Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack believes manager Jimmy Thelin is the man to bring stability back to the club.
An erratic campaign for the Dons will come to an end on Saturday when Thelin leads his side back to Hampden for the third time this season in the Scottish Cup final.
Having also guided the club to a fifth-place finish in the Scottish Premiership, Dons fans can look forward to a return to Europe next season.
Thelin’s first season in Scottish football has been eventful to say the least but chairman Cormack expects his manager to be here for the long haul.
Cormack said: “We’ve been through too many managerial changes in this recent period.
“But what we’re looking for with Jimmy is a longer-term plan and stability at the club.
“He’s going to need a couple of years to get the squad in the shape that overall, we want to get it with the players that can fit the system the club has adopted.”
Competition has become fierce in the Premiership
Cormack’s craving for a settled period for the club comes as competition grows greater with each passing season.
The rise of the Edinburgh clubs and Dundee United’s return to the top flight has added depth in the Premiership – but the chairman welcomes the challenge.
He said: “The thing we need to remember is the Scottish league is really competitive.
“You’ve got an outlier in Celtic, with the strength of what they’ve done, and you have to credit them for what they’ve done financially to be able to be in the position they’re in.
“But if you take a look 10 years ago versus now it has changed significantly. Ten years ago, Hearts and Hibs were relegated.
“Dundee United were gone for five years, Rangers were coming back up the leagues.
“But where we are today there’s significant competition. Hearts and Hibs in particular are very well funded but bring it on.
“That’s healthy, I think, for Scottish football.”
‘We want to be winning trophies’
Saturday’s visit to the national stadium will be Aberdeen’s third of the season and their sixth meeting with Celtic in the campaign.
The Hoops ended the Dons’ League Cup hopes in devastating fashion as they inflicted a 6-0 defeat on Thelin’s side in the semi-final in November.
Brendan Rodgers’ side also ended Aberdeen’s hopes of reaching the final of the Scottish Cup last season by edging out the Dons in a penalty shootout following a six-goal thriller of a semi-final.
Cormack is delighted to see the players shake off those disappointments to return for another shot at glory.
The Dons chairman said: “We’ve been to the last four semi-finals of the cup competitions at Hampden, which is great to see.
“We want to be there on a regular basis, it’s really as simple as that, but we want to be winning trophies.
“Last year’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic was heartbreaking to lose on penalties.
“It’s a bit of a lottery, but we put up a tremendous performance and much of that was down to Peter Leven who is still with us.
“Clearly, the gulf from 1990, which was before the Bosman ruling, and before the money really struck in Europe, meant these games were really competitive.
“But look, at the end of the day, it’s about doing our utmost to make sure we can be as competitive as possible.”
Cormack calls for equal allocation of tickets for future finals
Thelin and his players will be backed by more than 20,000 fans after the Dons agreed to cover the costs of any unsold tickets to ensure the maximum number of supporters could attend the game.
Having originally been offered just 16,800 tickets, Cormack and chief executive Alan Burrows were determined to fight for an equal allocation for the final.
For Cormack, the sight of the entire allocation being sold out on the first day of sale was vindication for the club’s stance, and also cemented his belief all future finals should be a 50-50 split.
The chairman said: “Alan and I recommended to the board to push for a 50-50 split.
“Alan and I wanted to see the lower bowl at Hampden split 50-50 so the players can see that when they walk out the tunnel at Hampden.
“The idea of taking a few thousand less, really just wasn’t palatable for us so that’s why the offer we made to the SFA was an easy decision to make.
“We sold 17,000 tickets for the League Cup final against Rangers in December last season in one day.
“So, you look at a summer cup final and there really was no second guessing where we were going to go.
“The reality is, is that every team should be allowed to sell half the stadium.
“Give them some time, give them a week to demonstrate it can be done. That would be my recommendation to the SFA and to the SPFL for the cup competitions.”
Dons chairman dares to dream of cup glory
The tickets have been sold, the league campaign has been completed, and the final is almost upon the club.
The final hurdle is the hardest, bringing the Scottish Cup back to the Granite City for the first time in 35 years.
Cormack knows the size of the task facing his club. But he also knows what it what mean to the fans, the club and the city.
