STIRLING University will face Scottish championship side Airdrieonians in the SPFL Trust Trophy this Saturday at Forthbank Stadium.
The university started their challenge cup campaign against Livingston B, winning comfortably 4-0 at home.
Next up was an exciting challenge against League 2 side Clyde. A challenge that the team passed with flying colours. Two late goals secured an impressive 3-1 result, and another bit of cup magic.
In a game where the visitors will be hugely favoured, preparation has stayed largely the same for Uni head coach Chris Geddes.
“You always try to prepare for each game the same, but against a bigger team, you maybe worry a bit more, but yeah, we prepare as usual and will see how we get on.” Said Chris.
This will be the second year in a row that the University team faces a professional team in a cup. Famously last year, the students earned a historic trip to Dundee United in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
While United proved to be too much to handle in the end, the students gave a good account of themselves and earned plaudits across the country.
Due to the nature of university football, this year’s team has had a complete revamp, with many key players part of last year’s run, graduating and moving on to different clubs.
Geddes has been keen to play down the relevance of last year’s experience in preparation for Saturday’s game.
“This is a new team we’ve got this year, so what’s gone in the past is irrelevant now, in terms of confidence and going into the game. The boys will be confident as they always are, and we look forward to a tough match”.
While Stirling Uni has had a bit of a staggered start to their season, Airdrie went flying off the blocks with a clean sweep in their league cup group.
Led by 31-year-old player-manager Rhys McCabe, the newly promoted side has settled well in their fledgling championship campaign, sitting in 5th with two wins and two losses.
The students will have to expect a strong attacking side with experienced striker Callum Gallagher as the focal point.
Airdrie were known last season as the great entertainers, scoring a total of 82 goals over the course of their League 1 campaign.
This was the highest amount in the whole SPFL structure. Gallagher tallied 22 goals that season, and so far, has already got two in the Championship.
He himself has said his side will not take the Uni lightly and will give them the same respect given to Dundee United on the weekend.
With another big game on the horizon for the students, Chris Geddes has continued his praise for the squad’s strong mentality.
“To be honest when you coach a Uni team, they are all quite level-headed. There’s no jumping from the rooftops, there’s none of that, so I don’t really need to do much to balance the excitement, and I don’t really need to say calm down or anything like that
They kind of just approach each game as it comes, which I’m pretty fortunate that this is the way things work here.”
It will be another exciting game for the students, a game that comes just before the start of the semester.
All pressure will be on the visitors, and with hopefully a strong crowd cheering on the Uni at Forthbank, who knows, maybe the team can serve up another bit of history.
The match will kick off at 15:00 this Saturday at Forthbank Stadium. Tickets can be bought at the turnstiles. They are priced at £10 for adults, and £5 for concessions.
Featured Image Credit: SPFL
4th year Journalism student. Covering Stirling Uni FC for the 23/24 season.
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