had contested those thrilling November encounters. So parlous was our state by early 2001 that a six weeks break from fixtures was agreed. A makeshift squad was assembled but we fulfilled our obligations, the thrashing at Almondvale one of eleven fixtures in the season's last six weeks. If the 6-0 loss at Alloa on 27th March appeared the low point the true nadir was undoubtedly our ejection from the Scottish Cup before the Fourth Round match against Peterhead on 17th February.

If the infamous Davie Syme incident at Tynecastle in September 1991 provided one of Airdrie's great 'what if's', the 2000/01 season provided another two. One of those was whether the club might have survived had we been able to hold on to our imported players. Fernanandez would, after all, subsequently leave Almondvale for Celtic Park for no less than £1 million.

The other imponderable was that, if they'd stayed, what else might have happened? The consensus in the New Broonfield stand was that, by the time Airdrie were due to play Peterhead in the cup that day, the side of assembled imports was really beginning to gel. Fans had been left purring by the manner of the wins over Raith Rovers and Queen of the South in the two preceding matches. Had we got past the Blue Toon, we'd have been in the quarter-finals. That would have provided another game against Livingston. Is that one of the greatest that never was?

By Peter Smith

Photo credit Robert Dalzell | Redacted Media

Recruitment review 24/25

So first things first…I honestly mean no harm to any player/coach or staff at the club. But there has been a lot of discourse around our recruitment and some of the bizarre decisions that seem to have been made by the club. And although I am obviously an Airdrie fan first and I do try to be balanced and stick to facts, however, there will be a few of my own opinions in this article. Ready? Lets dive in shall we…

To avoid a sprawling rant about signing 16 players from the same football pipeline,  I wanted to focus on 5 decisions that I'm struggling to understand from a footballing and even a business decision. Would love some comments at the bottom to let me know if you agree, disagree…or even if you have answers.

Decision 1 - Wholesale Squad changes triggered by an exodus of players

Okay, so this is maybe more of an event than a decision and I’ll play devil’s advocate here and say there might not have been anything the club could have done here. 

Cast your mind back to back to May. Optimism in the air, Airdrie had made the Premier League play-offs for the first time in decades losing narrowly to Partick Thistle. Surely we would kick on, use the player base we had and bring in a few reinforcements, go again and come back stronger? Right? RIGHT? Sadly our first major news after our record breaking season was that Callum Fordyce would be moving, and with him 10’s of thousands of minutes of experience. Josh Rae, Charlie Telfer, Gabby McGill, Cammy Ballantyne would join the exodus adding to Calum Gallagher’s departure that was humiliatingly announced by Arbroath before the end of the season. Those 6 players had upwards of 69,000 minutes of experience in their legs. Now I know you can’t force players to stay. The likes of Rae and Telfer moved onto the Scottish Premier League and that can’t be held against anyone but the loss of these players , plus top performer Kenayo Megwa returning to Hibs on loan, left a huge gap to fill. But after a bumper season of high crowds, cup wins and prize money I still thought Airdrie were well placed for giving the new season a real go. But after signing 15/16 new singings, to try and replace that experience , we find ourselves bottom of the table with the worst goal difference in Scotland. 

Decision 2 - Lets sign one centre back for the start of our league campaign

What's the old saying about repeating the same thing and expecting different results? Airdrie had a heavy reliance on Fordyce in previous seasons, with him often being the only real CB within the squad and with him gone I was really hoping we would move away from makeshift defences. And I mean no harm to ATS, McCabe, Watson etc but we were constantly plugging the CB gap with players of every other position. Aidan Wilson coming in was a great start. On paper looked a great signing, and as the summer went on we waited…and waited…and, well you get the point. August rolled around and for the first 2 league games of the season we still only had 1 CB, to make matters worse that 2nd league game would be the last time we saw Wilson for a while as a knee injury would keep him out till at least November (the time of writing this article). And so kicked off a scramble to find CBs, with the two coming in being Graham and Badley-Morgan. And despite them both having some admirable qualities , they are not ball-playing defenders and as such our trademark McCabe ball has suffered. We are in a position where we cannot play out from the back the way we have in the past. We do not have the long ball specialism of Fordyce (Now at Raith) or even McCabe (injury) to find that killer pass when playing it short is not an option. Injuries are obviously the elephant in the room, but what was the plan? Aidan Wilson alongside Fordyce, but then Fordyce left for Kirkcaldy? Wilson to play alongside Graham or Badley-Morgan? I cannot see the latter being the case but either way here we are, awaiting the return of our marquee signing of the summer, whose knees better have healed, as he may end up carrying the hopes of that defence on his back when he returns. I say marquee signing , there was another Wilson who arrival who was hailed as quite the coup.

