The impact of different regimes

The Advertiser takes a look back at the the trials and tribulations as Airdrie struggle to find the perfect mix of full-time and part-time football over the past decade.

Full-time to part-time (2010) :

Having been kept in the old First Division by the demotion of Livingston, Kenny Black led the Diamonds to a ninth-placed finish during the 2009/10 campaign.

However, they were eventually relegated by Brechin in the play-off positions, sparking the decision by then chairman Jim Ballantyne to return to part-time football.

The decision saw the core ripped out of the squad with top scorer John Baird and key figures including Alan Trouten, Ricky Waddell, Bobby Donnelly and Mark Ridgers exit the club.

Youth was handed a chance under Jimmy Boyle with Ryan McCord, Ryan Donnelly and Gary Mackay-Steven breaking out in the part-time structure.

Notably, Tony Watt, who made 19 appearances in the Diamond in the Second Division, moved to Celtic for £100,000 in the summer of 2011.

However, on the park they struggled to make their mark in the third tier finishing in mid-table despite the breakthrough of talented youngsters.

Part-time to full-time (2016):

Following a couple of years bobbling between the two divisions amid the relegation of Rangers, which saw the Diamonds elevated and then relegated back to League One the following season full-time football was back in the Tom Wotherspoon era.

During his first year at the helm, the club were narrowly pipped to the top four by Stranraer on the final day of the season. There seemed to be a talented core with the likes of Neil Parry, Nicky Cadden and Alan Lithgow with Jim Lister or Bryan Prunty up front forming the spine of a competitive team.

Just one summer later all of those players would be gone, and replaced by full-time footballers under Kevin McBride.

There was to be another huge overhaul as Gordon Dalziel came in as director of football and former Celtic defender and pundit Mark Wilson moved from his radio duties to the dugout.

Despite a third placed finish and star players like Andy Ryan grabbing the headlines the club couldn’t make it out of League One, ending the 2016-17 season with play-off penalty shoot-out defeat to Alloa.

Andy Ryan and young goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson were both shipped out at the end of the season.

Full-time to part-time (2018):

At times it looked like there wouldn’t be a team to take to the field at New Broomfield, as Gordon Dalziel, Willie Aitchison and Stephen Findlay were all tasked with bringing in new recruits in the the 2017-18 season minus Tom Wotherspoon funding.

In the midst of the consortium takeover fronted by Bobby Watson, it was revealed that the club would switch to part-time football.

The new owners decided the squad would return to train at the Excelsior Stadium from Ravenscraig and there would be a squad overhaul.

Squad regulars including Scott Stewart, Kieran MacDonald, Ryan Conroy and young talent like Cammy Russell were kept on after the Diamonds finished in seventh.

However, following a disappointing start to the 2018-19 campaign Stephen Findlay was axed and Ian Murray was brought in. The club finished the season fifth place, missing out on the promotion play-off spots again.

Part-time to full-time (2019):

With Murray on a full-time contract, the decision was taken to bring in a new model with the help of director of football Stuart Millar.

The‘hybrid’system was aimed at bringing in young talent to work under the former St Mirren and Dumbarton boss on a full-time basis, while still retaining the top part-time talent.

11 new recruits so far this summer show the intent of the club to get the mixture right, with full-time talent such as Josh Kerr looking to be the right blend with part-time quality at the club such as Calum Gallagher.

Hopes are high that this time they Diamonds will be well-polished going into the season.

Experienced players in League One, along with young players who will command transfer fees in the future, takes the best of the models attempted over the past 10 years.