Gartcairn Football Academy Juniors, commonly referred to as Gartcairn Juniors, are a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
semi-professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club from the town of
Airdrie,
North Lanarkshire who play in the .
History
The Gartcairn Football Academy was founded in 2007 with two teams at under-8 and under-10 level. Since that time, the club grew to involve 700 players and 60 coaches with teams from the youngest age groups up to an adult amateur side. Gartcairn decided to apply for membership of the
Scottish Junior Football Association in 2015, to create an unbroken player pathway to semi-professional level and to provide a playing option for existing local talent in Airdrie and neighbouring
Coatbridge. Airdrie had previously had no representation at Junior level since the 1930s.
The Academy officially opened their own facility at St Margaret's High School in Airdrie in January 2014, however the Junior side initially had to play out of Coatbridge Outdoor Sports Centre due to certain ground criteria not being met. The club were able to use to their own ground, named MTC Park, from January 2016 after alterations were made.
Willie Kinniburgh was appointed manager of the first team in December 2019. The club attracted former
Hibernian player
Tam McManus
Thomas Kelly "Tam" McManus (born 28 February 1981) is a Scottish former footballer.
McManus started his career with Hibernian, making over 100 league appearances for the Edinburgh club. During his time there, McManus represented the Scotland ...
out of retirement for their debut Junior season. The club did the same with recently retired former
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
and
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
player
Gary Harkins
Gary Harkins (born 2 January 1985) is a Scottish professional footballer and coach who plays as a midfielder.
Having come through the youth academies at Celtic and Blackburn Rovers he would notably play in the Scottish Premiership for Kilmarnock ...
in 2020.
Managers
* Billy McKie (Jun 2015 – Aug 2015)
* Gary Johnstone (Aug 2015 – Mar 2016)
* Gerry Bonham (Mar 2016 – Dec 2016)
* David Greig (Dec 2016 – May 2018)
*
Jamie McKenzie (May 2018 – December 2019)
*
Willie Kinniburgh (December 2019 – April 2022)
*
Michael Dunlop
Michael Dunlop (born 10 April 1989) is a Northern Irish professional motorcycle racer. Part of a motorcycle racing dynasty, Michael is the brother of the late William Dunlop, son of Robert and nephew of former World Champion Joey Dunlop.
He ...
(May 2022 – present)
References
External links
Club Website
Football in North Lanarkshire
Football clubs in Scotland
Scottish Junior Football Association clubs
Association football clubs established in 2015
2015 establishments in Scotland
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire
West of Scotland Football League teams
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