Aberdeen FC

[LAF]

Aberdeen Football Club

Aberdeen Football Club is a football team from Scotland, who compete in the Scottish Premier League.

Formed in 1903 from the amalgamation of a number of clubs from Aberdeen, they have historically been one of the most successful Scottish teams. Alex Ferguson was a highly successful manager of the team in the 1980s, guiding them to three league championships, and famously to victory in the 1983 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, defeating Real Madrid in the final.

Aberdeen play at Pittodrie, which has a capacity of 22,199 and was the first all-seater and all-covered stadium in the UK. Aberdeen were also the first team to introduce the 'dug-out'.


History
Aberdeen Football Club are one of Scotland's most successful football teams and are also one of only three Scottish Premier League clubs (Celtic and Rangers are the other ones) who have never been relegated. Aberdeen are the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies - the European Cup Winners' Cup against Real Madrid on 11 May 1983 and the European Super Cup against the European Cup holders Hamburg in December 1983.


Origins of the club
The current Aberdeen FC was born out of the merger of three city clubs; Aberdeen, Victoria United and Orion. A public meeting on March 20, 1903 was attended by more than 1,600 citizens, and on that date the amalgamation issue was discussed and given the go-ahead. On April 14 that same year the merger was made official and Aberdeen Football Club was born.

The merger allowed Aberdeen (wearing an all-white kit) to seriously entertain thoughts of joining the Scottish Football League, but had to settle with spending its inaugural season in the Northern League having narrowly failed to gain admission to the First Division.


Early years (1903 - 1917)
The new club played its first match on August 15, 1903, a 1-1 draw with Stenhousemuir. That first season produced a win in the Aberdeenshire Cup, but only a third place finish in the Northern League. Undaunted, the club applied for membership of the Scottish League for the following season, and were duly elected, although to the Second Division, rather than the First which the directors had aspired to.

With the arrival of League football in 1904-05, Aberdeen changed kit colours to black and gold, resulting in the new nickname of the Wasps. The club at this time was managed by Jimmy Philip, and he steered the club to a Qualifying Cup win on November 26, 1904, a 2-0 victory over Renton at Dens Park. At the end of that first season, despite having finished 7th out of 12 teams, Aberdeen were elected to the new, expanded First Division, and have been in the top tier of Scottish football ever since, a record shared with only Celtic and Rangers.

Once in the First Division, however, the club's progress was steady rather than spectacular - a Scottish Cup semi-final appearance in 1908 and another in 1911 being the highlights of the pre-war period. In that season of 1910-11, Aberdeen recorded their first victories over the Old Firm, and led the league for a time, but the silverware ended up in Glasgow, as was becoming customary.

Wartime affected the club as much as any other, and in spite of spending cuts and other economies, by 1917 the situation was untenable and, along with Dundee and Raith Rovers, Aberdeen dropped out of competitive football.

Between the wars (1919 - 1939)
Senior football returned to the north-east of Scotland on August 16, 1919, The Dons (as they had been known since 1913) resuming with a fixture against Albion Rovers. Philip was still in charge, and continued to oversee a team capable of isolated good results, but never quite able to sustain a challenge long enough to win a trophy.

In 1923, Aberdeen were drawn against Peterhead in the Scottish Cup, and posted their record score - a 13-0 victory. The game took place in torrential rain, and it is recorded that the Aberdeen goalkeeper, Harry Blackwell, played in a waterproof coat, and spent at least part of the game sheltered under a spectator's umbrella.

Philip retired in 1924, and was replaced as manager by Paddy Travers. Travers' Aberdeen sides were no more successful than his predeccesors', but he did preside over the team's first Scottish Cup final in 1937, as well as two close-season tours to South Africa, the second of which, soon after the Cup final defeat ended in tragedy when outside-right Jackie Beynon died of peritonitis.

In November 1931, Travers unexpectedly dropped a number of first team regulars, none of whom played for the club again. It wasn't until the publication of the club's official history in the 1970s that it became clear that there had been a suspicion of a betting scandal; no action was taken against any player at the time.