Decisions 3 - All of our eggs in a Ben Wilson Shaped basket

I wanted this to be a success, and it still might to be fair. I needed a new player to come in and fill that Calum Gallagher shaped hole left in my life. And what a start he made, 6 goals in 4 games , hitting the woodwork against Raith and despite a poor showing against Ayr , he looked lively against Queen’s Park with a goal being disallowed for offside. But it’s not so much Ben Wilson’s form that bothers me. You can argue that his xG of 3 shows he’s getting in the right positions and it will come, its the question of who scores the goals when he is not. As well as adding Wilson, Airdrie also brought in Aaron Reid and Cammy Cooper and with last season's top scorer (Nikolay Todorov) still at the club it originally was not looking too bad. Cooper very early on was deemed a project player, and I don't mind that in certain circumstances but with an already extremely young and inexperienced squad , there is a risk of bringing in a young player for development and putting pressure on them if they find themselves being the only option available from the bench. Reid had some League 2 and Highland League experience , and in fairness has 2 more league goals then Ben Wilson, from an xG of 0.56, but he is raw, relatively inexperienced and is currently injured. But still it’s not all bad right? Todorov was still here. Its not like Airdrie would give away there only experienced striker for free to their nearest rivals…

Decision 4 - Airdrie would give away there only experienced striker for free to their nearest rivals

Of course Airdrie did. 

Now , we won’t ever know the ins and outs of this. We as fans aren't even told the length of contracts or even injuries. And before I go on, I’m not saying Todorov would be single handedly winning us games and hauling us off the bottom of the league. Full disclosure, I preferred Cal Gal and I will die on that hill…

However, he was our top scorer last season, different from Ben Wilson in every way and just had a knack for showing up with a header when it mattered. The vibe we got was that he threw the toys out the pram and wanted away because of the arrival of Ben Wilson. You can argue that you don't want a disillusioned player in the dressing room, and his contract was terminated. He would go on to sign with Hamilton and with a hint of karma is now third choice, at best, to Shaw and Smith. 

He was still contracted to us for another season, and something just doesn't sit right with an entity involved in the club’s recruitment also representing a player and negotiating their exit to a rival club. It just screams conflict of interest and the only one who doesn't benefit is Airdrie. Would a more experienced manager have been able to manage the dressing room better, allowing us to keep Toddy? Who knows. But would I rather have him on the bench or starting at the moment rather than a striker that has not score in 12 league games? Yes I would.

Decision 5 - Using up 2 loan slots on 2 Goalkeepers

If I had a pound for every goalkeeper we had on loan this season , I’d have £2. Which isn't a lot but weird that there's 2 of them. 

Over the past 3 seasons Airdrie have always had a weird relationship with Goalkeepers. Rae was our first choice last season but we didn't have a 2nd choice keeper. Airdrie would then take advantage of the emergency loan system whenever Rae was injured or suspended. Although this was a little bit tinpot, I didn't mind it. It worked well for us and if worse came to worse we had the cult hero, David Hutton on the bench. 

This season however we have decided to loan in 2 keepers at the same time, which I still can’t really get my head around. Murray Johnson coming in was a given having previously spent some time with the club when we milked that emergency loan option. I did half expect us to keep Robbie Hemfrey, the free agent who came in towards the end of last season, even as a backup. He knew the squad , knew the style of play and would have at least made a good deputy to Johnson. He may have wanted first time football or even part-time football and as of now is on loan at Clyde from Arbroath. Kieran Wright came in on loan from The Rangers and with him went a loan slot that in retrospect should have been spent on either a striker or a CB. 

