The first ever League meeting between Airdrie United and Albion Rovers takes place this weekend when the sides meet at the Diamonds' Excelsior Stadium on IRN-BRU SFL Second Division duty.
The two Lanarkshire based outfits met for the first time ever in a Co-operative Insurance Cup tie last season and injury robbed Coatbridge Player/Assistant Manager Todd Lumsden the chance of bridging a unique gap. Lumsden was also a Rovers' player back in August 2001 when the last ever meeting took place between his club and the side then known as Airdrieonians that used to wear the famous red and white Diamond style jersey.
A Challenge Cup tie a decade ago back on 14th August, 2001, saw Airdrieonians triumph 4-1 and Lumsden, along with the player who opened the scoring that day, Stuart Taylor, were both invited to dive back into their memory banks to discuss the game.
The teams were:-
Albion Rovers: S. Shearer, T. Lumsden (M. Booth, 64), J. Stirling, J. Smith, T. Tait, C. Silvestro, C. Waldie, S. Hamilton, R. McMullan, D. Carr (C. McLean, 70), P. Bonar
Substitutes not used: S. Easton, M. Harty, C. Fahey
Airdrieonians: N. Bennett, P. Armstrong, C. McPherson, A. Stewart, A. McManus, K. James, S. Taylor (S. Docherty, 68), N. Macfarlane, O. Coyle, A. Smith (D. Beasley, 52), M. Roberts (C. McDonald, 77)
Substitute not used: S. MacDonald
Taylor opened the scoring at Cliftonhill after 35 minutes and Mark Roberts struck a crucial psychological blow just on half-time when he fired The Diamonds two ahead. Owen Coyle made it three before Rovers earned the goal their play deserved midway through the second half however, thoughts of a comeback ended when Kevin James scored a late fourth for Ian McCall's side.
Albion were to go on and have a season where success slipped through their grasp in terms of promotion however, everyone associated with Airdrie were already well strapped into an emotional rollercoaster. The Diamonds moved from the low of the end of Steve Archibald's time at the club when the club was in Interim Liquidation to the high of a second Challenge Cup success in consecutive seasons to the ultimate low of the club being put into full Liquidation and losing their membership of The Scottish Football League.
Lumsden said: "I remember our team from that time well. We had Scott Shearer in goal and he went on to have a good career in England where he played with Coventry City and Bristol as well as other clubs and he is now in goal at Crawley Town. Chris Fahey was the back-up goalkeeper and he returned here this summer from Junior football."
"Tommy Tait was here for that game and he and I had been players together at Stirling Albion. Chris Silvestro remains a friend to this day and the two of us played together at Raith Rovers for a number of years before he retired."
Lumsden comes into regular contact with another team-mate from 10 years ago as he explained: "David Hamilton works with North Lanarkshire Council on Football Development Courses and they feed players into the college course I look after at Cumbernauld College so we see each other quite a lot.
"We were quite a good side then and had players like Jered Stirling, who had been with Partick Thistle, and Jordan Smith along with David Carr, who both moved on to Stenhousemuir. Charlie McLean was our top goalscorer that season with 13 goals and we came close to being promoted."
The Rovers, under the guidance of John McVeigh, were in the Third Division when their First Division neighbours arrived that August day, and Lumsden remembers the game well saying: "I do not think that 4-1 was a fair scoreline as we played well. We were well in the game and even when they went three up, we pulled a goal back straight away. I am sure anyone from Airdrie would say that it was a tough game.
"I was up against Owen Coyle that day and as well as being a high profile player, he was also a really good player. He would look to catch you off guard all the time, as he would chat away to you on the pitch like he was your best pal, then as soon as you relaxed, bang he was in and scored. I played against him later in my career when I was at Raith Rovers and he was at St. Johnstone and he was still the same."
Albion recovered from that defeat to secure third place in the Third Division and in the days before the Play-Offs were introduced, it meant that Dumbarton were automatically promoted in second spot just two points ahead of the Coatbridge club with Brechin City going up as Champions a long way in front of both sides.
The following season, the margin between success and failure was even tighter with Lumsden saying: "We came in third in the next season under Peter Heatherston, missing out on promotion by a point to East Fife and the title by two points to Morton. I left that season and moved on to play for Hamilton Accies and Rovers slipped back down to eighth."
That move down the table began the move towards the tightly run Cliftonhill club that Lumsden knows now as he explained: "John, Peter and Kevin McAllister all had decent budgets that took the club to the brink financially. After those seasons, we became the club that we are now in that we only pay what we can afford.
"That makes the success we have had in being promoted last season all the more remarkable and a big derby game like this is a great reward for the club and fans."
Whilst Airdrieonians are, sadly, no more and have been replaced with Airdrie United, who, of course, took up the membership of Clydebank, centre back Lumsden is convinced that the passion between the fans will be the same saying: "We played Airdrie United last season and I was watching from the side of the pitch and could really feel the atmosphere. The fans compare it to a Rangers and Celtic game so this one should be another great event. There could be a crowd of over 1,000 there and that will add to the excitement for us."
Lumsden has been carrying an injury however, he has declared himself fit for the unique opportunity of having faced both Airdrieonians and Airdrie United for Rovers as he explained: "I played against Brechin a couple of weeks ago and came off injured after only eight minutes. If we had played last week, I would have missed the game but thankfully, there was the international break and I have trained this week.