Donald Colman and the 'dug-out'
Travers' trainer (first team coach in modern parlance) was a former player and fans' favourite, Donald Colman. Colman was regarded as a brilliant and innovative thinker about football, and one of his inventions remains a standard part of many football grounds to this day. Colman believed in studying players' feet as they played, and conceived the 'dug-out', a covered area set slightly below the level of the playing surface to better aid his observations. Everton visited Pittodrie soon after its introduction, and exported the idea to the English leagues, from where it spread throughout the football-playing world.

Travers left to become manager of Clyde in 1939, and was replaced by Dave Halliday. Halliday had barely begun his work, however, when war again disrupted the football programme.


Wartime (1939-1945)
The Second World War effectively shut down senior football, but Aberdeen continued to put on games featuring any players who might be in the forces and stationed nearby. Players such as Stan Mortensen and Ted Ditchburn played for Aberdeen sides in the Scottish North-Eastern League, and unlike in the previous hiatus, the club was kept running, albeit on a highly improvised basis.


Post-war glory (1946-1970)
Halliday inspired Aberdeen (now playing in red shirts) to their first senior silverware in 1946, winning the Scottish League Cup (although this was a reduced version of the competition known officially as the Southern League Cup), and taking his team back to Hampden the following season in the same competition, although they were defeated on this occasion. Aberdeen also reached the Scottish Cup final in that same season, 1946-47, and this time the Cup was won, Hibernian being the defeated finalists.

From these early successes, Halliday built a team capable of challenging for the highest honours in the Scottish game, and reached two more Scottish Cup finals, in 1953 and 1954, although both were lost. Halliday's team were not to be denied, however, and the following season, 1954-55, Aberdeen won their first Scottish League title. Their reward, however, was not to be a place in the first European Cup competition - Scotland's place was awarded to Hibs.

Halliday left at the end of that championship-winning season, to be replaced by Davie Shaw. Aberdeen won another League Cup under his guidance, beating St Mirren in 1955-56, and reached another Scottish Cup final in 1959, but Shaw's reign was ultimately a disappointing one, and he stepped aside for another former favourite player, Tommy Pearson in 1959.

Pearson's time in charge coincided with a high turnover of players, and yielded no trophies. He retired in 1965, making way for Eddie Turnbull, who led Aberdeen to two Cup finals against Celtic, losing in 1967, but gaining revenge in 1970.


Washington Whips
During the summer of 1967, Aberdeen played a season in North America as part of a fledgling league called the United Soccer Association. This league imported twelve entire clubs from Europe and South America to play in American and Canadian cities, with each club bearing a local name. Aberdeen, playing as the "Washington Whips", won the Eastern Division title, but then lost the championship match to the Western Division winners "Los Angeles Wolves" (Wolverhampton Wanderers of England). (This FIFA-sanctioned league merged the following season with the non-sanctioned National Professional Soccer League, which had also begun in 1967, to form the North American Soccer League.)


Consistent, yet unsuccessful (1970 - 1979)
The Aberdeen side of the 1970s was one which regularly challenged for honours, but with the exception of the League Cup in 1976, under Ally MacLeod, was not particularly successful. During this decade, Aberdeen had 5 managers, Eddie Turnbull, Jimmy Bonthrone, Ally MacLeod, Billy McNeill and Alex Ferguson. They reached 2 more national cup finals - the Scottish Cup in 1978 under Billy McNeill and the manager, the relatively unknown Alex Ferguson. Success maybe didn't come in the 1970s, but Alex Ferguson owes much of his success to Ally MacLeod, for raising morale at Pittodrie and introducing new training regimes to improve the players, and Billy McNeill, who continued much of what MacLeod did, as well as improving Aberdeen's relations with teams all over the North-East corner of Scotland.


The glory years (1980 - 1986)
Willie Miller Lifts the European Cup Winners' CupFerguson became manager in 1978, following the departure of McNeill to Celtic, and set about building a team which would win more in the next eight years than in the entire history of the club to that date.

