Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Council and Dons historians fall out after stoppage time demands over Aberdeen FC plaque

Chris Gavin secretary, Jock Gardiner, Stewart Eaton and Allan McKimmie at the plaque. Picture by Kami Thomson / DC Thomson
Chris Gavin secretary, Jock Gardiner, Stewart Eaton and Allan McKimmie at the plaque. Picture by Kami Thomson / DC Thomson

Aberdeen City Council has severed ties with Dons historians over a commemorative plaque bearing the group’s name.

The local authority’s city growth and resources committee approved plans for the plaque at The Chanonry in February.

It marks the home ground of The Reds from 1888 to 1898 and forms part of a trail linking historic club sites.

In June, beaming Dons historians fixed the marker to a wall just beyond the gate to Cruickshank Botanic Gardens.

Dons heritage trust member Stewart Eaton at the plaque. Picture by Kami Thomson / DC Thomson

But that followed behind-the-scenes discussions about the inclusion of the “AFC Heritage” name at the bottom of it.

It was said to constitute “sponsorship”, which is a strict red card offence…

The historians say these talks culminated with a “last minute” U-turn from the local authority, “objecting to its inclusion”.

With plans in place, they opted to “push ahead” anyway.

What is the Aberdeen FC plaque row all about?

Now the local authority is claiming that the group committed a foul in doing so.

In a letter sent to members of the committee, council plaque bosses explain that the “AFC Heritage” engraving on the caste aluminium reminder of the past should have been disallowed.

Aberdeen FC Heritage Trust’s Stewart Eaton says council officers changed their mind at the last minute. Picture by Kami Thomson / DC Thomson

The message states: “The council’s scheme does not allow any notice of sponsorship to appear on the plaque, in the interests of keeping the scheme consistent and clearly identifiable.

“As the nominating body, AFC Heritage wished to acknowledge their sponsorship of the plaque with ‘AFC Heritage’ added to the bottom edge of the plaque, in keeping with other plaques they have erected independently.”

Watch as the plaque is installed:

They think it’s all over… It is now!

The crucial difference is that the group’s other plaques on display at Correction Wynd and Pittodrie were installed without council involvement, and therefore did not need to adhere to these rules.

After their latest tribute being declared offside, AFC Heritage “have withdrawn from the official Aberdeen City Council commemorative plaque scheme”.

As for the Chanonry memento, the council says this means it “has no further responsibility for its promotion or upkeep”.

The words “AFC Heritage” are the source of the Aberdeen FC plaque row. Picture by Kami Thomson / DC Thomson

The Trust’s Stewart Eaton said the council had already approved plans for similar plaques – complete with the “AFC Heritage” design – elsewhere.

He told us: “We followed the same process for the Chanonry plaque and, again, the council approved the design.

“However, at the last minute, the council changed their minds and objected to the inclusion of AFC Heritage at the bottom of the plaque.

“Because we had already installed two plaques with AFC Heritage at the bottom, we decided to push ahead with the consistent design.”

Sign Express installer George Hamilton fixing up the plaque. Picture by Kami Thomson / DC Thomson

Who do you think is in the right? Let us know in our comments section below


Mr Eaton also showed the P&J previous correspondence between his group and the council’s planning department which showed the “AFC Heritage” slogan being given the go-ahead.

During discussions in 2018, he explained that “AFC Heritage ” was not intended to advertise the group – but rather denote the theme of the plaque.

The messages show he was told that would be “absolutely fine”.

Read more here about how The Chanonry was once home to the top football venue in Aberdeen. 

Conversation