Dreams can come true sometimes. That is how Gothenburg Great Jim Leighton describes the night Aberdeen’s class of 1983 etched their name in the club’s history.
The hair may be thinner and greying for the greatest Dons team in the club’s 120-year history, but the sense of pride at what they achieved by beating Real Madrid in Gothenburg to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup will never dim.
Leighton believes the club’s passionate fanbase will ensure no matter where the squad went or what they accomplished afterwards, May 11 1983 is the night everyone wants to ask them about.
As memories go, it is one he believes he and his team-mates who created it will never tire of sharing.
He said: “It’s great because the supporters still hold us in esteem and look up to us all.
“We would never forget it anyway, but the supporters won’t allow us to.
“Everyone wants to talk about it all these years later and it’s not a hardship for us to talk about it.”
‘Real Madrid don’t lose European finals? Aye you do’
The passing years, and the incredible feats of Real Madrid, have served only to make what Aberdeen achieved even greater.
For former Dons goalkeeper Leighton, a whole new generation of players and fans believe Real Madrid are unbeatable in European finals.
He knows differently – and loves nothing more than pointing it out today.
He said: “I saw Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois being interviewed before Real beat Liverpool in May in the Champions League final, and he said: ‘Real Madrid don’t lose European finals’, and I sat there laughing thinking: ‘Aye you do, because I was there.”
Beating Bayern the defining moment of the glorious campaign
Aberdeen’s incredible victory led to the Dons being crowned kings of Europe.
But Leighton believes it was the quarter-final win against tournament favourites Bayern Munich which convinced the players they could go all the way.
Aberdeen, and Leighton, had come through the school of hard knocks in previous European campaigns on their way to the stunning 1982-83 success.
But it was finally beating a Bundesliga side which he believes turned the Dons into believers.
He said: “Fergie always said if we didn’t let the badge beat us, he believed we were better players and a better team.
“The badge was an obstacle for us to clear – the quarter-final was massive in teaching us that.
“We had a lot of lessons before that season, mainly from Liverpool, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Hamburg, where we kept losing by the odd goal or away goals.
“The Germans in particular taught us how to win a game without playing particularly well.
“The quality wasn’t quite what we wanted in the game (v Bayern), but we won in a typical German way by finding a way.”
Second leg a blur for Leighton
A goalless first leg was arguably Leighton’s finest moment in an Aberdeen goalkeeper jersey as he kept Bayern at bay.
It set up the 3-2 win in the home leg at Pittodrie.
Today, it is regarded as Pittodrie’s greatest-ever game. For Leighton, it is little more than a blur.
He said: “We were brilliant in the away leg in Munich, but didn’t play so well here, yet won 3-2 in a game everyone says was the best game they have ever seen at Pittodrie.
“We found a way to win the game that night, but the last 15 minutes were torture. I don’t remember anything about what happened so don’t ask me as I don’t know.
“Honestly, I’ve not got a clue. I’d need to watch it again to see what happened as I have no recollection of what happened.”
Final epitomised the mental strength of McLeish
The final, infamously, took place at a rain swept Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg. Had it not been a European final there’s a fair chance it would have been postponed.
But Leighton, with a wry smile, has a different take.
When asked whether the game should have been played, he laughed and said: “Aye, because we won.
“The pitch was perfectly playable.
“OK the ball the stopped every now and then, but it was perfectly playable. When it went off the pitch it stopped dead, but on the pitch it was fine.”
Leighton was only really called into action once in the final, and it was to concede a penalty after team-mate Alex McLeish’s passback stuck in the pool of water on its way to his goalkeeper.
The Dons had been leading prior to the spot-kick equaliser and McLeish was furious at himself for committing the cardinal sin he had warned against in the pre-match discussion in the changing room.
Leighton, however, regards the incident as a moment which epitomised the mental strength and character of his team-mate.
He said: “In any other circumstances the ball would have come straight back to me without a problem.
“It shows you the character and the strength of the guy that he never put a foot wrong the rest of the game.
“He didn’t let it affect him and not only that he made sure everyone around him was doing their job as well.
“Nobody ever questioned Alex’s determination – but if anyone ever did, that is the perfect example.”
Penalties would have been an injustice on the Dons
It took until extra-time before John Hewitt wrote his name in the club’s history by heading home the winning goal.
Leighton believes the Spaniards wanted spot-kicks and feels a sense of relief and pride that he and his team-mates denied them.
He said: “We deserved to win it whether, it was in 90 minutes or 120. It would have been harsh looking back now to win it on penalties, because of how well we played.
“We deserved to beat them. It wouldn’t have been a hollow win, but it wouldn’t have been as good had it been on penalty kicks.
“We were playing Real Madrid and we wanted to beat them.”
With Hewitt’s header, a dream became a reality. A fairytale finish for a team which would go on to beat Hamburg to lift the European Super Cup a few months later.
For Leighton, 40 years later it remains as amazing as it was inconceivable.
He said: “How would you ever dream, as good as that team was, that you would beat Real Madrid in a European final?
“It’s not something you would ever contemplate, but dreams can come true sometimes.”
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