Players such as Jim Leighton, Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Gordon Strachan developed under Ferguson's guidance to be the backbone of a team with a winning mentality. Aberdeen's second League title was won in 1979-80, and this initial success was built on, with Scottish Cup wins in three successive seasons from 1982 - 1984, two more league titles in 1983-84 and 1984-85, alongside becoming only the third Scottish side to win a European trophy, with the European Cup Winners' Cup victory over Real Madrid on May 11, 1983. The club even released a song, European Song to coincide with the appearance in the Final. This was followed up with the capture of the European Super Cup in December of that year, when SV Hamburg were beaten over two legs. Aberdeen remain the only Scottish club to have won two European trophies. The following season, Aberdeen were beaten semi-finalists in the Cup Winners' Cup, denied the opportunity to defend their trophy by FC Porto.

The success of the Ferguson era may be underlined by the fact that the 1985-86 season was considered by many supporters to be a failure, with only the Scottish Cup and the League Cup won.


The Ferguson hangover (1986 - date)
The departure of Ferguson for Manchester United in November 1986 left the Dons board with the arduous task of replacing the irreplaceable, and they opted for little-known coach Ian Porterfield. Porterfield's reign was not successful and ended with his resignation in May 1988.

Alex Smith & Jocky Scott formed a co-managership of the club to replace Porterfield, and achieved a League Cup and Scottish Cup double in 1989-90. In the 1990-91 season a run of twelve victories in thirteen games left Aberdeen sitting top of the table on goal difference ahead of Rangers, going into the final match of the season at Ibrox. A change of tactics (which eventually led to Jocky Scott leaving the club) and a Mark Hateley double gave the Championship to Rangers, and allowed them to continue on the Championship run that saw them eventually lift nine consecutive titles.

Alex Smith was not successful as manager in his own right, and was eventually sacked in 1992. Former captain Willie Miller took over and presided over two seasons where Rangers were run close, but chose at the end of the 1993-94 season to break up his team and bring in new players, a move which did not work; Miller was sacked before the end of the season, and the club had to rely on a play-off victory over Dunfermline Athletic to retain their Premier League status.

Miller was replaced by Roy Aitken, but his initial success in avoiding relegation did not last, and despite a League Cup win against Dundee in 1995-96, the club continued to struggle. Alex Miller and Paul Hegarty had spells in charge in the late 1990s, but success remained elusive, and with the financial burden of a new stand putting the club into debt for the first time in its history, the directors turned to Stewart Milne, a local businessman whose firm had built the stand, to bring business acumen to the running of the club.

The Danish-born Ebbe Skovdahl became Aberdeen's first non-Scottish manager in 1999, and his time in charge coincided with some of the heaviest defeats in the club's history, together with the first time the club had ever finished bottom of the league - the ensuing relegation play-off with Falkirk being avoided as Falkirk did not have a ground which met Premier League standards. Skovdahl did, however, lead the club to two cup finals in 2000, but left the club when he felt he had taken it as far as he could.

His replacement, Steve Paterson lasted only two seasons, and the incumbent manager, Jimmy Calderwood took over in 2004, having been identified as the right man for the job by the newly appointed Director of Football, former player and manager Willie Miller.

Aberdeen under Calderwood have posted more consistent results than in previous seasons; 4th in season 2004-2005 and 6th in season 2005-2006, but the club are not yet challenging for major honours in the way they did in the second half of the 20th century. In season 2006-07, despite being knocked out of both cups in the earlier rounds, the club finished in third place in the SPL and qualified for the 2007-08 UEFA Cup with an extremely comfortable win over Rangers at Pittodrie on the last day of the season.

[LAF]

Ten-man Dundee United saw off Aberdeen at Tannadice thanks to a last minute strike from David Robertson.
Midfielder Willo Flood soured his Premier League debut, picking up two yellow cards in the first half.

Derek Soutar made an acrobatic save to deny Robertson, while Grzegorz Szamotulski made an equally impressive stop from a Barry Nicholson header.

United captain Barry Robson hit the woodwork with a shot before Robertson lashed in the winner at the death.

The game started at a frenetic pace and there was little fluency as fouls and free-kicks peppered the early exchanges.

Aberdeen had more menace up front but it was the home side that came closest to the opening goal when Robertson was denied by a wonderful save from Soutar.

