Ayr United F.C. facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ayr United

Full name	Ayr United Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Honest Men
Founded	1910; 115 years ago (1910)
Ground	Somerset Park
Ground Capacity	10,185 (1,597 seated)
Chairman	David Smith
Manager	Scott Brown
League	Scottish Championship
2015–16	Scottish League One, 2nd (promoted via play-offs)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Ayr United Football Club is a football team from Ayr, Scotland. They play in the Scottish Championship, which is the second highest league in Scottish football. The club was started in 1910 when two older teams, Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., joined together.

Ayr United is often called "The Honest Men." This nickname comes from a famous poem by Robert Burns called "Tam o' Shanter." The team plays its home games at Somerset Park. The current manager is Scott Brown. Ayr United has played in Scotland's top league for 34 seasons. They have won the second-tier league six times and the third-tier league three times.

Club History

Ayr United was formed in 1910. It was created by combining two football clubs that already existed: Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C. This makes Ayr United special because it's the only Scottish Football League club made from two other league clubs.

The club has won the Scottish Second Division (which is the second league) six times. They also won the third league three times, most recently in the 2017–18 season. Ayr United has not won any big national cup competitions. However, they were runners-up in the Scottish League Cup in 2002. They also reached the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup twice, in 1990–91 and 1991–92.

Ayr United has won the local Ayrshire Cup 26 times. They often played their rivals, Kilmarnock, in the final. The Ayrshire Cup stopped being played after the 1996–97 season.

The player who scored the most goals for Ayr in one season was Jimmy Smith. He scored an amazing 66 goals in just 38 league games in 1927–28. This is still a British record for league goals in a single season! The player who scored the most goals overall for the club is Peter Price. He scored 213 goals between 1955 and 1962.

Ally MacLeod is known as the club's most famous and successful manager. He managed the team three different times over 15 years. His teams won 214 games and two league titles. He was even named Ayr's Citizen of the Year in 1973. Other managers have included George Burley and Gordon Dalziel. Gordon Dalziel was the only manager to lead Ayr to a national cup final in 2002. They lost 4–0 to Rangers.

Ayr United has played in the top Scottish league for 34 seasons. However, since the 1977–78 season, they have mostly played in the second and third leagues. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ayr United became known for beating teams from higher leagues in cup games. They beat teams like Hibernian, Dundee, and Kilmarnock.

In 1988, a fan and businessman named Sir David Murray wanted to buy the club. But the club's owners voted against it. Murray later became chairman of Rangers, which then had a very successful period.

In 2009, Ayr United won a play-off game against Airdrie United. This win helped them get promoted to the First Division. The next season, to celebrate 100 years of the club, Ayr United wore their original black and white striped kit. However, they were relegated back down at the end of that season.

The club quickly bounced back the next season. They won promotion again after winning play-off games. In the 2011–12 season, Ayr had a great run in the 2011–12 Scottish League Cup. They beat teams from the top league to reach the semi-finals. They played their rivals, Kilmarnock, but lost 1–0.

After being relegated again, Mark Roberts became manager in 2012. In 2015, Ian McCall took over. He helped the club avoid relegation and then led them back to the Championship league. In 2018, Ayr United won the League One title, getting promoted back to the Championship.

Ayr United started the 2018–19 season very well, even leading the Championship for a while. But injuries to key players caused their form to drop. They finished fourth, which earned them a spot in the play-offs for promotion to the top league. However, they lost to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

After the 2018–19 season, some important players left the club. Despite this, Ayr started the 2019–20 season well. But then manager Ian McCall left. Mark Kerr was appointed as the new manager. The 2019–20 season was cut short because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Ayr United finished fourth, but the play-offs were not held.

The 2020–2021 season was played without fans. Ayr United struggled and manager Mark Kerr was sacked. David Hopkin took over and helped the team avoid relegation on the last day of the season. After a poor start to the 2021–22 season, David Hopkin resigned. Jim Duffy became manager but was also sacked after a bad run of games.

On January 7, 2022, Lee Bullen was appointed as head coach. Under his leadership, Ayr United stayed in the Championship league. In the 2022–23 season, Ayr finished second in the league. This earned them a place in the play-off semi-finals, but they were defeated by Partick Thistle. As of July 2025, Scott Brown is the manager.

Team Crest and Colours

Club Crests

From 1948 to 2016, Ayr United used a crest that looked like a shield with a Scottish flag on it. Below it was a scroll with the club's name. In 2015, there was a legal issue about the crest. Fans started a petition to keep the old badge, and many people supported them.

In 2016, after a competition for fans to design a new badge, a new crest was chosen. It kept many features of the old badge.

• 

  The crest of Ayrshire between 1890 and 1931, similar to the Ayr United crest.
• 

  The crest worn between 1938 and 1948.

Team Colours

Ayr United's first jerseys were red and gold, with navy blue shorts and socks. In 1914, they changed to black and white hoops. They wore these for many years, with some changes. In 1930, they switched to a plain white jersey with navy blue shorts and socks.

After World War II, they kept the white jersey but changed to black shorts. In 1958, they used white with blue trim. Then, in 1963, they went back to black and white hoops until 1968. For their 100th anniversary season in 2009–10, they wore the black and white hoops again.

