Everyone at the football club is delighted to formally announce the formation of Airdrieonians FC Ladies Team.

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Many of you will recall we had a ladies team several years ago, which sadly disbanded, so we are delighted to get the girls on board.

 

Managed by Kate Cameron (who played with the original Airdrie Ladies), and coached by Jamie Scott, the girls will start off in the Central region of the 2nd division in the SWFL, aiming to get into the SPL1 within four years. All home games will take place on Sunday afternoons at New Broomfield, and will have free entry for spectators. And of course, they will play in the Diamond!

 

It is an exciting time for women and girls football. One of the fastest growing sports globally, Scotland now has over 10,000 players registered to play across 249 clubs:

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• Youth players U13-U17 – 3,528

• Senior players – 4,702

• 68 senior clubs

• 181 youth clubs

 

The Scottish international team achieved their highest FIFA Women’s World Ranking of 20th recently and are currently ranked 11th in Europe. For the first time ever, the Scottish National team will play in the European Championships this summer, which are being staged in the Netherlands. Scotland kick off their campaign against England on July 19th, before facing Spain and Portugal later in the month.

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The sport is booming, and we are delighted to be able to embrace the opportunity by having Kate and the girls on board.

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Kate said: "This is a very exciting time for the girls, I have been working closely with Airdrieonians and our sponsor Bell Group to get this up and running and we are almost there, we owe everything to the people helping us make this happen so we thank you all so much.

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"We have built a fantastic group of girls and they are all bonding well. We are all looking forward to the league starting to get our season kicked off.

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"The girls have been working hard to make the club and sponsor proud. We would not be here without the amazing sponsorship and backing of Bell Group, and I truly believe the girls in this team are good enough and strong enough to go on and win the league in their first season together."

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Airdrie Commercial manager Douglas Allsop added: "Our ultimate aim is to work hard to be a true community club, and by embracing the Ladies Team, we feel it is another step to making the club all-inclusive to the people of the town. We are sure our fans will show the girls support and welcome them to the club."

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Donald Gillies - Head of Women and Girls Football at the SFA - said: "I am delighted that Airdrieonians FC have developed a new Women's team. With now over 10,000 registered players in the country, the game is continuing to go from strength to strength and the new Airdrie FC Women's team is another great example of this.

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"The Women's National Team will take part in our first ever major championships at the Euros in The Netherlands this summer and we are all hoping that this exposure will add another level of participation and growth throughout football for girls and women. We wish the club all the very best for their inaugural season."

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The club are thrilled that one of the town’s biggest companies – Bell Decorating Group, which have branches throughout the UK – are sponsoring the ladies in their inaugural season. Company Director Colin Cochrane told us: "Bell group are delighted to be sponsoring Airdrie ladies, we are proud supporters of various charities including  Barnardos and St.Andrews hospice, and we felt this was another worthwhile thing to do for the community & people of Airdrie.

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"Ladies football now has a massive following and hopefully with the support of ourselves and other businesses, Airdrie Football Club will have a successful first team and ladies team."

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Fixtures for the new season will be announced shortly, but in the meantime the girls have some warm up matches on the following dates:-

Sunday 5th February – United Glasgow – 1pm ko – New Broomfield.
Sunday 12th February – Partick Thistle – 1pm ko – Lochinch.

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All young diamonds are being given the chance to be ball boys/girls and mascots on Sunday. If interested, please email douglas.allsop@airdriefc.com, or contact the guys through their facebook page.