The former Dundee keeper superbly stretched out a hand to fingertip away a deft header from the United midfielder on the half hour.

Flood, on loan for the season from Cardiff City for the season, earned his first booking for a high challenge on Lee Miller and was sent packing for a dive, following a challenge from Jackie McNamara on 42 minutes.

Aberdeen striker Darren Mackie broke clear of the United defence at the close of the first half but his low drive was blocked by the advancing Szamotulski.

Aberdeen started the second half strongly and Barry Nicholson must have thought he had scored when he powered in a header from Michael Hart's cross.

However, Szamotulski managed to get a hand to it and the ball skimmed off a post on its way past for a corner.

Stevie Lovell was introduced for fellow striker Mackie and the Dons substitute was immediately given a clear sight of goal but dragged his shot wide.

United fought their way back into the game with some impressive passing and a slip from Andrew Considine saw the visiting defender play the ball straight to Barry Robson.

With striker Noel Hunt screaming to be played in on goal, the United skipper went alone and was unlucky to see his shot slam off the base of the post.

The home side continued to press and they were rewarded when Robertson latched on to Considine's woeful attempt at chesting the ball back to his keeper and smashed the ball high into the net.



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Dundee Utd: Szamotulski, Dillon, Dods, Flood, Kalvenes, Robertson, Kenneth, Robson (Duff 88), Robb (Conway 15), Hunt, Gomis, Conway (Bauben 57). Subs Not Used: McLean, Proctor, Goodwillie, Johnny Russell.

Sent Off: Flood (42).

Booked: Flood, Hunt, Robertson.

Goal: Robertson 90.

Aberdeen: Soutar, Hart, McNamara (Mair 83), Considine, Foster, Nicholson, Severin, Clark (De Visscher 73), Jamie Smith, Miller, Mackie (Lovell 53). Subs Not Used: Langfield, Diamond, Daniel Smith, Maguire.

Booked: Mackie, Foster, Miller.

Att: 12,496 Ref: M Tumilty

BBC SPORT | Football | Scottish Premier | Dundee Utd 1-0 Aberdeen

[DavidMc]

Aberdeen v Hearts
Sunday 11th August
Scottish Premier League
Pittodrie Stadium

Aberdeen defender Richie Byrne is the only main absentee for boss Jimmy Calderwood as Hearts visit Pittodrie.

Craig Brewster and Karim Touzani could return for the Dons after missing out on last week's defeat at Dundee United.

Christophe Berra returns from suspension to play his first match as Hearts' new club captain.

Midfielder Laryea Kingston serves the final game of his ban, while Andrius Velicka and Eduard Kurskis are both available for the Edinburgh outfit.

Both players looked to be on their way out of the club earlier this week.

Steve Banks is expected to start in goal following former skipper Craig Gordon's £9m move to Sunderland.



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Aberdeen (from): Soutar, Hart, Diamond, Touzani, D Smith, Considine, Mair, McNamara, Severin, Nicholson, Clark, Foster, Young, J Smith, De Visscher, Lovell, Mackie, Miller, Brewster.

Hearts (from): Banks, Kurskis, Berra, Karipidis, Zaliukas, Goncalves, Wallace, Mikoliunas, Tall, McCann, Driver, Pospisil, Velicka, Beniusis, Cesnauskis, Neilson, Elliot, Palazuelos, Ksanavicius, Jonsson, Makela, Stewart.

[DavidMc]

Aberdeen v Celtic
Sunday 19th August
Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Kick-Off 14:00

Aberdeen will be without defender Lee Mair, who is facing six weeks out with a knee injury suffered last weekend.

Jeffrey de Visscher and Richie Byrne are still missing, but Jackie McNamara has recovered from a knock.

Celtic striker Scott McDonald could make his domestic debut as he is now free of suspension.

Striker Kenny Miller and goalkeeper Artur Boruc will be given fitness tests after missing Wednesday's Champions League qualifier in Moscow.


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Aberdeen (from): Soutar, Hart, Diamond, Touzani, D Smith, Considine, McNamara, Severin, Nicholson, Clark, Foster, Young, J Smith, Maguire, Lovell, Mackie, Miller, Brewster.

