Hampden beckons for Aberdeen.
It is a phrase we have been used to saying for the last decade or so, but by recent standards Sunday’s League Cup semi-final against Rangers doubles as the end of a National Stadium drought for the Dons.
You have to go back to November 2020 for the last appearance from an Aberdeen team at Hampden and even then it should come with a huge asterisk next to it.
The 2-0 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic came seven months after it was due to take place due to the Covid outbreak – and it was played in front of the sum total of zero fans.
Those were dark days for sport indeed, but little did we realise it would be a three-year wait for the Dons to get back there.
All change since Aberdeen’s last visit to the National Stadium
So much has changed since the last Hampden appearance, too, beginning with the manager.
We’re on the third different person to hold the position since then with the role changing hands quicker than a Doctor Who regeneration since Derek McInnes left the club in March 2021.
Dispersing with the man who had been at the helm for eight years was the first big call from Dave Cormack since assuming the role of chairman.
He knew it was a big call to make given McInnes’ impressive knack of getting the team to Hampden on a regular basis, on top of regular qualification for Europe.
But the change was one the chairman felt needed to be made.
Speaking after McInnes’ departure in March 2021, he said: “Some of the criticism from some of the media pundits and ex-players, criticism of me and of our fans of expecting too much, there’s a lot I’d like to say, but I will hold my tongue and rise above it.
“But what I will say is this: is it wrong of Aberdeen fans to want more than one trophy in 26 years?”
Cormack was alluding to the League Cup win in 2014, which in itself ended a 19-year wait for silverware for the club.
That nine years have passed since the day known as ParkRed will not have skipped the chairman’s attention.
Can Goodwin deliver a final appearance in his first full season in charge?
A change of approach led to Stephen Glass being appointed, but his tenure was brief. A struggle in the league on top of an early League Cup exit at Raith Rovers last season piled on the pressure with the Scottish Cup loss at Motherwell in the fifth round sounding the end of his time in charge.
Step forward Jim Goodwin, who will be celebrate his 12-month anniversary in charge next month.
The Dons remain a work in progress for the former St Mirren manager, who took his former club to Hampden in both the League Cup and Scottish Cup semi-finals in the 2020/21 season, only to suffer defeat to Livingston and St Johnstone respectively.
Goodwin can at least point to having taking the Dons back to the National Stadium at the first attempt.
Striker call is the manager’s big decision
Rangers stand in Aberdeen’s way for a place in the final.
The last time that happened Lewis Ferguson rose highest to score the only goal of the game with a bullet header in 2018.
The Dons did so by defending well and taking their chance when it came – the same basics need to happen this weekend.
With that in mind, Goodwin has one significant call to make.
Push Duk, who has four goals in his last eight matches, up top in favour of leading goalscorer Bojan Miovksi, or stick with the North Macedonian international to make his mark on the big occasion?
It would be a big call in any game, but with a place in the final at stake it would be massive.
It’s a big decision and one which Goodwin will be scrutinised for taking – or not – if the outcome does not go his side’s way this weekend.
That’s the nature of football and the Aberdeen manager knows it. Your choices are only deemed to have been good ones if the outcome goes your way.
But being able to make those decisions are why Cormack brought Goodwin to Pittodrie: to make big calls in big games in the hope of winning big prizes.
For Aberdeen fans, they do not come much bigger than beating their bitter rivals to reach a cup final.