Outrage is growing within Aberdeen City Council over plans to give the Dons the freedom of the city rather than NHS Grampian.
A councillor within the administration says there is a divide within the chambers over which organisation should be given the keys to the city.
The city’s Liberal Democrat group called for health service heroes to be granted the highest civic honour last year in recognition of their “work and commitment and exceptional performance” during the Covid pandemic.
That bid was backed by the SNP group, meaning both parties currently in power supported the move.
But the campaign fell by the wayside as virus variations continued to rage in the city throughout last year.
Supportive councillors were then stunned this week by a proposal to give it instead to Aberdeen FC on the 40th anniversary of the team’s greatest victory in Gothenburg.
“We don’t want to be seen as slighting the football club – it’s not about that,” said the administration councillor, who asked not to be named.
“It’s just a matter of priorities.”
What are the competing arguments?
Lib Dem group leader – and now council co-leader – Ian Yuill’s motion to give the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen to NHS Grampian floundered for months, one councillor short of the majority needed to take it to a vote.
In January last year, he said: “This should unite the council and the city in recognising the exceptional commitment and dedication of NHS Grampian, its staff and volunteers during the pandemic.”
The SNP’s Alex Nicoll, who now shares leading duties with Mr Yuill, said at the time: “These folk have done an absolutely fantastic job and the least the city can do is recognise them for all their hard work.
“They have gone above and beyond, putting themselves in danger every single day working very, very hard for all our benefit.”
Leading the calls for the Dons to get the honour, Conservative group leader Ryan Houghton said this week: “With the 40th year anniversary of Gothenburg approaching, along with the club’s 120th anniversary, it seems only fitting that Aberdeen football club is awarded this civic honour.”
What’s stopping both AFC and the NHS getting it?
The unnamed administration councillor said convention dictates the freedom of the city is a rare honour, typically awarded only once every council term – if that.
It has been granted just four times since the turn of the millennium: to MRI pioneer John Rowland Mallard in 2004; to the Highlanders, 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006; to comic trio Scotland the What? in 2008 and to footballer Denis Law in 2017.
The last time more than one honour was given out on a single day was in June 1966, when medical couple Sir Dugald and Lady May Baird received the freedom alongside former secretary of state for Scotland Thomas Galbraith.
The councillor said: “People are particularly unhappy around the way [the Aberdeen FC plan] has ended up in the media, and feel they’ve had to sign up because of that.
“The football club now expect it to happen, and it’s almost like it’s a done deal.”
‘Unusual times’ could mean different approach
However, despite staying firmly in the camp of the NHS workers, Mr Yuill now thinks there is a way to compromise.
He said: “I believe it doesn’t have to be an either/or. There are no restrictions on how many times the freedom of the city can be awarded.
“We live in unusual times, and there is precedent for more than one freedom awarded in a council term.
“My view hasn’t changed, and I am now a member of the NHS Grampian board. It would be good if the council could recognise the organisation’s effort during the pandemic.”
Mr Houghton echoed the Lib Dem leader, saying there is “no reason” why the health worker proposal could not be considered to the one for the football club as “we are not restricted to one or the other”.
He added: “Legislation requires a two-thirds majority for freedom of the city to be granted, and I am positive that the case made for awarding Aberdeen FC is one people will welcome.”
Isn’t freedom of the city usually awarded to a person?
Most of the times the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen has been awarded in the past, it has gone to an individual who has had a major impact either locally or internationally.
But it is also not unusual for organisations to receive it.
It happened for the first time in 1949, when the recipient was the storied local regiment the Gordon Highlanders.
Since 1990, two other military units have been given the Freedom of the City: the HMS Scylla, which was built with funds contributed by Aberdonians during the Second World War, and the aforementioned Highlanders, 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
But perhaps the main conferral that sets a precedent for both NHS Grampian and Aberdeen FC was Aberdeen University, which was awarded the honour to mark its 500th anniversary in 1995.
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