This article is about the scottish football club. For the similarly named Isle of Man football club, see Ayre United A.F.C.
Football cabaret
Reading: Ayr United F.C.
Ayr United Football Club are a football clubhouse in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the scottish Championship, the second tier of the scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the fusion of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is The Honest Men, from a line in the Robert Burns poem “ Tam oxygen ‘ Shanter “. They play at Somerset Park. [ 3 ] The club is presently managed by Jim Duffy. The club have spent 34 seasons in Scotland ‘s top division, the death being 1977–78, and have been the champions of the second tier of scottish football on six occasions, and of the third grade on three occasions. The clubhouse ‘s most successful director, Ally MacLeod, went on to manage the scots national football team. In 2018, Ayr United secured forwarding to the scottish Championship as champions of League One .
history [edit ]
ayr United were founded in 1910 by the fusion of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C. . Although Inverness Caledonian Thistle are besides the product of a amalgamation between two clubs, Ayr United are the lone Scottish Football League clubhouse to have been formed from a amalgamation of two existing league clubs. The baseball club ‘s honours include winning six second Division titles ( as the second tier championship ) and a far three titles ( as the third tier backing ), most recently in 2017–18. They have not won any national cup competitions, although they were runner-up in the 2001–02 Scottish League Cup, and in the scots Challenge Cup in the beginning two seasons in which the competition was held : 1990–91 and 1991–92. They have won the local anesthetic contest the Ayrshire Cup on 26 occasions, most normally facing ferocious local anesthetic rivals Kilmarnock in the final. The Ayrshire Cup was last play for in season 1996–97, since when the contest has been suspended. The club ‘s record scorer in a one season is Jimmy Smith, who scored 66 goals for Ayr in alone 38 league matches in 1927–28 and presently holds the british goalscoring record for the most league goals scored in a individual season. [ 4 ] The cabaret ‘s overall record scorekeeper is Peter Price, who scored 213 times in competitive matches for the baseball club between 1955 and 1962. Former Scottish national team director Ally MacLeod is regarded as the club ‘s most celebrated and most successful director. He led the club on three separate occasions spanning 15 years, during which his teams recorded a criminal record 214 wins, and won two league titles. In 1973 MacLeod was voted Ayr ‘s Citizen of the year. More late managers have besides included the recent Scottish national team director, George Burley, and former Scottish League Cup winner with Raith Rovers, Gordon Dalziel. Gordon Dalziel is the merely coach to take Ayr to a National Cup Final on 17 March 2002 when they lost to Rangers 4–0. Their current director is Mark Kerr. Although the club has spent 34 seasons in Scotland ‘s exceed part, they have played in the irregular and one-third tiers of scottish senior football since the 1977–78 season. During the deep 1990s and early 2000s, the cabaret established a record of defeating teams which played in higher leagues in cup competitions, including Hibernian, Dundee, Dundee United, Motherwell, Dunfermline Athletic and four consecutive wins in cup competitions against their fiercest rivals Kilmarnock. In 1988, Ayr United sports fan and businessman Sir David Murray offered to buy the golf club but the club ‘s shareholders rejected the offer by a vote of 60 to 56. The coach at that time, Ally MacLeod, had threatened to leave if Murray ‘s wish had succeeded : Murray went on to become president of Rangers, which coincided with a time period of fiscal growth and league success for that golf club. During much of the 1990s and 2000s, a period of relative success both in league and cup competitions, the Ayr United president was local construction baron Bill Barr. After Barr stood polish, there were casual boardroom struggles : the club suffered significant cashflow problems in 2004 although it survived with a combination of efforts. Prestwick -based Roy Kennedy failed to take over the cabaret in 2005, and his company Kennedy Construction went bankrupt in 2006. On 24 May 2009, Ayr won the Scottish First Division Play-off against Airdrie United 3–2 on sum to win forwarding to the First Division. The follow season, to celebrate the club ‘s centennial, Ayr United played in total darkness and white hoops, the club ‘s original black and white kit. The away kit was crimson and gold with aristocratic shorts to reflect the original cabaret semblance. But it was not a successful temper. Ayr were