Aberdeen F.C. Totally Explained

Everything about Aberdeen F C totally explained

Stewart Milne | manager = Jimmy Calderwood | league = Scottish Premier League | season = 2007–08 | position = Scottish Premier League, 4th | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1= | leftarm1=FF0000|body1=FF0000|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=FF0000|socks1=FF0000 | pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2= | leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF }} Aberdeen Football Club (also known as The Dons, The Reds and The Dandies) are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen. They compete in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the most successful teams in their country, having won four league titles and seven Scottish Cups. They are also the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies, both in the same year.
   Formed in 1903 as a result of the amalgamation of three clubs from Aberdeen, they rarely challenged for honours until the 1950s, when they won each of the major Scottish trophies under manager Dave Halliday. This level of success was surpassed in the 1980s, when, under the management of Alex Ferguson, they won three league titles, four Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup, alongside the European honours. Aberdeen were the last club outside of the Old Firm to win a league title, in 1984–85.
   Aberdeen have played at Pittodrie Stadium since their inception. The ground currently has a capacity of 22,199 and was the first all-seated and all-covered stadium in the United Kingdom. Pittodrie was also the first football stadium to feature a dugout, an invention of player and coach Donald Colman. The club's colours have been primarily red and white since 1939; before this, they played in black and gold vertical stripes.
   Aberdeen attract support from the city and surrounding areas, as they're the only senior team within a wide area. Aberdeen have no geographically close rivals; their nearest neighbours at the same level are in the city of Dundee, with Dundee United having been their principal rivals in the New Firm in the 1980s. Rangers supplanted Dundee United as rivals in the late 1980s, but the rivalry, while fierce, doesn't approach that of the Old Firm.

History

Formation and early struggle (1903–1939) The current Aberdeen F.C. was formed following the merger of three city clubs; Aberdeen, Victoria United and Orion in 1903. The new club played its first match on August 15, 1903, a 1–1 draw with Stenhousemuir. From 1906, the club made steady progress, with a Scottish Cup semi-final appearance in 1908 and another in 1911. Philip retired a year later, and was replaced as manager by Paddy Travers. Travers left to become manager of Clyde in 1939, and was replaced by Dave Halliday. Although he'd signed inside forward George Hamilton, Halliday had barely begun his work when the Second World War halted competitive football in the United Kingdom.

Steady rise (1945–1978)

Inspired by Halliday, Aberdeen, now playing in red, reached the 1946–47 Scottish Cup final, defeating Hibernian 2–1 with Hamilton scoring to gain the club's first major trophy.
   Halliday left at the end of that championship-winning season, to be replaced by Davie Shaw. Aberdeen won the League Cup under his guidance, beating St Mirren in 1955–56, and reached another Scottish Cup final in 1959.
   The Aberdeen side of the 1970s regularly challenged for domestic honours. However, they rarely won trophies, with the exception of the League Cup in 1976, under Ally MacLeod. During this decade, Aberdeen had five managers, Eddie Turnbull, Jimmy Bonthrone, Ally MacLeod, Billy McNeill and Alex Ferguson. The club 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. The low point of the club's history came in the 1999–2000 season, when they finished last in the Premier division. As the SPL was being expanded to 12 teams, there was then a three team play-off. However, as Falkirk's stadium didn't meet SPL requirements, Aberdeen retained their status in the top flight. a policy of trying to live within their means has meant that the club hasn't approached the heights of the 1980s.
   Aberdeen signed new co–managers in 1989, pairing Alex Smith and Jocky Scott. In the 1990–91 they lost the last game of the season, and the league title, to Rangers. Willie Miller took over in 1992 and presided over two seasons where Rangers were run close. However, he was sacked in 1995 after a bad season, and the club had to rely on a play-off victory over Dunfermline Athletic to retain their Premier League status. Aberdeen replaced him with Roy Aitken. Despite a League Cup win against Dundee in 1995–96, the club continued to struggle.
   Aberdeen's first non-Scottish manager, Ebbe Skovdahl, was appointed in 1999, and his time in charge coincided with some of the heaviest defeats in the club's history. His replacement, Steve Paterson, lasted only two seasons. Jimmy Calderwood took over in 2004, and Aberdeen have since posted more consistent results than in previous seasons. In season 2006–07, the club finished in third place in the league and thus qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. In this cup the next season, Aberdeen defeated Dnipro on the away goals rule in the UEFA Cup, the first time the club had won on the away goals rule in 40 years of European football. They went on to beat FC København 4–0, which was the biggest margin of victory and one of Pittodrie's biggest crowds since the 80s. This set up a meeting with German club Bayern München, which they lost 7–3 on aggregate.

Colours and crest

For the first season of the club's existence, the team played in a predominantly white strip. This is variously reported as all-white, or as white shirts with blue shorts and socks. This colour scheme was the direct descendant of the colours worn by the precursor Aberdeen club, but lasted only one season before being replaced. This arrangement has continued to the present day, with several variations in design, in common with most senior clubs as the replica shirt market has expanded. In the late 1970s an Admiral strip featured five vertical white stripes on the left side of the shirt and shorts, and the early 1980s shirts—as worn at the 1983 European Cup Winners Cup final—featured white vertical pinstripes. Later design changes included significant amounts of blue, Aberdeen this season have announced their intention to move away from local sponsorship, currently sponsored by Apex Tubulars, this deal will end this season and not be renewed.
Change, or "away", strips have tended to be either white, often with black shorts, or a combination of yellow and black, referring back to the black and gold strips of the pre-war era, although for a time in the 1970s, Aberdeen sported an all-blue change strip with white socks. the club unveiled an official crest or logo, designed by Aberdonian graphic designer Donald Addison. The design represented a capital letter A as the side view of a football goal, with a ball forming the crossbar of the letter. This ball was crosshatched in such a way as to depict it as being inside the net, signifying the scoring of a goal. The logo was completed by the letters FC in smaller type at a level with the ball element.

