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Aberdeen FC
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Aberdeen FC Information
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| Address: |
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Pittodrie Street, Aberdeen. AB24 5QH |
| Telephone: |
(01224)
650400 |
| Fax: |
(01224)
644173 |
| Founded: |
1903 |
| Stadium: |
Pittodrie Stadium |
| Website: |
www.afc.co.uk |
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Aberdeen FC History
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Aberdeen Football Club is a football
team from Scotland, who compete in the Scottish Premier League.
Formed in 1903 from the amalgamation of a number of clubs from
Aberdeen, they have been one of the top clubs in Scotland. Sir
Alex Ferguson was a highly successful manager of the team in the
1980s, guiding them to three league championships, and famously
to victory in the 1983 Cup Winners' Cup, defeating Real Madrid
in the final.
Aberdeen are the only Scottish team to have won more than one
European trophy. They play at Pittodrie, which has a capacity of
just under 22,000 and was the first all-seater stadium in the
UK.
Aberdeen Football Club are one of Scotland's most successful
football teams.
Origins of the club
The current Aberdeen FC was born out of the merger of three city
clubs; Aberdeen, Victoria United and Orion. A public meeting on
March 20, 1903 was attended by more than 1,600 citizens, and on
that date the amalgamation issue was discussed and given the
go-ahead. On April 14 that same year the merger was made
official and Aberdeen Football Club was born.
The merger allowed Aberdeen (wearing an all-white kit) to
seriously entertain thoughts of joining the Scottish football
league, but had to settle with spending its inaugural season in
the Northern League having narrowly failed to gain admission to
the First Division.
League football arrived in 1904-05 as Aberdeen were accepted to
the Second Division, and immediately changed kit colours to
black and gold. Despite finishing 7th in the league, Aberdeen
successfully applied to join the First Division for the 1905-06
season and embarked on what was to become an unbroken run of top
flight football.
Scottish Dominance
Aberdeen (adopting an all-red kit from the mid-1930s)
established themselves as a reasonably strong side in Scottish
football throughout the years, but struggled to attain trophy
success. That changed in 1947 when the club won its first
Scottish Cup with a 2-1 victory over Hibernian. The Scottish
League Championship was claimed in 1954-55 as the club emerged
as a credible threat to the Old Firm dominance of Scottish
football.
In 1967 Aberdeen competed in the United Soccer Association as
the Washington Whips.
The arrival of Alex Ferguson in 1978 from St. Mirren brought
about a complete change in the club's fortunes, and from 1978 to
1986 the Dons won three league championships, four Scottish
Cups, one League Cup, the European Cup Winner's Cup and the
European Super Cup. During those years, the Dons and Dundee
United broke the traditional dominance of the Old Firm in
Scotland, and the two clubs became known as the New Firm.
The departure of Ferguson to Manchester United in November of
1986 left the Dons board with the arduous task of replacing the
irreplaceable, and they inexplicably opted for little-known
coach Ian Porterfield. Porterfield's reign was nothing short of
disastrous and ended with his resignation in May 1988.
90 minutes from the title
Alex Smith & Jocky Scott formed a co-managership of the club to
replace Porterfield, and achieved a great Cup double in 1989-90
as they started to repair the damage done by the previous
manager. In the 1990-91 season a run of twelve victories in
thirteen games left Aberdeen sitting top of the table on goal
difference ahead of Rangers, going into the final match of the
season at Ibrox Park. A change of tactics (which eventually led
to Jocky Scott leaving the club) and a Mark Hateley double gave
the Championship to Rangers, and allowed them to continue on
their Championship run that saw them eventually lift nine
consecutive titles.
Into decline
Alex Smith floundered as manager in his own right, and was
eventually sacked in 1992. Club legend Willie Miller failed to
emulate his stunning playing success in the managerial hotseat,
and since then a variety of managers have come and gone.
Since the latter half of the 1990s the club has declined
somewhat, finding it harder to compete against the dominance of
Rangers and Celtic. The team has even come close to being
relegated out of the Premier on a few occasions, on one occasion
being saved from a relegation playoff only because of the fact
that the winner of the Division One was unable to fulfil ground
safety requirements and was therefore barred from promotion.
Their current manager Jimmy Calderwood is hoping to take the
dons back to the glory years. In his first season in charge he
has led the team into the top six for the first time in 3
seasons. |
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Aberdeen FC Honours, Trophies & Awards
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European Cup Winners' Cup: 1982-83
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European Super Cup: 1983-84
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Scottish League Titles (4): 1954-55;
1979-80; 1983-84; 1984-85
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Scottish Cup Winners (7): 1946-47;
1969-70; 1981-82; 1982-83; 1983-84;
1985-86; 1989-90
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Scottish League Cup Winners (5):
1955-56; 1976-77; 1985-86; 1989-90; 1995-96
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Drybrough Cup Winners (2): 1971-72;
1980-81
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