Celtic (from): Mark Brown, Boruc, Wilson, Kennedy, Pressley, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura, Scott Brown, Donati, Hartley, McGeady, Miller, McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink, McGovern, Sno, O'Dea, Riordan, Zurawski.

[DavidMc]

Brewster tipped for Inverness job

Craig Brewster has emerged as an early favourite to succeed Charlie Christie as head coach of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, BBC Sport believes.
It would be the 41-year-old Aberdeen striker's second spell in charge at the Caledonian Stadium after a 14-month spell there that ended in January 2006.

Christie's assistant, Donald Park, has already been ruled out the running.

Inverness will draw up a shortlist, with another former boss, John Robertson, in the club's thoughts.

Robertson, who recently took charge of Derry City, ended his two-year spell at Caledonian Stadium in 2004 after being enticed back to former club Hearts.

Brewster had also been persuaded to end his time at the Highland club by a return to Dundee United, where he lasted nine months before resuming his playing career at Pittodrie.

Maurice Malpas, who parted company with Motherwell during the summer, is also being linked with the Inverness job.

Caley Thistle's board will discuss their strategy when chairman Alan Savage returns from a business trip abroad on Tuesday.


The Scottish Premier League outfit are likely to draw up a shortlist of three or four candidates.

They are keen to appoint a successor quickly so the new manager can target new signings before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

It never worked out for him at Dundee United, if he really wants to go into management, he should try the lower divisions first. Hard to say if he has the attributes to be a good manager. He is a respected player, but its not always easy to make the transition into management.

[LAF]

He's a better leader on the field than off it.

[DavidMc]

Brewster keen on Inverness job

Craig Brewster would relish the chance of a return to management with his former club, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, BBC Sport understands.
Former Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock is the only candidate to so far publicly express an interest after Charlie Christie's resignation.

But 41-year-old Aberdeen striker Brewster emerged as an early favourite.

Inverness have yet to talk to potential candidates but hope to make an appointment by the weekend.

Indeed, the Caley Thistle board has decided to gauge the feelings of the Scottish Premier League club's supporters before making an appointment.

Directors will meet members of the club's supporters' trust on Wednesday evening to discuss head coach Christie's resignation on Monday citing the pressures of the job.

[DavidMc]

Hibs v Aberdeen
Saturday 25th August
Easter Road Stadium

Hibernian hope to have full-back Kevin McCann fit for the visit of Aberdeen after the youngster pulled out of the Scotland Under-21 squad in midweek.

Forward Dean Shiels should join him in the squad after returning from injury.

Aberdeen's Andrew Considine, Jamie Smith and Zander Diamond have recovered from knocks and should be available.

Craig Brewster could play despite being due to become Inverness manager on Monday. But Jeffrey de Visscher, Lee Mair and Richie Byrne are all out.



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Hibernian (from): Ma-Kalambay, McCann, Hogg, Jones, Murphy, Kerr, Beuzelin, Stevenson, O'Brien, Fletcher, Zemmama, McNeil, Benjelloun, Morais, Donaldson, Shiels, Joneleit, Gathuessi.

Aberdeen: Soutar, Hart, Diamond, Touzani, D Smith, Considine, McNamara, Severin, Nicholson, Clark, Foster, Young, J Smith, Maguire, Lovell, Mackie, Miller, Brewster.

[DavidMc]

Kilmarnock v Aberdeen
Saturday 1st September, Rugby Park
Scottish Premier League

David Fernandez and Ryan O'Leary are the latest injury doubts for Kilmarnock as they host Aberdeen in the SPL.
Gary Locke and Gary Wales remain doubtful, while Jamie Fowler, Danny Invincibile, Garry Hay, Craig Bryson and Eric Skora are all definitely out.

Aberdeen could give debuts to forwards Jonathan Smith and Sone Aluko, signed from Wigan and Birmingham respectively.

Lee Mair, Richie Byrne and Jeffrey de Visscher are out. Scott Severin, Chris Clark, Zander Diamond are doubtful.

Steven Naismith has joined Rangers and has played his last game for Jim Jefferies side.



