The team was founded in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire in 1878 as Excelsior Football Club, changing its name to Airdrieonians in 1881.

Airdrie challenged the dominance of Rangers,[2] as they finished in second place in the Scottish League championship for four consecutive seasons (1923 - 1926).

[4] This successful era came to an end after Gallacher in December 1925 and McPhail in 1927 were sold to Newcastle United and Rangers respectively.

[7] Airdrie won this competition in 1976, but it was discontinued after one season as clubs preferred to play additional league games instead.

Unfortunately for Airdrie on this occasion however, a goal each from Mark Hateley and Ally McCoist earned the blue half of Glasgow a 2–1 victory.

This was not helped by the low attendances at Excelsior Stadium following the completion of the move, which was connected to the quality of football on display due to the lack of funds available to be spent on the team.

The demise of Airdrieonians was personified by the sudden and unexpected death of Joey Rowan, the club's sole remaining director.

Rowan, already a popular figure with the club's supporters due to his passion, candour and trademark ponytail, gained even more respect by remaining with Airdrieonians and incurring substantial personal losses whilst trying to steer the club away from liquidation despite the fact that the rest of the board had resigned amid finger-pointing and acrimony in an attempt to avoid reproach and financial liabilities.

[11] This move came soon after Rangers chairman David Murray had applied for a court order to seize some of Airdrie's revenue in lieu of funds owed to another of his companies.

[12] Steve Archibald put forth a bid for the club and during the 2000–01 season he brought in many foreign players, including David Fernández, Jesus Sanjuán, Antonio Calderón and Javier Sánchez Broto, that became popular with the fans[13] and won the Scottish Challenge Cup in 2000.

Despite the obvious financial problems, Ian McCall managed to build a new Airdrie team and retained the Scottish Challenge Cup.

[17] The match was abandoned by the referee after a crossbar was broken during a pitch invasion by Airdrie fans, who were protesting against the Ayr United owner Bill Barr.

[17] After Airdrieonians went out of business on 1 May 2002, local accountant Jim Ballantyne attempted to gain entry to the Scottish Football League (SFL) with a team named Airdrie United.

[23] These physical features and the proximity of the stands to the pitch meant that Broomfield had a raucous atmosphere, which visiting clubs disliked.

[23] The final game at Broomfield took place in May 1994 after which the ground, having been sold to supermarket chain Safeway, was demolished to make room for their new store.