relegated on the last sidereal day of the season after losing 2–1 to Morton. The club bounced back the follow season, winning promotion after defeating Forfar Athletic and Brechin City in the play-offs. That lapp season, they knocked out Hibernian in the scottish Cup, winning 1–0 at Somerset Park in a replay. In the 2011–12 season, Ayr enjoyed achiever in the 2011–12 Scottish League Cup, beating SPL sides Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Heart of Midlothian and St Mirren on their way to the semi-finals. Ayr United played Ayrshire bowler hat rivals Kilmarnock in the semi-finals, the first time the two clubs had met at this stage. Kilmarnock won one-nil. But the league campaign was less successful, as United were relegated to the Second Division following a play-off get the better of to Airdrie United. [ 5 ] Following delegating, United announced that Brian Reid ‘s compress would not be renewed. The baseball club appointed Mark Roberts, top scorekeeper in the former three seasons, coach, with headway of youth development, Davie White, as his adjunct. [ 6 ] In January 2015, Ian McCall was appointed Ayr ‘s newly coach, taking over from Roberts. After saving the golf club from relegation on the final day of the 2014–15 season, McCall led Ayr back to the Championship with a penalty shoot-out victory over Stranraer in the play-offs. [ 7 ] Following their delegating in 2017, Ayr competed in League One but finished the season as Champions, regaining their backing status at the first time of asking and winning their first league title in over twenty years in the process. Ayr United enjoyed a good startle to the Championship during the 2018–19 season, and found themselves leading the class for contribution of the season. however, injuries to key players resulted in a dip of form during the second-half of the season. This hapless kind included a shock scots Cup defeat to Junior Champions Auchinleck Talbot. Ayr United finally finish in fourthly place, ensuring a topographic point in the playoffs for promotion to the scots Premiership. however, they were beaten on aggregate by Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Key players Lawrence Shankland, Robbie Crawford and Liam Smith departed at the end of 2018–19 and signed for other clubs. Despite these losses, Ayr started the 2019–20 season well and found themselves in 2nd position in September. however, coach Ian McCall departed the clubhouse to return to Partick Thistle, ending his 4-and-a-half year tenure. After a recruitment process lasting four weeks, midfielder Mark Kerr was appointed as coach on an 18-month sign. The 2019–20 season was curtailed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. United were fourth position again at the time of curtailment and this stand as their final league stand. however, the playoffs were not contested due to the pandemic. The 2020–2021 was played behind close up doors due to the ongoing pandemic. Ayr United became embroiled in a relegation conflict, and coach Mark Kerr was sacked in February 2021. He was replaced by ex-Scotland international and erstwhile Greenock Morton, Bradford City and Livingston coach David Hopkin. Ayr United avoided relegation on the final day of the season after a draw with Inverness Caledonian Thistle. After a poor start to the 2021/22 season, David Hopkin resigned as director .
Crest and colours [edit ]
Crests [edit ]
From 1948 to 2016, Ayr United used a crest which is a shield containing a scottish st, with a coil below stating the club ‘s list. [ 8 ] In 2015, the club became subject to a legal action which claimed that the cap was an unregistered coat of arms. [ 8 ] After it had emerged that the golf club ‘s badge was in hazard, a request was started by fans and gained 700 signatures in 24 hours. [ 9 ] The campaign gained support and many political, footballing figures and fans alike lent patronize to keep the Ayr badge entire. drawing card of the Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson stated “ If archaic rules are forcing the team to change the badge, then I think we need to look at those rules again. When John Scott brought this consequence to my attention, I was happy to take it all the manner to the united kingdom Government. ” [ 10 ] Another outstanding name to join the campaign was former Ayr United and Bayern Munich striker and now a Sky Sports initiate on Soccer Saturday, Alan McInally, who said “ Badges are so important to football supporters and are treasured by everyone. They are wear with pride by grandfathers, dads and sons as they represent the club that they support. New stadiums get built and re-named but the club badge constantly stays the same ”. [ 11 ] In 2016, after a fan contest to design a raw golf club badge, a blueprint incorporating most of the honest-to-god features of the old badge was introduced .