Rae, in my opinion, and despite his occasional rush of blood or being caught out at the halfway line is a massive loss. His ability and confidence to play out from the back and step up to that 3rd CB role allowed us to push numbers either up the wings or into the centre of the park which allowed us to dominate like we did last season and impose our style of play. And much like the lack of ball playing CBs this key component of McCabe ball simply does not work with the keepers we have. 

I don't know if this was a financial decision, but this really leaves us in a strange position where next season we need to go back out looking for a GK, having missed the opportunity to bring one in and develop them to suit our style of play. 

So that’s my five decisions that have left me scratching my head. If you can think of any more please drop a comment at the bottom of this article. I would be interested to know.

By @RSMStats

Discovering Dundee North End

Next Sunday, 1st December, Airdrie will travel to Dundee, to take on reigning Midlands League champions Dundee North End - ‘The Dokens’ - in the Scottish Cup 3rd round. The Midlands League sits in tier 6 of the Scottish football pyramid and is a feeder league to the Highland League, where the league winner’s play-off against the winners of the SJFA North Super League and the North Caledonian League, subject to clubs meeting the required licensing criteria. No play-off took place last season and as such, Dundee North End remain in tier 6, which possibly does not do sporting justice to their abilities. Most clubs in the Midlands League, like Dundee North End, began or spent most of their lives as junior clubs, outwith the league structure, only joining the pyramid in season 2021-22.

Founded in 1895, Dundee North End were not the most successful of their Tayside junior peers. Most of their honours have been won from the late 1980s onwards, and mostly consisted of second tier titles in the East or Tayside regional juniors, or secondary cup competitions. They did win 1 top tier title as a junior club - winning the Tayside Premier Division in 1997/98.

It is the Dokens’ recent success, under co-managers Lewis Toshney and Kevin McNaughton, that is especially eye-catching and pertinent for Airdrie fans.

20 points behind Broughty Athletic at one stage last season, North End won all of their 7 games in hand, and went a total of 34 matches unbeaten across the league campaign, to win the league with 104 points and a goal difference of +115. 1 point and 1 goal better off than runners-up Broughty Athletics’ 103 points and +114 goal difference. Also worth noting is that a defence marshalled by ex-diamond Grant Adam in goal, conceded only 25 goals across 38 league games. 2 less than Airdrie have already conceded in 14 Championship games.

Dundee North End play their games at the 2000 capacity North End Park, not far from Dens or Tannadice. Attached are photos from Broomfield Bulletin contributor Peter Smith, taken in September 2023.

By Sean Smith

Airdrie’s 1925 Scandinavian Tour - Part 1

In 1925, Airdrieonians FC embarked on a continental tour, visiting Norway and Sweden for a series of friendly matches. The team arrived in Oslo on Monday, May 11th, greeted by a question on everyone's lips: “Is Gallacher here?” By then, Hughie Gallacher had already drawn considerable attention from English clubs eager to lure him south.

The Diamonds spent their first two days exploring the streets and landmarks of Oslo, immersing themselves in the city’s art galleries and history museums. They even attended the Arkers Norbeck, a popular show led by a renowned wrestler who had once captivated audiences in Britain.

Wednesday brought rain, keeping the team indoors during the morning. Passing time with games of cards and dominoes, the squad enjoyed spirited competition, with Geordie McQueen ultimately triumphing in the pool. Luckily, the weather improved by the afternoon, allowing for a relaxed, unofficial kickabout.

The Airdrie representatives for the Wednesday kickabout were:

G. Carroll,
W. Orr, W. Neilson,
T. Martyn, J. McDougall, C. Dunsmore,
A. Orr, W. Russell, W. Reid, J. Murdoch, and H. Gallacher.

