Today, sees the first of my new series of articles. I've decided to do an article on each of the Division One teams and their season's so far.
Incidentally, Clyde travel to New Broomfield this weekend and the Diamonds are the team I'm going to cover first.
Airdrie United came from a long distance behind Greenock Morton to win the Bells Second Division last season. It is a complete turnaround for a team who went bankrupt several years ago. After purchasing Clydebank, United went straight into their first ever season as a Division Two team and finished in 3rd place in their first season. After running Brechin close until the last minute of the season, the Diamonds were tipped for promotion the following season and duly won the division from Hamilton Academicals.
With a host of exciting young players, Airdrie United have formed a team which over the course of the season, should begin to pull away from the bottom of the table. Young star Willie McLaren only made his debut last November after being plucked from obscurity by the Diamonds and ended the season with 10 goals and the Bells Young Player of the Season award.
He is complimented by the talented Alan Gow. The tall winger is good with both feet and is considered the better of the two. Gretna put in a £100,000 bid during the summer but Airdrie United chose to hang onto one of their star men.
The other key Airdrie player is Owen Coyle. The Irishman has netted over 250 goals in his career and is a thorn in the side of many teams. Despite having a problem with his balance which has led to many contentious penalty awards, Coyle is a player that I grudgingly admire.
This season has been an inconsistent one for Airdrie United. After an encouraging draw with pre-season title favourites St Johnstone, they failed to win any of their next 4 league games, which included an embarrassing draw with Raith Rovers. Also sandwiched in between those league games was a defeat to Clyde in the League Cup.
Their first victory would come eventually but with half of their team injured and against an unbeaten Clyde at Fortress Broadwood it seemed that they would need to wait. This theory was aided when Aron Wilford put Clyde ahead and Mark Roberts was sent off. However goals from Kevin Barkey and that man Coyle earned the Diamonds an unlikely win.
Since then, their only win has been against Partick Thistle but Airdrie's form in recent matches has been good. It will be a real challenge for Clyde to stay top of the table this Saturday.
He is complimented by the talented Alan Gow. The tall winger is good with both feet and is considered the better of the two. Gretna put in a £100,000 bid during the summer but Airdrie United chose to hang onto one of their star men.
The other key Airdrie player is Owen Coyle. The Irishman has netted over 250 goals in his career and is a thorn in the side of many teams. Despite having a problem with his balance which has led to many contentious penalty awards, Coyle is a player that I grudgingly admire.
This season has been an inconsistent one for Airdrie United. After an encouraging draw with pre-season title favourites St Johnstone, they failed to win any of their next 4 league games, which included an embarrassing draw with Raith Rovers. Also sandwiched in between those league games was a defeat to Clyde in the League Cup.
Their first victory would come eventually but with half of their team injured and against an unbeaten Clyde at Fortress Broadwood it seemed that they would need to wait. This theory was aided when Aron Wilford put Clyde ahead and Mark Roberts was sent off. However goals from Kevin Barkey and that man Coyle earned the Diamonds an unlikely win.
Since then, their only win has been against Partick Thistle but Airdrie's form in recent matches has been good. It will be a real challenge for Clyde to stay top of the table this Saturday.