"I am available for selection and am glad that if I am picked, I won't be facing Owen Coyle. Mind you, Derek Holmes is a big strong centre forward and a right good player. I am sure our Manager, Paul Martin, will have it well drilled into us what we should be doing when we have the ball and what we should be doing when we don't have the ball."
The Diamonds opening goalscorer just over 10 years ago, Stuart Taylor, remembers the 2001 Challenge Cup game and his goal well saying: "It was a really hard game played out in a great cup tie atmosphere. We had gone to Arbroath the week before and won 6-0 so we knew that there were goals in our team but it was never going to be easy against Albion Rovers. John McVeigh was in charge of them and he had strong Airdrie connections and he had his side full of enthusiasm for the game."
As for his goal, it sounds like advantage played a good part as Taylor explained: "Owen Coyle went down looking for a penalty but I never let that interfere with my thoughts as I shot home."
Unlikely as it seems, the last ever contest between The Diamonds' previous incarnation of Airdrieonians and the Rovers ended up being discussed on the UEFA 'B' Licence Coaching programme at Largs last week. Taylor, who helped out the SFA as a Coach, and Ayr United's Mark Roberts, who was a pupil, happily conversed about Airdrie's 4-1 success and Taylor was quick to point out that it was a case of master and pupil again.
"I had reminded Mark that I scored our opening goal," said Taylor before adding, "And I set him up for the second and he could hardly miss the chance he had.
"I love to remind him that despite me being a midfielder and him being a striker, I scored nearly as many goals as he did. There cannot be too many people that have discussed an Airdrieonians and Albion Rovers game as part of a UEFA course but Mark and I certainly did."
It was a strange time to be an Airdrieonians player, especially one that had been there for three seasons like Taylor had. The now 36-year-old said: "I joined from St. Mirren in the summer of 1998 when Alex MacDonald was the Manager. He was replaced by Gary Mackay and then we had the Steve Archibald days and by the time we played Albion, Ian McCall was in charge."
The managerial changes were a bit of a side-show to the financial problems that engulfed the club with Taylor saying: "I was there throughout it all and it was a time of huge ups and downs. The team spirit we had was incredible that season after a difficult time when KPMG were running the club.
"Paul Armstrong was through most of it as well as a player and he played that day at Coatbridge as did Sandy Stewart however, he had been to Partick Thistle and then came back. There were a lot of comings and goings throughout my time but Ian McCall and Brian Rice pulled together a squad on a shoestring budget that summer and the spirit they built was incredible."
There had been success the previous season when the Challenge Cup had been won by Archibald's cosmopolitan side and after Albion Rovers had been defeated, The Diamonds went on to repeat that success with a win ironically enough, over Clydebank in the Quarter Finals, Brechin City at the Semi-Final stage before Alloa Athletic were defeated 2-1 in the Final at Broadwood Stadium.
A challenge was also mounted for the solitary promotion place to the SPL and the financial relief that may have brought the club however, McCall's small squad ran out of steam as Taylor said: "We were in with a shout against Partick Thistle but they strengthened their squad in the winter and Airdrieonians could not do that. Everything caught up with us and we had a disappointing run from February onwards. The last game ever did not even get played to a finish against Ayr United down at Somerset Park due to a pitch invasion and one of the crossbars being broken."
The rollercoaster had stopped and Taylor said: "It was a memorable season but a really strange one. We won the Challenge Cup and finished in second place in the First Division but you often did not know if you would get paid or have a contract for the next month. These events built character in the team and a lot of us remain close to this day."
The turbulent nature of events during Taylor's stay did have an affect on him as he said: "I had been the spokesperson for the players during that time and whilst there were good times like the Challenge Cup success, most of the time it was stressful and I felt I needed a change of scenery. I went off to play in Ireland to get away from Scottish football for a while.
"They were having a change-over season where they played from July to January and that gave me a good break."
The bond built at Airdrie brought Taylor back to Scotland as he recalls: "Ian McCall had moved on to Falkirk and he signed me for them although he left two days later to join Dundee United."
There were however, plenty of familiar faces for Taylor as he explained: "Owen Coyle was there and he took over from Ian along with John 'Yogi' Hughes as Co-Managers.
"Kevin James, Craig McPherson and Allan Ferguson were all there as well, so the spirit of Airdrie lived on."
Taylor moved on to Partick Thistle, St. Johnstone and Ross County before becoming an Airdrie United player for season 2006/07 prior to settling at Hamilton Academical where he has spent the last four seasons as firstly a player and then a coach.
The spell at New Douglas Park ended in the summer and Taylor is looking for his next challenge saying: "I left Hamilton at the end of last season as I am looking to pursue a career in management or first team coaching. I was interviewed for the Manager's job at Rochdale and made it through to the shortlist which I was really pleased with as I had never been interviewed before.
"I only created a CV earlier this year so doing that and the Rochdale interview has been a great experience. I have kept my eye in by doing some match reports for St. Johnstone and looking after their Under-19 side when Alex Cleland was on holiday. Learning from the guys up there was great as well."
Taylor's coaching helped develop a group of French trialists that came to Scotland in the summer and one of the players was signed by a SPL side with Taylor saying: "I just need to wait and see what happens in the future. I have my A and B Licence and plan to go to Spain to help me with my Pro Licence so you could say I am still very much involved in football."
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