Airdrieonians emerged victorious in a lively and eventful match, securing a 7-4 win. Wee Hughie Gallacher stole the show with four goals, all while loudly protesting the quality of the grass on the field. A. Orr added to the tally with a stunning strike before being sent off for a particularly robust challenge, described as “studs pressing on the windpipe.” Manager W. Orr stepped up to convert two penalties, and an unnamed Airdrie player was reportedly warned for snacking on leftover biscuits during the game!

Their opponents remain anonymous, with only their scorers identified: Barnatrygding, Herreckvipering, Skoreparafionsfabrick, and Rasmussen.

Thursday and Friday saw the team unwind with some sightseeing by car, and on Friday night, they watched a local football match in Oslo. The game was described as akin to a “Rangers and Celtic fight,” with four of the players expected to line up against Airdrie the following Thursday.

On Saturday, the squad embarked on a five-and-a-half-hour train journey to Skien, ahead of their first real bout against “Odd” who were considered the best team in Norway. They were greeted with a royal welcome from the locals before an early night was in order, as the team was keen to showcase the form that had kept them at the summit of Scottish football under the stewardship of manager W. Orr. Meanwhile, a second group of Airdrieonians had already departed to join the contingent in Denmark.

By Airdrieonians in History @RapidBenano

Collectors’ Corner

Match Programmes Remembered – Stockport County AFC V Airdrieonians 25/11/1957.

Collecting Match Programmes can be addictive pursuit, resulting in domestic tension and risk of house fires! Normally I try and restrict my collection to only purchasing programmes from games I have actually attended. I was doing well with this self- imposed discipline, until I discovered Programme Fairs. For those who have never been, they are an Aladdin Cave of programmes. A collector’s heaven, where like minded individuals show off their collection for your adulation and oh too frequent purchase. You can find wee gems, often only of interest to you and others that have got the bug.

It was on one of these occasions, I found this match programme. Stockport County V Airdrieonians Monday 25th November 1957. Before you ask, no I was not at the game, being born some 3 weeks later!

What brought Airdrie to Edgeley Park, Stockport in mid-season? Apparently, this was a floodlit friendly. Floodlights were a novelty in those days, and to raise much needed cash, Stockport would arrange regular friendlies, including East Fife who had visited earlier in the season drawing 1-1.

Airdrie were in the top division in Scotland at the time, Division One, while Stockport were in Division Three North.

The programme was an 8-page affair including a very comprehensive article on the Diamonds.

For those of us currently despondent over the Diamond’s current form, should note the following quote from the programme. “Perhaps the most epic achievement in the history of the club (Airdrie) was their terrific fight to escape relegation in season 1950-51. Midway through the season the Club was placed in unrivalled isolation at the foot of the table with an aggregate of four points. From Christmas onwards they achieved success after success and in one period of five weeks they defeated Rangers, Hibernian, Celtic and Dundee, all of whom were contenders for the League Championship. The climax of their struggle was their last game of the season when they accounted for Falkirk by 11 goals to 1!”!

The programme also including a description of each individual Airdrie player. Many Diamonds of a certain vintage will remember the name Jock Wallace, in the programme described as a recently signed goalie from Berwick Rangers. Jock, who made 54 appearances for Airdrie before a transfer to West Bromwich Albion in 1960, went on to manage Rangers from 1972-78 and again from 1983-86.

Also listed was Airdrie legend, Ian McMillan, who for this match was described as the ‘veteran’ of the team at 26, due to his length of service. Ian signed from Airdrie Academy in 1948 and remained at the club for over 10 years scoring 102 goals in 249 appearances. Ian left for Rangers but returned to the Diamonds in 1964, and went on to be Manager from 1970-1976.

The programme included an advert, which reflected the time, stating “Rent your television for 8/6 per week, from Shear Golds TV Rental!” Who remembers those days?!

Stockport came out on top on the night, beating the Diamonds 4-2. George Rankin scoring both our goals. Attendance was 6,116.

By Andy Locke

Trivia

Last issue we asked you - After winning the Scottish Cup in 1924, where did Airdrieonians tour?

The Answer - Denmark

This week - Which Diamond Legend was nicknamed "The Wee Prime Minister"?