http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/sfl/...86908-20928478/

Tell us something we didnt know Jum.

Full Time football shouldnt be an option for us. We pay wages which attract the lower end full time players whereas we switched to part time we could probably attract the top end part time players.

Scottish Football is vastly over priced and we (not just Airdrie) need to attract re-assess the situation and that means that some of the journeymen currently plying their trade in the bottom half of the SPL and first division need to take a reality check.

Totally agree. If football was more sensibly priced for the product on show, then us smaller clubs would attract the fans who often exodus our towns and cities to watch the OF.

typicall tabloid trash headlines, at no point did JB say we will fold, simply put and it's the model we have used since 2002 we get what we pay for and that means wer'e a bottom of first top of second team at the moment, if we want to go further than that then we need more fans to come back( finding new ones is a different ball game) we need to get back the lost generation from the Broadwood days even an average increase of 500 would make such a difference

I agree that the sooner pro footballers get back in line with your average Joe, with regards to wages, the better. though I dont think we're too far away from it at the moment

allstars - totally agree these headlines are misleading and in this case just wrong. They are designed for the mindless cretins who make up the readership of these rags.

Perhaps we should ask the question why people won't go to watch Airdrie?

Is it because Lanarkshire cannot sustain 5 senior teams (including Clyde)?

Is it because people are put off attending Airdrie games with all the bad press they attract?

Is it because Lanarkshire's full of bigots that would rather swear their allegiance to Brittannia or Eire than watch Airdrie?

How were Airdries crowds last season? Is it that they are better off with a winning team at the top of div 2, rather than languishing around the bottom of div 1?

They were roughly the same. I don't really think whether the team is winning is that much of an issue, it just depends on who we are playing. For example if we are playing Partick we will get more fans than if we play Elgin, even though the chances of beating Elgin would be higher.

To be fair, he did say "if people think like that there won't be a club". I agree it's not exactly like saying "we are going bust", but it's not total rubbish the way the paper put it.

To be fair Airdurie have never been a liked club in the scottish game, bigotry, the casual element and the racisim havent helped their cause. The minute Airdurie left Broomfield they were on a slippery slope, the new ground is unappealing and smack in the middle of an area needing major investment. Even though it has four stands and a 10,000 capacity it is quite a bleak depressing place. Having said that i wouldn't like to see them go to the wall but they are as unappealing to watch as Accies were in our homeless years.

The current board don't seem to have the means or the ability to be able to take the club any further forward and look set to slip quietly back into Division 2 which is probably where they should rightfully be after failing to win promotion and losing in the play offs. Maybe its a case of survival for Airdurie untill someone better equiped to run a football club comes along much like it was for us in the dark days of divisions 2 and 3.

will have to disagree in part regarding the Board, Overall i think they are doing a decent job and are very approachable, he does not interfere in team matters unlike some chairmen who are openly known to go in dressing rooms and try and act as wannabe managers, They are not super rich and can only afford to bail the club out on a small scale. Sure there are areas that can be improved especially the use of the stadium, and marketing. The 10,000 seat rule was effectively the cause of many clubs debt that along with the boneheads in charge during the sale of broomfield has put us where we are. and it's going to be hard to get back to being a top end first division team challenging for promotion.

When were Airdire United ever a top end 1st Division club?

93.94.95.

True.

For most of their history they have been in the 2nd division/bottom 1st division team.

If they went bust I don't think many people would care.

How does Airdrie United's attendances compare with Aidrieonians? Was there a sharp drop when the club left Broomfield and reformed?

It's a problem that many clubs face. QOS looked to be on the up attendance-wise following the Cup run last season. Looks as though it was a temporary bounce though.

Airdrieonians

First Division

1999/2000 - 1857 9^th

2000/2001 - 1724 8^th

2001/2002 - 2001 2^nd

Airdrie United

Second Division

2002/2003 - 1440 3^rd

2003/2004 - 1861 1^st

First Division

2004/2005 - 2014 5^th

2005/2006 - 1426 6^th

2006/2007 - 1429 9^th

There is no clear trend or marked fall off when Airdrieonians became Airdrie United (via Clydebank).

There does seem to be the potential to average 1800 - 2000 when the club is doing well and the tendency to fall to about 1400 when the club is not doing so well.

I don't want to sound patronising as I live in Airdrie, but I trully believe we have too many clubs in Scotland in particular Lanarkshire. I trully believe the time has come for teams such as Albion Rovers and Airdrie to name just two to amalgamate!

I know the fans will not want it as a football team is in your heart, thing is sometimes in life you have to realise you cannot allow the heart to rule the head and must swallow your pride.