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Kilmarnock (from): Combe, Wright, Murray, O'Leary, Lilley, Gibson, Jarvis, Johnston, Dodds, Nish, Koudou, Harpur, Fernandez, Flannigan, Locke, Wales, Jarvis.

Aberdeen (from): Soutar, Hart, Diamond, Touzani, Considine, McNamara, Severin, Nicholson, Clark, Foster, Young, Jamie Smith, Maguire, Lovell, Mackie, Miller, McVine, Jonathan Smith, Aluko.

[DavidMc]

Kilmarnock 0 -1 Aberdeen, 01/09/2007

Aberdeen secured victory courtesy of a Lee Miller header in a hard-fought encounter at Rugby Park.
Goalscoring opportunities were at a premium as both sides missed recently-departed strikers.

Kilmarnock struggled without Steven Naismith after his £2m move to Rangers, while Aberdeen were without Craig Brewster, who left to manage Inverness.

Miller scored the only goal of the game after 54 minutes when he headed home from Michael Hart's flick-on.



Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies was forced into four changes following Naismith's last-minute move to Rangers and injuries to Danny Invincible, Ryan O'Leary and Garry Hay.

Simon Ford, Willie Gibson, Gary Wales and David Lilley came in as the Ayrshire side looked to continue their promising start to the season.



Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood, who has been linked with the vacant manager's post at Leicester, brought in Lee Miller and Steve Lovell up front after Craig Brewster returned to take charge of Inverness.

Calderwood handed Derek Young his first start since returning to the club and restored Richard Foster to the line-up.

Dons skipper Scott Severin and Zander Diamond were ruled out with Achilles injuries and Darren Mackie was on the bench.

Rhian Dodds had the first effort on goal after half an hour when his shot from the edge of the area scraped Soutar's crossbar and flew over.

The home fans claimed for a penalty when McNamara tangled with Nish after Allan Johnston's deep cross, but the referee waved away the appeals.

Lovell spurned a great chance just before half-time when he headed wide from 10 yards after a great cross from McNamara.

The visitors looked more threatening in the second half and took the lead in 54 minutes.

Jamie Smith's corner was headed on by Michael Hart and Miller made no mistake from 12 yards.

Kilmarnock pressed for an equaliser but clearly missed the creativity and goalscoring touch of Naismith.






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Kilmarnock: Combe, Murray, Wright, Lilley, Ford, Johnston, Wales (Koudou 88), Dodds, Gibson, Jarvis (Fernandez 61), Nish. Subs Not Used: Harpur, Locke, Hamill, Clancy, Flannigan.

Booked: Wright.

Aberdeen: Soutar, Hart, Foster, McNamara, Considine, Clark, Nicholson, Jamie Smith, Young (Mackie 71), Miller, Lovell (Touzani 90). Subs Not Used: Langfield, Maguire, Jonathan Smith, Aluko, McVitie.

Goals: Miller 54.

Att: 5,814

Ref: S Finnie

[DavidMc]

Aberdeen v Motherwell
Scottish Premier League
Saturday 15th September 2007
Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Kick-Off 15:00

Aberdeen skipper Scott Severin and defender Zander Diamond have recovered from injuries and will return to action at the weekend.
But Lee Mair remains sidelined and fellow defender Andrew Considine is a doubt with a flu-like bug.

Motherwell have a full squad to choose from for the trip to Pittodrie.

On-loan Crystal Palace striker Lewis Grabban will be pushing for a place after making his debut in the closing stages of the 2-0 loss to Hearts.

Aberdeen squad: Soutar, Hart, Diamond, Touzani, Considine, McNamara, Severin, Nicholson, Clark, Foster, Young, Jamie Smith, Maguire, Lovell, Mackie, Miller, Jonathan Smith, Langfield.

Motherwell squad: G Smith, Quinn, Paterson, Reynolds, Craigan, Lasley, O'Donnell, Fitzpatrick, McGarry, Porter, Clarkson, McCormack, Meldrum, McLean, Corrigan, D Smith, Molloy, Murphy, Grabban, Hughes, Mensing.

[DavidMc]

Rangers v Aberdeen
Scottish Premeir League
Sunday 23rd September 2007
Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow