With changes in the factory name the football team has followed suit, being known at various times as Vickers-Armstrong, de Havilands, Hawker Siddeley, British Aerospace, BAe Systems and Airbus UK. The club is now firmly established as Airbus UK Broughton and until the end of the 2003/04 season, played its football in the Cymru Alliance - the second-tier of the Welsh football pyramid.

The club was formed in 1946 and has played in both the Chester & District League and the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area). Our last move into the Welsh pyramid system, saw us canter to the Welsh National League Division Two title during the 1991/92 season winning it by a clear 19 points. In that season we won 28 of our 34 matches and scored a remarkable 130 goals, an average of almost four goals per game. We also reached the NEWFA Challenge Cup final losing narrowly to Gresford Athletic.

The Airfield

We then spent four seasons in Division One, the first two seasons we finishing sixth. In the third season, two places better in fourth. in the 1995/96 season we gained a further promotion, finishing runners-up behind Wrexham Colts at the end of the campaign: enough to us move into the Premier Division of the Welsh National League along with the divisional champions.

Once again we spent four seasons at that level with our first two campaigns showing steady consolidation - finishing seventh and sixth respectively. In 1998/99 campaign, the side pushed hard for the title but finished runners-up, just two points behind eventual champions Corwen Amateurs.

But in the following season we could not be stopped from winning the title with 21 victories from 30 matches, finishing our programme four points ahead of Ruthin Town and Penycae. This success meant promotion once again into the Cymru Alliance and to coincide with the promotion the club changed its name from British Aerospace to Airbus UK.

Our first season in the second-tier finished with a creditable 11th-placed finish with 10 wins and 14 defeats.

Continuing the pattern seen after previous promotions, the second term saw a steady improvement and in the 2001/02, we finished in eighth spot with 16 wins. The club showed signs of progress again in the 2002/03 season, achieving our highest ever finish of 5th spot, as well as reaching the NEWFA Challenge Cup final - losing narrowly on penalties.

2003/04 saw us take the Cymru Alliance title, winning the league by 19 points from closest rivals Buckley Town, and thus gained promotion the Welsh Premier for the first time in the club's history.

Ground improvements

The Wingmakers carried out improvements to our ground. What is now known as the main stand was built with a pavilion incorporating changing rooms. This was completed early in 2004 and two more stands were later added on the opposite touchline and at the Runway End, bringing seating capacity to more than 500. Floodlights were installed in time for the beginning of the 2004/05 season in the Welsh Premier League.

The first two seasons in the Welsh top flight were difficult on the pitch. The club battled hard to avoid relegation and appointed former Wrexham midfielder Gareth Owen as player-manager following two seasons at Flintshire rivals Connah's Quay Nomads.

Performances gradually improved as the Wingmakers finished 12th in 2006/07 earning a spot in the FAW Premier Cup for the first time. The following season brought 11 victories and 42 points to finish in 11th place.

Gareth Owen moved to Rhyl during the 2008 close season and the former Middlesbrough player Craig Harrison assumed the managerial reins having previously been assistant to Owen at The Hollingsworth Group Stadium.

After three-and-a-half-years, Harrison moved on to TNS and was replaced by Andy Preece as director of football with ex-Manchester City defender Andy Morrison as his assistant.
The most successful period in the club's history followed. Finishing a creditable seventh in the league and reaching the semi-finals of the Welsh Cup, the club embarked on its most successful Welsh Premier League campaign in 2012/13.

European qualification and recent years

After an exciting climax to the season, the Bus clinched runners-up spot with a 2-0 home win over Bangor City to clinch a first-ever place in Europe.

Three players (Lee Owens, Ian Kearney and Wayne Riley) were included in the WPL team of the season chosen by the 12 league managers. Owens, along with Steve Tomassen and Preece, were nominated for the player of the season, young player of the season and manager of the season awards.

The following campaign, 2013/14, was even better as the club again finished runners-up to TNS in the WPL, closing the gap to the top by eight points on the previous season and remaining undefeated against the champions in four league meetings. Airbus finished 11 points clear of the third-placed Carmarthen Town, securing another Europa League appearance with three league games remaining.

Ian Kearney and Lewis Short were included in the league's dream team with Tom Field shortlisted for the player of the season award. Director of football Andy Preece was once again nominated for manager of the season.

In May 2014, it was announced that the pitch at The Hollingsworth Group Stadium would be converted to synthetic 3G in the close season with the assistance of grants from the FAW and the Broughton Wings Sports & Social Club.

A third European appearance came 12 months later when the Wingmakers finished third in the League and faced NK Lokomotive of Croatia, losing 5-3 on aggregate but doing well to draw the away leg 2-2 in Zagreb.

We were unable to repeat our league performance in 2015/16, finishing in sixth place, but again came close to European qualification, losing 1-0 to neighbours Connah's Quay in the play-off final. The Bus also reached the Welsh Cup final for the first time in the club's history, losing 2-0 to TNS at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground.

Youngster James Murphy was voted the Welsh Premier young player of the season at the end of the campaign, with striker Tony Gray nominated for the player of the season award.
In August 2016, the club parted company with Andy Preece by mutual consent and his assistant, former player Andrew Thomas, was handed the managerial reins.

After an opening day victory over newly-promoted Cardiff Met, the remainder of the season was disappointing as we were relegated back into the Cymru Alliance after a 13-year stay in the top flight.

We consolidated in 2017/18 by finishing third in the Alliance. The following season, started with 14 consecutive league victories and we ended it as runaway champions, also adding the League Cup for good measure with a 5-1 win over Holyhead Hotspur in the final.
The club's return to the Welsh Premier was confirmed with the award of the FAW Tier 1 licence, where our stay unfortunately was short lived due to the curtailment of the season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

We returned to the reformed Cymru Alliance, known as the Cymru North for the 2020/21 season. Sadly this campaign was a non-starter due to the pandemic. We are now hoping the 2021/22 season will see the Wingmakers bounce back to the Cymru Premier division under the guidance of manager Steve O'Shaughnessy.

Airbus UK Broughton FC

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