He is the chairman, but Cormack remains a passionate Dons fan, first and foremost.
It’s for that reason he shares in the optimism, and nervous excitement, the Red Army will be feeling on the eve of the big game.
Cormack said: “Alan (Burrows) manages all the stuff with the team as chief executive but when that game starts it really doesn’t matter where you are.
“In many ways I’d like to be in with the ultras just like I was at the Beach End back in the day.
“It’s probably for the best there wasn’t social media back then.
“For me, once that game starts, there’ll be a lot of emotions. I would say nervous but excited.
“I think for the city and for Aberdeen fans everywhere, it’s always a proud moment to play in a Scottish Cup final.
“We’ve been there many times over the years, but it has been a while since we’ve won a final.
“Hopefully 2025 is our year. Back in 1970, we faced a very, very strong Celtic side who were going for the European Cup and we beat them 3-1.
“It’s all to play for.”
Hampden trip will be a family affair
He splits his time between Atlanta and Aberdeen, but Cormack will lead the US delegation of the family to Mount Florida on Saturday for the game.
They will be joined in Glasgow by the Granite City branch in cheering on the Dons in their first Scottish Cup final in eight years.
He said: “Most of the family will be in Aberdeen. Fiona, my wife, and I are the only ones that left.
“All our brothers and sisters, our nieces, nephews and now their kids, and our 95-year-old mum are all in Aberdeen.
“But our son, daughter and their family are coming over with us for the final.
“It’s always a fantastic occasion for Aberdeen to play in a Scottish Cup final and generally in May the weather is better than it is in December for the League Cup final.
“I think it will certainly be a family affair for us as we’re all Dons fans.
Fans buying in
Cormack, like every Dons fan, is hoping for a happy ending to a rollercoaster campaign.
But looking longer term, the chairman is confident the future is bright for his club.
Pittodrie has been sold-out several times this season, attendance for home games is healthy, and the average age of supporters coming along is getting younger.
That’s why, regardless of the outcome of the final this weekend, Cormack is delighted to see the growing affinity between the fanbase and the club on and off the pitch.
The Dons chairman said: “One of the things that we have worked on since I got back involved with the club, which will be eight years ago next month, was spending a considerable amount of time working with the marketing team at Pittodrie.
“Credit to them, we managed to come up with a plan aimed at building affinity within the city.
“We’ve increased season tickets and crowds overall. I think, based on earlier seasons, taking Covid out of the way, we’re up about 30-35% on attendances.
“I’m told in Aberdeen you rarely now see Celtic and Rangers tops at schools and when kids are playing it’s all Aberdeen tops, which is something we set out to achieve early on.
“On top of that, there is better fan engagement and an improved fan experience at Pittodrie.
“Look at the displays and the things (supporter experience manager) Stephen McCormick is doing. All of that was a plan.
“Now, of course, in order for that plan to be fulfilled, we’ve got to be performing on the field.”
‘Once you get the kids you get them for life’
The sight of big home crowds on a regular basis is what Cormack takes arguably the most pride in seeing.
The next generation is coming along, and more importantly coming back, to Pittodrie to watch the Dons.
For Cormack, continuing that trajectory is vital for the club.
He said: “Once you get the kids you get them for life. That has been our drive.
“The team at Pittodrie has been really driving at building that affinity with supporters, in particular, the younger people.
“The under-12 initiative, our DNA free initiative, where kids can come into Pittodrie, walk through the front door, go to the changing rooms, go to the media room, and sign for the Dons, is fantastic.
“Can you imagine? As a seven-year-old kid, being able to do that would have been unbelievable.
“I think the first time I was in the Main Stand, well, other than playing in the Schools Cup final in 1975, where we beat Kincorth, where my wife went to school, was at the age of 41.
“We’ve now got 12,000, mainly primary school kids, as members of the club. We’ve got programmes now for them once they become teenagers, things like the Red Shed, to gravitate to.
“In addition we’ve made pricing for the under-18s very reasonable, and it has led to larger crowds coming, 17,500 to 18,000 on average this season.
“But the average age of people coming has gone down from 40 to 35.
“It’s not that us old farts have stopped going, it’s because the younger generation have come through.”
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