It was a fantastic surprise to learn some of Aberdeen’s unsung heroes will finally receive European Cup Winners’ Cup winner’s medals as part of the Gothenburg 40th anniversary celebrations.
It has taken great, collaborative work by people at the club like chairman Dave Cormack, the likes of Chris Gavin at the Aberdeen FC Heritage Trust, and Duncan Fraser – the former Dons chief executive who is now involved with Uefa – to organise the much-deserved gesture.
They have arranged for the six new medals to be made and awarded at Pittodrie on May 12, at an event where the Gothenburg Greats and the Dons will also receive the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen from the council.
The medals belatedly mark the contribution of some of the people who had a big hand in our first European trophy success, which culminated with the 2-1 extra-time victory against giants Real Madrid in Sweden on May 11 1983.
Many of the Gothenburg players, myself included, weren’t aware this effort to secure these additional medals was going on, so it was a fantastic surprise to find out about what is a magnificent gesture by both Aberdeen and the European governing body.
Nowadays, when you watch a European final, and it gets to the presentation at the end of the game, there seems to be a pile of 30 or more medals, and everyone involved in winning the trophy gets one.
However, back in the day, the way they did it was the players involved in the final victory – the starting XI and the subs – received winner’s medals, but those in the wider squad, as well as the coaching and club staff, did not.
It was pretty unfair.
But, although it has taken 40 years, this wrong will soon be righted.
Recognition for those who deserve it
All of the people who will receive the six new medals thoroughly deserve the recognition.
Of course, the part played by the manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and assistant manager Archie Knox in claiming Aberdeen’s first European trophy was obviously huge and has never gone unnoticed.
So, too, was the part played by Dougie Bell – who was cruelly robbed of playing in the final due to injury, but had been the star of the show during the semi-final success against Belgian side Waterschei.
🏅 As part of the celebrations planned for May, Aberdeen FC and @AFCHeritage Trust can reveal that thanks to some tireless work behind the scenes, UEFA have kindly supplied additional European Cup Winners’ Cup medals for those who did not receive one at the Final.
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) April 3, 2023
The other three medals will go to the family of chairman Dick and son Ian Donald, vice-chairman Chris Anderson and Teddy Scott – who was one of the most important figures in the club’s history.
It is particularly poignant to see Dick, Chris and Teddy, who are all no longer with us, receiving this long-overdue mark of the part they played in getting the club to a point where we could beat world football heavyweights like Madrid and bring the European Cup Winners’ Cup back to the Granite City.
They were the behind-the-scenes people who kept the Pittodrie engine running, particularly Teddy, who was just about at the club 24 hours a day carrying out his endless list of vital duties, and served as a player, trainer, coach and kit man over his half-a-century with the Dons.
It will only make the weekend of Gothenburg 40th anniversary celebrations from May 11 to May 14 more special knowing this terrific gesture is part of it.
Game in Perth wasn’t prettiest – but another away win and step closer to third is the headline news for Aberdeen
Aberdeen’s 1-0 win at St Johnstone on Saturday wasn’t the prettiest – but the headline was it was a clean sheet and three points on the road which narrowed the gap on third-placed Hearts to just one point.
It was also yet more evidence, under Barry Robson, the Dons have finally put their away game problems to bed, with Robson now having as many Premiership away wins in his short spell in charge than axed manager Jim Goodwin managed in 18 attempts.
However, while the result – and Kelle Roos’ superb goalkeeping display to secure it in the latter stages – were a big tick in the box, other positives from the performance were harder to find.
With St Johnstone going down to 10 men within the first 10 minutes, I’d have expected Aberdeen and their on-form attackers to have more shots on goal and chances to establish a comfortable lead.
Although Angus MacDonald’s first Dons goal put the visitors in front, Saints generally coped extremely well with being a man down and were probably unfortunate to not get a point for their efforts late on.
As I said, they had three gilt-edged chances to level things and might have done – but for Roos.
Ultimately, you can’t always play at the top of your game, and it is simultaneously encouraging to see Aberdeen also being able to win ugly – with the team having won in sparkling fashion in their previous outing against Hearts at Pittodrie.
The Jambos’ 2-1 loss against Kilmarnock on Saturday was yet more evidence the Edinburgh side’s campaign is stuttering and the pressure on them to hold on to third is getting to them.
Robson’s resurgent Reds look to have all of the momentum to overtake them, which would be a very special statement given where Aberdeen were just a few short weeks ago.
The Premiership post-split meeting between the sides at Tynecastle is likely to be a massive one, that’s for sure.
Shame to see Andy Considine walk on his birthday
I felt a touch sorry for Andy Considine, who was sent off early against his former club Aberdeen on Saturday on what was his 36th birthday.
Defending is still an art, and Andy moved out of position and allowed himself to get in a situation where he was exposed to the run in behind from Dons striker Bojan Miovski.
Once the forward is beyond you like that, you’ve got a big problem.
Although there wasn’t too much contact between Andy and Miovski just outside the penalty area, I do feel it was strong enough to warrant the foul and sending off, given the strong likelihood the striker was about to latch on to Graeme Shinnie’s pass and score.
I imagine the mistake put a bit of a dampener on Andy’s birthday, but he’s an experienced professional – and, of course, a club legend with the Dons, having made more than 500 appearances.
He is long enough in the tooth to be able to take the emotion out of it and know he has made an error.
Of course, Aberdeen skipper Shinnie was also dismissed late in the victory for two bookings.
His second yellow, for a foul on Drey Wright, was one of those types of tackles they are trying to stamp out in the modern game – so I understand why referee Colin Steven dismissed him.
Conversation