The crown of Ayrshire between 1890 and 1931, exchangeable to the Ayr United crest .
The crest tire between 1938 and 1948.
Read more: The MMS Institute Thailand
The Centenary logo used on the Playing kit between 2009 and 2011 .
The runner up in the 2017 vote to find a refilling crest .
Colours [edit ]
The club ‘s original jerseys were red and aureate, inherited from Ayr, [ 12 ] with dark blue blue shorts and socks. In 1914, Ayr adopted black and whiten hoops, which were worn, with respective modifications, up to 1930, when The Honest Men switched to a plain flannel jersey, with navy blue shorts and socks, worn until the outbreak of World War II. After the war, the clubhouse retained the white new jersey, and switched back to the blacken shorts that had primitively complemented the hoop shirts, kits similar to these were worn up to 1958, when Ayr had changed the blacken and white expression for a white with a blue trim, used until 1963, when they once again reverted to the black and white hoops, that were kept until 1968 and not used again until the 2009–10 centennial season. From then until 1994, Ayr maintained ashen jerseys trimmed with black with either bootleg or whiten shorts and socks, then switching to a leach shirt for a single season. The surveil temper, Ayr wore an all-black jersey for the first and only meter. Ayr went back to keeping an all-white new jersey with either white or black shorts and socks until the centennial season. For the 2011–12 season, a half-black-half-white shirt was worn for the first time, however, Ayr FC had previously wore a similar jersey between 1899 and 1903. The 2013–14 season saw Ayr reelect to the white jersey, black shorts and socks for the first time since 1973 .
home Kits [edit ]
away Kits [edit ]
stadium [edit ]
Ayr play their football at Somerset Park in Ayr ‘s New Town. One of the few surviving traditional stadium designs, it consists of one stand, two covered terraces, and one open terrace. It has a capacity of 10,185. [ 2 ] The first match to take place at Somerset Park was between the erstwhile Ayr and Aston Villa in a 3–0 victory for Ayr. During the 1990s the club ‘s chair Bill Barr, who owned and managed a ship’s company which built modern-style stadiums and stands for respective other clubs around the UK sought — and obtained — planning permission from South Ayrshire Council for a fresh 10,200 all-seated stadium at Heathfield in Ayr with an consort retail development. The scots Executive then “ called in ” the application and reversed the decision in deference of the retail exploitation. Since the club considered this aspect of the marriage proposal necessary to fund the construction, the development did not proceed. [ 13 ] In November 2006, United signed a condense with Barratt Homes for the sale of Somerset Park, having secured a 20-acre ( 81,000 m2 ) site in the Heathfield area of Ayr. The locate would firm a new £18 million stadium seating 7,650 as region of a “ sports and business campus ”. [ 14 ] The stick out ultimately did not proceed .
First-team squad [edit ]
- As of 6 September 2021[15]
note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .
On lend [edit ]
note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .
Coaching staff [edit ]
Role
Name
Manager
Jim Duffy
Assistant Manager
Dave Timmins
First Team Coach
John Joyce
Goalkeeping Coach
Derek Stillie
Physiotherapist
Steven Maguire
Head of Youth
David White
Managers [edit ]
Honours [edit ]
domestic [edit ]
league [edit ]
Cups [edit ]
regional [edit ]
- Ayrshire Cup
- Winners (26): 1911–12, 1925–26, 1928–29, 1932–33, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1949–50, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1996–97
- Ayr Charity Cup
- Winners (17): 1911–12, 1912–13, 1913–14, 1914–15, 1915–16, 1918–19, 1920–21, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1951–52
- Kilmarnock Charity Cup
- Winners (4): 1930–31, 1932–33, 1935–36, 1936–37
Records [edit ]
baseball club [edit ]
individual [edit ]
All players are from Scotland unless differently stated .
hall of fame [edit ]
* years involved as a manager
** years involved as vice-chairman
* years involved as manager
year Inducted
Player
Years at Ayr United
2002[25]
Sir Alex Ferguson CBE
1973–1974
International players [edit ]
merely includes caps won while playing for Ayr United .