Stadium

Aberdeen have played at Pittodrie Stadium, the name of which comes from the Pictish for "place of manure", throughout their existence. The ground was first used by the original Aberdeen F.C. in 1899, in a 7–1 win over Dumbarton; when they merged with two other teams in 1903, the new club took over the old Aberdeen ground. On August 15 1903, 8,000 spectators turned up to watch the new Aberdeen draw 1-1 against Stenhousemuir, the first game played at Pittodrie by its amalgamated tenants. The record attendance occurred on March 13 1954, when 45,061 spectators turned up for a Scottish Cup match between Aberdeen and Hearts. In 1978, Pittodrie became the first all covered, all-seater stadium in Britain.
The club are exmaining a move to a New Aberdeen Stadium.

Supporters and nicknames

Aberdeen's supporters, known as the Red Army are listed in the team squad list as wearing the number 12 shirt—a reference to the supporters being the "12th man". In 1999, a group of supporters founded the Red Ultras supporters club with the express aim of improving the atmosphere at Pittodrie. The club's supporters had a reputation as being undemonstrative, even during the periods of success: Alex Ferguson having once remarked that
The group have organised coordinated displays and enormous flags and banners, particularly in the Richard Donald stand at home games, but also on occasion at away games. The group share a name with many Ultras groups elsewhere in the world, but disassociate themselves from any elements of hooliganism.
   Aberdeen are the only senior team in the third largest city in Scotland—a city which is relatively remote, geographically, from other large population centres—and as a result have a large catchment area of potential supporters. However, attendances in recent years have not reflected this situation, with the club having the fifth largest average attendance in the SPL in 2006–07, with 11,980. Important games still see Pittodrie sold out.
   In the 1980s, a minority of the club's supporters had a reputation as one of Britain's most prominent casuals groups. The rise of the Aberdeen Casuals coincided with the most successful period in the club's history, and has been chronicled in more than one published account.
   Aberdeen have rarely played in the same division as their geographically closest rivals: Peterhead, Brechin, Montrose, Arbroath and Forfar, so rivalries have tended to come from further afield. In the early 1980s, owing to the success both domestically and in Europe of Aberdeen and Dundee United, the pair were known as the New Firm; however, Dundee United have their city neighbours Dundee as close rivals, and the antagonism wasn't always reciprocated to the same degree. The same situation applies to Aberdeen's rivalry with Rangers, in that Rangers have their own much older and well-known rivalry with Celtic, but there's a genuinely strong antagonistic feeling between both sets of supporters, and there have been a number of incidents arising from this.
   Aberdeen are known as "The Dons", a name that has been in use since at least 1913. The story that the nickname arose from the involvement of schoolmasters in the foundation of the club has no documented source, and it seems much more likely that the name is a contraction of Aberdonians, the correct term for people from Aberdeen. Before the popular adoption of "The Dons", the team were variously known as "The Wasps" or "The Black and Golds"; both names a reference to the yellow and black striped shirts of the time.

Players

Current squad

As of 23 May 2008.
Players out on loan � For recent transfers, see List of Scottish football transfers 2007-08.

Notable players

AFC Hall of Fame

Aberdeen inaugurated the Hall of Fame following the club's centenary celebrations in 2003. At the launch, it was claimed that over a five-year period, around 50 players and staff would be inducted. However, as of November 2007, the following initial inductees are still the only ones listed on the official website as members:

Managers

List of full-time managers, as of March 31 2008. Only competitive matches are counted. Caretaker managers are not listed.

From	To	W	D	L	Win%
1903	1924	221	172	251	34.32%
1986	1986	7	5	3	46.67%
1997	1998	11	13	19	25.58%
1999	2002	54	37	68	33.96%
2002	2004	23	13	32	33.82%
2004	present	73	46	56	41.71%

Honours

Scottish League Premier division:

Champions (4): 1954–55; 1979–80; 1983–84; 1984–85
Runners–up (12): 1936–37; 1955–56; 1970–71; 1971–72; 1977–78; 1980–81; 1981–82; 1988–89; 1989–90; 1990–91; 1992–93; 1993–94

Scottish Cup:

Winners (7): 1946–47; 1969–70; 1981–82; 1982–83; 1983–84; 1985–86; 1989–90
Runners–up (8): 1936–37; 1952–53; 1953–54; 1958–59; 1966–67; 1977–78; 1992–93; 1999–2000

Scottish League Cup:

Winners (5): 1955–56; 1976–77; 1985–86; 1989–90; 1995–96
Runners–up (7): 1946–47; 1978–79; 1979–80; 1987–88; 1988–89; 1992–93; 1999–00

European Cup Winners Cup:

Champions (1): 1982–83

European Super Cup:

Champions (1) : 1983

Further Information

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