For the 2011–12 season, they wore a shirt that was half black and half white. In the 2013–14 season, Ayr went back to a white jersey with black shorts and socks.

Home Kits

1910–1914

1914–1938

1938–1940

1945–1958

1973–1978

2011–12

2014–15

Away Kits

1970s

1990s

1995–96

2001–02

2003–04

2009–10

2012–13

Home Stadium: Somerset Park

Ayr United plays its games at Somerset Park in Ayr. This stadium has a classic design. It includes the original stand, two covered areas for fans, and a newer stand. The stadium can hold 10,185 people. The very first game at Somerset Park was between the old Ayr F.C. and Aston Villa. Ayr won that game 3–0.

In the 1990s, the club's chairman, Bill Barr, wanted to build a new, bigger stadium. He planned a 10,200-seat stadium with shops nearby to help pay for it. However, the plan for the shops was not approved, so the new stadium was not built.

In 2006, Ayr United signed a deal to sell Somerset Park. They planned a new £29 million stadium with 7,650 seats. This new stadium would have been part of a "sports and business campus." But this project also did not happen.

First Team Players

No. Position Player 1 GK David Mitchell 2 DF Nick McAllister 3 DF Liam Dick 4 DF Shaun Want 5 DF Kevin Holt 6 MF Stuart Bannigan 7 FW Anton Dowds 8 MF Ben Dempsey (captain) 9 FW George Oakley 10 FW Curtis Main

No. Position Player 11 MF Dom Thomas 15 FW Jamie Murphy 16 FW Jake Hastie 17 MF Jude Bonnar (on loan from Celtic) 21 MF Ethan Walker 22 FW Mark McKenzie 23 MF Marco Rus 32 DF Dylan Watret 33 DF Scott McMann 38 GK Liam Russell

Players on Loan

No. Position Player 18 MF Jamie Hislop (co-operation loan with East Stirlingshire) 19 GK Ollie Ecrepont (on loan at Dumbarton) 24 MF Scott Tomlinson (on loan at Dumbarton)

No. Position Player 25 MF Kenzie Mitchell (co-operation loan with East Stirlingshire) 28 MF David Craig (on loan at Glenafton Athletic) 29 FW Lucas McRoberts (co-operation loan with East Stirlingshire)

Coaching Staff

Club Managers

Dates	Name
1910–1914	Committee
1914–1915	Herbert Dainty
1915–1918	Lawrence Gemson
1918–1919	John Cameron
1919–1923	James McDonald
1923–1924	Jimmy Richardson
1924–1926	Jimmy Hay
1926–1931	Archie Buchanan
1931–1935	Alex Gibson
1935–1940	Frank Thompson
1945–1948	Bob Ferrier
1949–1953	Archie Anderson
1953–1955	Reuben Bennett
1955–1956	Neil McBain
1956–1961	Jackie Cox
1961	Bobby Flavell
1961–1962	Gerry Mays
1962–1963	Neil McBain
1963–1964	Bobby Flavell
1964–1966	Tom McCreath
1966–1975	Ally MacLeod
1975–1978	Alex Stuart
1978	Ally MacLeod
1979–1983	Willie McLean
1983–1985	George Caldwell
1985–1990	Ally MacLeod
1991–1993	George Burley
1993–1995	Simon Stainrod
1995–2002	Gordon Dalziel
2002–2004	Campbell Money
2004–2005	Mark Shanks
2005–2007	Bobby Connor
2007	Neil Watt
2007–2012	Brian Reid
2012–2014	Mark Roberts
2015–2019	Ian McCall
2019–2021	Mark Kerr
2021	David Hopkin
2021	Jim Duffy
2022–2024	Lee Bullen
2024–	Scott Brown

Club Achievements

League Titles

• Scottish Second Tier (This league has had different names over time)
  • Winners (6 times): 1911–12, 1912–13, 1927–28, 1936–37, 1958–59, 1965–66
  • Runners-up (5 times): 1910–11, 1955–56, 1968–69, 2000–01, 2022–23
• Scottish Third Tier (This league has also had different names)
  • Winners (3 times): 1987–88, 1996–97, 2017–18
  • Runners-up (3 times): 2008–09, 2010–11, 2015–16
  • Play-off Winners (3 times): 2008–09, 2010–11, 2015–16

Cup Achievements

• Scottish League Cup
  • Runners-up (1 time): 2001–02
• Scottish Challenge Cup
  • Runners-up (2 times): 1990–91, 1991–92

Regional Cups

• Ayrshire Cup
  • Winners (26 times): 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 times): 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 times): 1930–31, 1932–33, 1935–36, 1936–37

Club Records

Team Records

Player Records

All players are from Scotland unless stated otherwise.

Top Goalscorers

Most Appearances

Hall of Fame

Ayr United has its own Hall of Fame to honor great players and managers.

* years involved as a manager
** years involved as vice-chairman

Some players who played for Ayr United have also been inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame and the English Football Hall of Fame.

Scottish Football Hall of Fame

* years involved as manager

English Football Hall of Fame

International Players

These are players who played for their national teams while they were playing for Ayr United.

See also

In Spanish: Ayr United Football Club para niños