To be honest within 10 years I think at least 10 clubs will die, and I do not see a repeat of the Clydebank - Airdrie United type mergers. A Lanarkshire United with an amalgamation of the 5 clubs in Lanarkshire would be better equiped for the SPL than having seperate teams in Airdrie, Coatbridge, Hamilton, Motherwell and Clyde.

Depressing days indeed but to be honest we all know there are far too many clubs who are professional in name only.

We all know the two biggest clubs in Lanarkshire would more than suffice, one in the cesspit of north lanarkshire, Motherwell and one in the pride of south lanarkshire, Hamilton. Both Accies and Well are head and shoulders above the other three in every department.

The other clubs will never amount to anything with both Airdrie and Clyde struggling to attract 800-900 throuh the home end and Albion Rovers being a waste of space.

Time to get rid of the dead wood and have two divisions SPL1 and SPL2

The problem is that clubs like Airdrie cannot aspire to be an SPL club on the attendances they are getting - I see this as a signal by Ballantyne (who according to a poster on another thread is subsidizing F/T football at Airdrie) that P/T football is on its way.

The challenge is to attract an audience outside of the hardcore fans. Would First Division clubs be allowed to play Friday night football? I know the SPL clubs weren't allowed to by the Police but I love floodlit games and reckon it'd be worth an experiment - not every game but 1 match per week.

Partially right. We actually have 2 too many clubs in Scotland, but only one is in Lanarkshire. The other is south and west of Glasgow city centre, out toward Renfrewshire.

As for Airdrie, they seem professional enough. They run with a balance sheet sitting in the black, maintain and provide an appropriate and safe environment in which to watch senior football and remember to pay their bills on time.

Stuart

There are some very valid points on this thread, and the usual shite.
We'll not go under, as Allstars said, just cut our cloth to suit. Somewhat ironic that a Celtic fan living in Airdrie, probably never having seen the inside of Parkhead, gives lectures on how to fix Scottish football.
Amaglamation would simply put more fans out of the game. That is a fact.
The way forward for the board must be to attract the youth by giving free tickets. Not a new policy, I know, but if they badger their dad's to go and even if 10% stay on when they're old enough to attend themselves it maybe just pay off. They'd at least get money through selling confectionary etc.
Lets face it, lower division football is in the doldrums. Ruined by overpricing, the OF influence, over zelous security, card board cut out stadiums offering no atmosphere....the list goes on.
I'll be honest, if a stranger asked me if I got my moneys worth going to watch Airdrie, the simple answer is no.
I'll still go though....

Because events at Airdrie have allowed us to come to the realisation much quicker than the supporters of others teams, that watching Scottish football is absolutely no fun whatsoever. Especially when its cold & wet and the banter from the opposing fans is p!sh.

I'm not going to matches just now, but I am biding my time 'til my son is old enough to go. I had to, so I don't see why he should get out of it. It's character building after all.

Stuart

Where have the Airdrie Fans gone? They used to get 2,500 on a bad day at Broomfield.

I agree.

I would start at the top though. After a season of European failure for Scotland’s ‘Big Two’ isn’t about time they pooled resources and formed a Glasgow United (or Rantic even) team?

With the combined resources they would be able to compete with the super rich elite of European football. Or failing that the footballing elite of Lithuania and Denmark.

Very well said.

do you not have anything better to do with your time than making comments on EVERY airdrie thread going?

Can't disagree with your 1st post in this thread but I can remember when Accies were the 3rd force in Lanarkshire ( and not so long ago if my memory serves me right ) so if it's possible for the Accies to have an upturn in fortunes then why would it seem so strange for Airdrie to do the same ?

= win promotion unfairly by the use of a plastic pitch

Sorry Pal,

I dont agree with you at all. Why destroy Scottish football for the sake of a tidier league, because thats what im taking from your comment. There are die hard fans of all the clubs you mention in your comment, and a lot of them lifelong supporters. They have as much rights to support thier LOCAL teams as you have to travel from Lanarkshire into Glasgow to support Celtic. It is the fault of the people in charge that are too greedy to relent and support the fans for a change. Scottish football is too expensive to attract families and peer pressure is also a major factor in which team a lot of kids these days choose to support. I use the word "choose" very loosely. I personally would not like to see ANY Scottish team go under. It just makesmore of the laughing stock that your team and the other side of the old firm and Motherwell managed to make us in Europe. I purposly left QOS out of this comment, as they went in as underdogs so didnt really disappoint anyone and should hold their heads high

RANT OVER

Peace!

