NEW HOPE ... Chairman Jim Ballantyne is predicting exciting times ahead for Airdrie United after first division football was guaranteed in the wake of Gretna’s fall from grace. JIM Ballantyne’s eyes are already lighting up as he looks ahead to what he hopes will be a mouth-watering season. The Airdrie United chairman was delighted to hear his club will be playing first division football in August after Brooks Mileson’s dream transformed into a nightmare. The trauma of missing out on promotion via the play-offs was drawn out for weeks as the Diamonds waited helplessly to discover Gretna’s fate. But, when the news filtered through that the Raydale Park club’s time as a senior Scottish outfit was over, there was nothing but a collective sigh of relief in Airdrie. Ballantyne told the Advertiser: “From Airdrie’s perspective, I am absolutely delighted that we will be playing first division football. “Obviously I have a degree of sympathy for what has happened to Gretna, but that is something we have no control over. “Gretna have nobody to blame but themselves and it is now up to us to take advantage of that. He added: “It is probably the first big break we have had in the last six years and I can’t wait for the new season to begin.” Indeed, the Diamonds’ re-building programme is picking up momentum with six players expected to sign new contracts this morning (Wednesday), joining Kevin McDonald, Marc Smyth and Kevin Watt in what will become Kenny Black’s new look squad. While fans in Airdrie and beyond settle down to enjoy TV coverage of the forthcoming European Championships, club officials throughout the country will be hard at work securing the deals they hope will deliver the goods in the 2008/09 campaign. Airdrie’s search for new recruits will continue in the weeks ahead, but it seems a growing wave of optimism is already lapping at the door of the Excelsior Stadium. The chairman continued: “We are not looking to put together a squad that will view survival as success. We want to build a winning mentality and go into every single game knowing we can compete. “I think our supporters should be excited about the future and, when the new campaign begins, I think they will be pleasantly surprised. “I have spoken with Kenny about what sort of players we want to bring to the club and we have tailored our budget to suit that. “There is still a lot of work to be done but we want to move forward with a positive attitude and put together a squad of good-quality players who can compete with every other club in the first division. “Simply finishing in eighth place will not be seen as a successful season for Airdrie United. “We are looking forward with a very positive attitude, and we want to build a club with a winning mentality.” l Meanwhile, the numbers 1, 2 and 5 were drawn in this week’s Airdrie United Lottery for the £800 prize. The numbers 2, 10 and 11 were pulled out of the hat for the £300 prize. | 
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