IT can be a moving experience if you've been in with the furniture, but one former official at Airdrie Football Club might not agree.

Campbell Craig, the former chairman of Airdrie, stunned his old club yesterday when he decided that the furniture should follow him out of the door and ordered in a removal firm to empty the club's Shyberry Stadium.

Just 24 hours before the Diamonds' first home game of the season, against Raith Rovers, Mr Craig reclaimed sofas, chairs and tables in a dramatic clear-out that surprised and disappointed club officials.

The vans arrived shortly after 2pm to start the remarkable clearance, and new club owner Steve Archibald returned from a training session in time to see the furnishings being taken away.

Ambitious Archibald, who has recently signed a clutch of foreign players in a bid to secure promotion to the Scottish Premier League, said: ''I am only interested in football matters, but this is a sad day for Airdrie Football Club when one of their former board takes such action.

''Maybe Mr Craig is having a fire sale of sofas, but I am really not concerned. It's what we do out on the football pitch that is of paramount importance. His timing could have been better, though, when you consider we are preparing for our first home game of the campaign against Raith Rovers.''

The former Aberdeen and Barcelona player, who also played for Scotland, said: ''We've had to overcome a series of hurdles in our bid to take over the club and this is just another one. We'll take it in our stride.''

The actions of the ex-club chairman will not go down well with Airdrie fans who saw their team come back from the brink of closure in the summer.

But Archibald, who has already warned that ''the old brigade will have to change before it is too late . . . and that could be very soon'', is clearly not going to let the behaviour of people who are no longer associated with Airdrie affect his ambitions for the club.