It’s four years to the day since Arbroath confirmed their status as a Championship side with a 1-1 draw at Angus rivals Brechin City.
An early Ryan Wallace goal was cancelled out by Michael Miller but a point was still enough for Arbroath to clinch the League One title in 2019.
It was a league they led from start to finish, top alphabetically before a ball was kicked and first for the entire 36-game campaign.
Little did they know that it was just the start of an amazing adventure.
I'll see you up on the moon….
A brilliant wee video put together by very good friend of the club @ewansmithpr
Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/AY1UQAeZcs
— Arbroath FC (@ArbroathFC) April 14, 2019
As boss Dick Campbell stood on the Glebe Park turf that day he bravely declared: “We’ll go up there and have a go. If we do doon, we go doon.”
Four years on, Arbroath aren’t yet ‘doon.’
In fact, the club has grown dramatically both on and off the park in the intervening period to the extent that they are no longer EXPECTED to go down.
Courier Sport has tracked Arbroath’s journey in the second tier.
And here we look at what’s changed and what they need to do to maintain their Championship status:
Arbroath average crowd has more than doubled
It goes without saying that the more successful you are as a club, the more fans will want to follow you.
But it’s not always a given.
Back in 2018/19 season, Arbroath had an average gate of exactly 950 en-route to their League One title success.
Now that number has soared to 2,097.
Yes there are caveats, such as bigger away crowds, but the simple fact is that Arbroath are enticing a far greater home following than ever before.
The Costa del Gayfield was looking glorious at the @ArbroathFC v @DundeeFC clash.
📷 @davidsdronepics pic.twitter.com/OO3TcKp87c
— Ewan Smith (@ewansmithpr) April 9, 2023
This year they had record season ticket sales of just under 1500.
Matchday hospitality has been sold out for almost every home fixture.
Even in the midst of a relegation battle the crowd numbers have risen. Can you imagine what they’d be like if Arbroath were back up challenging at the top?
Arbroath are never standing still
Arbroath’s finances are in a very healthy state.
Turnover has increased exponentially over the last few years, with merchandising sales quadrupling following the opening a new club shop in the town centre.
They’ve also just attracted their biggest home gate in 11 years with 5,563 watching last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Dundee.
That stable financial footing has allowed the club to invest on and off the park.
They have appointed a forward-thinking commercial director in Paul Reid and worked on improving their stadium.
The club upgraded the frontage of Gayfield last summer, installing a new office reception.
They’ve renewed the roofing on their terraces and increased hospitality capacity with a total refurbishment.
The players tunnel was overhauled and the home dressing room was redecorated with a new scoreboard installed last weekend.
They are also now making extensive efforts to offer Gayfield as a venue for non-sporting events to increase revenue streams away from football.
Things are ever-changing but they stay the same
Campbell is Scottish football’s longest-serving manager.
He has been in charge for 2,592 days and counting.
Dick’s longevity in the cut-throat world of football manager has not come by accident.
He has been the most successful manager in the club’s 145-year history and deserves the loyalty the board have shown him.
But the club are keen to build continuity where possible.
On the park, Bobby Linn has just enjoyed his testimonial year and has passed the baton to Ricky Little.
Skipper Tam O’Brien has just agreed a new five-year deal, despite the club being in the midst of a relegation battle.
Brick by brick, Arbroath are building solid foundations for a bright future no matter what their future league status is next year.
Will Arbroath stay in the Championship?
Lichties have given themselves a fighting chance of Championship survival.
Despite defeat to Inverness on Tuesday, they are three points ahead of Hamilton and five better off than Cove Rangers going into this weekend’s fixtures.
All eyes will be on Queen’s Park on Friday night to see if the title challengers can put another dent in Hamilton’s survival hopes.
Arbroath then travel to Raith Rovers which was, ironically, a pivotal venue in that 2019 title success.
Colin Hamilton’s goal sealed a 1-0 win in February 2019 to put his side 16 points clear.
Arbroath FC Goal of the Season (Voted by the Fans)
1st – @Boabskin – Goal 6 – Forfar Athletic 2 – 3 Arbroath – 8th December
2nd – Colin Hamilton – Goal 9 – Raith Rovers 0 – 1 Arbroath – 16th February
3rd – @Mikey_211991 – Goal 5 – Brechin City 1 – 5 Arbroath – 17th November pic.twitter.com/rzsWdGKxOq
— Arbroath FC (@ArbroathFC) May 9, 2019
That coined the song ‘Hammy won the league at Stark’s Park.’
If results go Arbroath’s way this weekend and they beat Raith, they will be six points ahead of Hamilton and eight better above Cove going into the final three games.
Victory over Cove a week on Saturday would be just about enough to secure eighth place and a spot in the Championship for a fifth year.
If Arbroath drop points and allow Hamilton and Cove back in then they still have home games against their rivals to secure their Championship status.
Arbroath will definitely have a go, but let’s hope they don’t ‘go doon.’
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