Airdrieonians
The club
The present Airdrieonians were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United, after the original Airdrieonians, founded in 1878, went into liquidation that year. The new club took over the Scottish Football League place of Clydebank and moved the operation to Airdrie. The name reverted to Airdrieonians in June 2013. Any record described here belongs to the club as constituted since 2002 unless stated otherwise. They play at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, still widely called New Broomfield, an all-seated ground holding 10,101. They are the Diamonds, from the red diamond on a white shirt inherited from the original club.
Recent seasons
Airdrieonians have spent the period bouncing between the second and third tiers. They were second in League One in 2020/21 and took 72 points in 2021/22 without going up. In 2022/23 they finished third on 60 points, came through the League One play-offs and won promotion to the Championship. They were fourth in the Championship in 2023/24, their best finish since the reformation.
Then two ninth-place finishes in a row, with opposite endings. In 2024/25 they finished ninth of ten and survived the play-off. In 2025/26 they finished ninth again with 36 points from 36 games, 8 wins, 12 draws and 16 defeats, scoring 35 and conceding 49, and this time lost the play-off, beaten 3-1 on aggregate by Alloa Athletic. They are back in League One for 2026/27.
Honours and landmarks
The club won the Scottish Second Division in 2003/04, three seasons after being formed. They have won the Scottish Challenge Cup twice, in 2008/09 and 2023/24. They also won promotion play-off finals in 2022/23 and 2024/25. Record attendance at the Excelsior Stadium is 9,044 against Rangers on 23 August 2013. Calum Gallagher is the club's all-time leading scorer with 71 goals, and Stephen McKeown holds the appearance record with 159.
Notable scorelines
Record victory is 7-0, achieved twice. Record defeat is 0-7 against Partick Thistle on 20 October 2012. The Challenge Cup wins of 2009 and 2024 are the two results the club marks; the second of those came in the season they also finished fourth in the Championship.
Head-to-head notes
Airdrieonians do not publish all-time head-to-head records, and no published all-time record was established against any 2026/27 League One club. What is on record is recent. Alloa Athletic beat them 3-1 on aggregate in the Championship play-off in May 2026, the tie that sent Airdrieonians down and kept Alloa in League One; the two now meet as divisional rivals. Ross County, relegated from the Championship the same season, beat Airdrieonians 3-0 at the Excelsior Stadium on 25 July 2026 in the League Cup and won the group. Manager John Rankin spent three and a half years at Hamilton Academical, who are also in League One this season. No record was established against Cove Rangers, East Fife, East Kilbride, Montrose, Peterhead or Queen of the South.
Right now (2026/27)
John Rankin was appointed manager on 23 May 2026, three weeks after the relegation play-off defeat. He had been head coach of Hamilton Academical from 28 June 2022 until 29 November 2025, winning the Challenge Cup in 2023 and promotion through the Championship play-offs in 2024 before the club took a 15-point deduction for missed payments and a transfer embargo; he then took Ayr United on an interim basis from 31 March to 5 May 2026, keeping them in the Championship for the final six matches of the season. Calum Gallagher, the club's record scorer, took a player-assistant manager role announced on 21 July 2026. Cole McKinnon was named club captain on 28 July, with Craig Ross as vice-captain.
The squad was rebuilt through June and July. Defender Sam Fisher joined free from Dunfermline Athletic on 5 June. Goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon signed from Falkirk on 9 July and midfielder Ruairidh Adams arrived on loan from Dundee United on 10 July. By 10 July the club were announcing their ninth summer signing, a striker, and further arrivals followed through the middle of the month, including midfielder Kian Taylor on 14 July. Euan Henderson left for Partick Thistle on 4 June. The club announced its signings individually rather than in a summary release and full names and fees were not published in the sources consulted; the list above is what could be confirmed.
The Premier Sports Cup went badly. In Group D, Airdrieonians lost 4-2 at Dundee on 11 July, lost 1-0 at Clyde on 14 July, beat Annan Athletic 3-0 at home on 18 July through Taylor, Bridge and Lister, and lost 3-0 at home to Ross County on 25 July. Three points left them fourth of five, ahead only of Annan, and they did not qualify. The League One campaign opens away to Cove Rangers at the Balmoral Stadium in Aberdeen on Saturday 1 August 2026.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airdrieonians_F.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Scottish_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022%E2%80%9323_Scottish_League_One https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Scottish_League_One https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Scottish_League_Cup_group_stage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rankin_(footballer,_born_1983) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scottish_football_transfers_summer_2026 https://www.airdriefc.com/ https://www.airdriefc.com/latest-news
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.