I think this a decent shout for the bigot brothers to get it on - they already have a 5% thing going on - they could share a ground and do it the Milan way. Incidently a lot of Rantic supporters were saying that the internationals were interupting the SPL well at least Europe won't be after Christmas. Some teams the Kaunas and Aalborg eh ?

Bigotry and Racism? I honestly think you've got us mixed up with someone else pal. Bigotry at Broomfield was all but eradicated in the late 70s, and as for racism, we have embraced more black players over the years than almost anyone else in Scotland.

I am in total agreement re that no-one wants to watch pish over priced football. I would be keen to see how attendances at the Juniors have fared since they introduced the Super League set up. The juniors offers value for money at around a fiver a head, it's local against other local teams and whilst it's not pretty, you get what it says on the tin. I sometimes go to Newlandsfield when I can't be arsed going to Cappielow. Having moved abroad, experienced more to life than a Saturday at Cappielow, come back and now have a young family, Morton is often finding itself second on a Saturday to Jeff Stelling and time with the family. The main reason - the best part of £20 or £30 all in toi watch 22 over paid so called professionals lump the football up and down the park at 100 miles per hour in a half empty cold stadium. I used to love Cappielow when they had the fance up in the shed and used to get decent away crowds. Airdrie for example used to bring a decent crowd and the atmosphere was great, Thistle likewise. I think back to the 95/96 season when Morton almost made it to the Premier. The Dundee Utd team had guys like Robbie Winters and real top players. Morton had Derek McInnes, Alan Mahood, Derek Lilley and two finnish internationals in Rajamaki and Lindberg. Dunfermline also had a class team. Thistle had big Jim "The Honey Monster" Slaven but even that gave us a laugh. Now we watch a bunch of overpaid non-descripts carve a decent living out of the game whilst winning hee haw. Mind you that's not just the lower leagues. Look at all the countless duds and journeymen the Old Firm have been conned in to thinking were European superstars. Samaras being the most recent point in case. If those that ran Scotland's lower league clubs either force a bigger Premier league or just accept where they are. Lets face it the likes of Killie, St Mirren or Falkirk are just the same as Morton, Thistle, Dundee, St Johnstone, etc. Therefore as I see it until we deal with the closed shop that is the SPL, reduce th number of the lower leagues from 3 to 2, introduce a pyramid system and reduce gate prices, Scottish football will continue to die a slow painful death.

Rant over.

Well said sir.

And herein lies the main problem facing Airdrie, and all other small teams in Scotland. A 'football' fan, from a town with a professional club, supporting one of the Old & Infirm. If even half of the Rangers and Celtic supporters in Airdrie decided to support Airdrie rather than spending £40 to watch a team get torn apart in Europe, we'd have full houses every second Saturday!

Utter rubbish. It was only about 3 years ago that you were finishing below Clyde and Airdrie in the league. Once you are relegated you will be back getting crowds of barely over 1000 and will have the same problems as ourselves. One good season and you are already about as deluded as an Old Firm fan.

Good post Rasta I'm agreement with your views but I still go to all home games even though it feels like a chore at times, even with us being on a good run at the min just over 1600 at home is really poor and I think a lot of fans from all first div teams may feel the same, until they reintroduce two up two down the division will continue to stagnate, I used to love going away on the train with a few mates have a good bucket and enjoy the whole day out, now it is just not financially viable and I'd rather sit and watch Jeff than get shipped in and out of towns on supporter buses. I think all teams should introduce a free child with every adult and have a brew gates/student gate to encourage the less well of to come back to football it might also help to generate atmosphere.

There has been some good poitns raised here. The other thing I waould like to mention is the all seater stadia. We really need to do something to reignite the old passions in football by having safe terracing areas in all stadia (if the SPL want all-seater then let them).

The atmosphere at old Broomfield used to be electric because you could see the whites of the opposition fans eyes across a wire fence. Even if the game was poor the banter used to be quality. Thats what I miss about a saturday afternoon - watching football is now more like a chore than a pleasure sometimes. (playing teams 4 times a season doesnt help matters)

It sounds like a lot of you are craving for football the way it used to be,being allowed to stand at games basically do what you want and have a good laugh with your mates and not get over charged for it either.
Its still there,its called the Juniors!

Glad you're enjoying it

Hamilton struggle to get over 800 home fans and they are in the SPL you tit.
I hardly think we can bracket Hamilton as head and shoulders above Clyde and Airdrie.
You have only been out the SFL 6 months and maybe you need to think back to that!
Will look forward to seeing you and your crowds of equal crapness to ours again next season.

Fair pont but the problem being that some fans have supported their home teams for years and wouldn't be able to watch their nearest Junior team instead.

