David Hutton says Airdrie are a sleeping giant, and wants them to emulate the stature they enjoyed in Scottish football in the 1990s.
The Diamonds twice reached Scottish Cup finals and played in the Premier League, and also grabbed a stint in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1992, where they crashed out to Sparta Prague.
Goalkeeper coach Hutton reckons Airdrie should look to hitting those heights again, having dumped Hamilton Accies 6-5 on penalties to seal promotion to next season’s Championship, after a 2-2 draw across two legs of the play-off final.
Hutton admits it’s slightly weird doing it against his old club, but says his loyalties are entirely with Airdrie.
He said: “The potential of the club is massive.
“Airdrie is a sleeping giant. Back in the 90s Airdrie were massive, so why can’t we go and do it again.
“We should just crack on and go for it again.
“It’s going to be difficult in the Championship, I’ve played in that league for many seasons throughout my career, so I know it’s going to be very difficult – everybody can beat anybody on their day.
“But I think we’ll be a match for any team next year, with the way we play and our philosophy.
“We’ll do really well, I think, in it.”
Hutton says beating Hamilton didn’t have any impact on him, but losing his mum and his daughter battling cancer, and goalkeeper Josh Rae losing his dad this season meant he was emotional at the end up.
He said: “That’s what we set out to do, to win the game. Hamilton doesn’t mean anything to me, now.
“Obviously I played there, but Airdrie means so much to me and I’m just so glad we’re going up.
“I lost my mum, my daughter had cancer and just came out the other side of it, so I was a bit emotional, at the end.
“I’m just glad we got there.
“We deserve to be in the Championship, I think all season we’ve been magnificent.
“Rhys McCabe and Callum Fordyce [management duo] and myself have got them going, they’re a credit to themselves, and the club, and the fans are magnificent as well.
“The fans were unbelievable, they were the 12th man.
“We’ll go into next season and see where it takes us – our focus is on the Championship.”
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