The crap above is one of the main reasons Scottish football will continue to go downhill.
One season in the SPL and you now think you are a cut above the so called "dead wood"? I, for one, would hate to see any clubs gotten "rid of".
The old firm have slowly drained the life out of scottish football, any fans who have stuck by their local team are to be applauded. Your team will probably end up back in the lower leagues in the next few seasons, if not next season.
Hearts, Hibs, Dundee, Dundee Utd, Aberdeen, Motherwell, Partick, St Johnstone and many others have all had spells in the lower divisions, some have went back up and others will, through time, do the same.
Once in the top league too many clubs and supporters forget the crap and oblivion that is the first division, it is at these times that the provincial clubs should be decrying the current unfair set up and structure of scottish football as it is the only time they are in a position where they have a voice that will be heard.
So enjoy your stay in among the big boys because it is only temporary, the current structure ensures that only the the old firm are there for the long term. As long as those in the top league take such a blinkered and self serving view then nothing will change.

very well said

I think it's important that it's not just Airdrie who are suffering in falling attendances. You look at teams like Clyde, Thistle, Morton, St Johnstone, Dundee, ourselves- we were all capable of pulling in bigger crowds than we are getting now even 10 years ago. Attendances at football grounds around Britain are falling.

For the product, it is too expensive. No longer is it a working man's game. I mean, £15/£16 to get into a First Division match is ridiculous. And we look at the amount of football on television. The fact that you can get football from all over the world on your tv is making going out to watch a Scottish First Division match even less appealing. When football on TV was scarce, the fans were there.

There has to be a point where clubs have to realise there is only so much more that fans will take. Every club has its dedicated, loyal punter who will go week in week out but over the past few years clubs, including in the top league, are seeing some drift away.

I quite like Everton and have been reading their forum and some fans are getting fed up of paying sky high prices to watch, in their words, "shit". I went to Everton V Fulham and it was £28 a ticket, which wasn't as bad as some other Prem clubs, and it was a poor game between 2 mediocre sides.

Now, with prices like that, how on earth, especially in the current climate, can a family be expected to go, when you take into account everything else that goes with going to the game?

I know prices aren't as high in our league, but they're high enough. And they have to come down as fans are getting fed up. And as I say, this is not something exclusive to Airdrie- this is evident around the country.

I don't think these two posts are very fair. for one i would be sad to see Airdrie go bust. i might not have minded 2 or 3 seasons ago but getting the feeling over this season and last that ourselves and Airdrie are forming a bit of a rivalry! hell we play each other enough!

Airdrie will be fine, even if this means that they unfortunately end up back in division2, they will probably always (for as long as they exist) be that team that can expect to play in play-offs each year, both contention to avoid the drop as well as making the step up

At the end of the day Airdrie just need to bite the bullet and go part time, as should most of the First Division.

Trying to maintain full time football when you have 1000 home fans is financial madness.

Although attendances may have declined over the longer term 10 to 20 years, they have been remarkably stable over the last five seasons.

The SPL shows a slight downward trend. The higher averages were down to years when Hearts were challenging when their averages went up significantly.

SPL

2004/2005 Average Attendance: 15,658

2005/2006 Average Attendance: 16,178

2006/2007 Average Attendance: 16,077

2007/2008 Average Attendance: 15,486

2008/2009 Average Attendance: 15,400

Scottish 1, 2 & 3 are all stable except one year when 2 was up due to more 'bigger' teams being present.

English Championship, 1 & 2 are stable and the Premiership is actually going up.

Most Clubs survive as they are not run like any other business. They survive at break even or at a loss through soft loans, the generosity of individual owners or through going into administation from time to time.

And herein lies the runt complex that sums up lower league Scottish football. (Guilty m'lud.) Why should people from towns such as Airdrie not choose to follow teams from outside?

To play devil's advocate for a moment and away from moaning about the Old Firm fans who leave our towns in droves every weekend, what do Thistle, Morton, Airdrie and the rest offer for their £15 at the gate that would keep the folks at home?

Apart from the Dunkirk spirit?

A sense of smug superiority?

Seriously though, my answer would be that you genuinely feel part of a club rather than another just another glory-hunting customer. I feel a sense of belonging at McDiarmid seeing the same faces week after week, and I feel like I am contributing to something rather than being fleeced.

If I went to Ibrox or Parkhead I think I would struggle to feel a real connection between myself and those Clubs. No amount of gloating at work or the street would ever displace that. Or maybe I am just not shallow enough.

"SHOCK HORROR" Jim Ballantyne whining in the papers.....WAAA...WAAAA...waaa...waa