Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

club based in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

, Scotland. They compete in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

and have never been relegated from the top division of the

Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

since they were promoted in 1905. Aberdeen have won four Scottish league titles, seven

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

s. They are also the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies, having won the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

and the

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

in 1983. Formed in 1903 as a result of the amalgamation of three clubs from Aberdeen, they rarely challenged for honours until the post war decade, when they won each of the major Scottish trophies under manager Dave Halliday. This level of success was surpassed in the 1980s, when, under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson, they won three league titles, four Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup, alongside the two European trophies. Aberdeen were the last club outside the

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

to win a league title, in 1984–85, and also the last Scottish team to win a European trophy. The team has enjoyed less success since this golden era, though a 19-year wait for a major trophy was ended by winning the 2013–14 Scottish League Cup, followed up by multiple second-place finishes behind

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

in the league during the 2010s. Aberdeen have played at

Pittodrie Stadium Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they w ...

since their inception. The ground currently has a capacity of and was the first all-seated and all-covered stadium in the United Kingdom. Pittodrie was also the first football stadium to feature a dug-out, an invention of player and coach

Donald Colman Donald Cameron Cunningham (14 August 1878 – 4 October 1942), known as Donald Colman, was a Scottish football player and coach (or trainer) in the early years of the 20th century, most notably for Aberdeen. His career in senior football did ...

. The club's colours have been primarily red and white since 1939; before this, they played in black and gold vertical stripes. In modern times, Aberdeen have almost exclusively played with all-red strips with white detailing. Aberdeen attract support from the city and surrounding areas, as they have no geographically close rivals. Lacking a local competitor, Aberdeen have instead developed rivalries with more distant opponents such as Dundee United (collectively known as the " New Firm" in the 1980s) and Rangers.

History

Formation and early years (1903–1939)

The current Aberdeen F.C. was formed following the merger of three clubs based in the city—

Victoria United :''Victoria United is also the name of a defunct Scottish soccer team, see Victoria United F.C.'' Victoria United is a Canadian soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. With lineage to clubs founded in 1904, the team plays in the ...

and Orion—in 1903. The new club played its first match on 15 August 1903: a 1–1 draw with Stenhousemuir. That first season produced a win in the

Aberdeenshire Cup The Aberdeenshire Cup is a Scottish football tournament for all senior clubs affiliated to the Aberdeenshire and District Football Association (ADFA), being clubs from the historic counties of Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. The Aberdeenshire C ...

, but only a third-place finish in the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

. The club applied for membership of the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

for the following season, and were elected to the Second Division. In 1904, the club were managed by

Jimmy Philip Jimmy Philip (1863 – 12 October 1930) was the first coach of Scottish football club Aberdeen F.C. He was in charge of the club virtually from its foundation in 1903 until his retirement in 1924. Early life Philip was the only son of four child ...

. At the end of its first season, despite having finished seventh out of twelve teams, Aberdeen were elected to the new, expanded First Division. They have remained in the top tier of Scottish football ever since. From 1906, the club made steady progress, with a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1908 and another in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * ...

. In that season of 1910–11, Aberdeen recorded their first victories over the

and Rangers, and led the league for a time, but finished the season in second place. Wartime affected the club as much as any other; despite spending cuts and other economies, by 1917 the situation became untenable. Aberdeen dropped out of competitive football, along with

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and Raith Rovers. Senior football returned on 16 August 1919, and Aberdeen resumed with a fixture against

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scott ...

. Philip was still in charge, and continued to oversee a team capable of isolated good results, but never quite able to sustain a challenge long enough to win a trophy. In 1923, Aberdeen were drawn against

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

in the Scottish Cup, and posted their record score—a 13–0 victory. Philip retired a year later, and was replaced as manager by

Paddy Travers Patrick Travers (28 May 1883 – 5 February 1962) was a Scottish football player and manager in the first half of the 20th century. He played for many clubs in his native Scotland and for Barnsley in England, before becoming involved in coachin ...

. He presided over the team's first Scottish Cup final in 1937. Travers' "trainer"—first team coach in modern parlance—was former player

. Colman conceived the dug-out, a covered area set slightly below the level of the playing surface to better aid his observations. Everton visited Pittodrie soon after its introduction, and exported the idea to the English leagues, from where it spread throughout the football-playing world. Travers left to become manager of Clyde in 1939.

Halliday to McNeill (1939–1978)

Travers was replaced by former Yeovil Town manager Dave Halliday, one of more than a hundred applicants for the role, and the club moved from their black and gold strip to red and white. Halliday had barely begun his work when

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

halted competitive football in the United Kingdom. For these six years, the club was temporarily taken over by then-directors Charles B Forbes and George Anderson while Halliday served in the war. Halliday's place in the Aberdeen Hall of Fame was secured after the war when he became the first manager to bring national trophies to Pittodrie. Aberdeen won the Southern League Cup in the 1945–46 season, defeating Rangers 3–2 at Hampden. They then reached the 1947 Scottish Cup final, defeating Hibernian 2–1 with George Hamilton, signed from Halliday's former club Queen of the South, scoring to gain the club's first major trophy. From this early success, Halliday's side reached two more Scottish Cup finals, in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

and

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

, though they lost both. Halliday's team were not to be denied, however, and the following season, 1954–55, Aberdeen won their first Scottish League title. Though league winners, the club did not participate in the first

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

competition—Scotland's place was awarded to Hibernian, who took part by special invitation. Halliday and Hamilton left at the end of that championship-winning season, and Halliday was replaced by Davie Shaw. Aberdeen won the League Cup under his guidance, beating St Mirren in 1955–56, and reached another Scottish Cup final in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

. However, Shaw stepped aside for another former favourite player,

Tommy Pearson Thomas Usher Pearson (6 March 1913 – 2 March 1999) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. Playing career Born in Edinburgh, Pearson played for Murrayfield Amateurs, and had a trial for Heart of Midlothian, but signed prof ...

, in 1959. Pearson's time in charge coincided with a high turnover of players, and yielded no trophies. He retired in 1965, making way for

Eddie Turnbull Edward Hunter Turnbull (12 April 1923 – 30 April 2011) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He played as a forward for Hibernian and Scotland, forming part of the Hibs " Famous Five" forward line. He then had successful ...

. Turnbull led Aberdeen to the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

Scottish Cup final, where the side was ultimately defeated by Celtic. Despite this loss, Aberdeen qualified for the European Cup Winner's Cup in the following season thanks to their appearance in this final, the first time the club had competed in European competition. Their first tie was a 14–1

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

victory over

KR Reykjavik KR is the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and WMO country code for South Korea. KR or Kr may also refer to: Sports * KR (basketball club), associated with Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur * Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, an Icelandic football club * Kickoff ...

, although they lost the second round tie with

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

3–2 on aggregate. Two years later, Derek "Cup-tie" McKay recorded the only four goals of his Aberdeen career to help his team to the

1969–70 Scottish Cup The 1969–70 Scottish Cup was in the 85th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Aberdeen who defeated Celtic in the final. First preliminary round Second preliminary round Rep ...

, scoring the winning goals in the quarter- and semi final, and two in the final itself. As Scottish Cup holders, Aberdeen once again qualified for the same competition, but were eliminated in the first round following a 4–4 aggregate tie with Honvéd. This tie, level after extra time and also level on

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

, was decided by the first

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

in UEFA competition history, Honvéd winning the shootout 5–4 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

. The Aberdeen side of the 1970s regularly challenged for domestic honours. However, they rarely won trophies, with the exception of the

Drybrough Cup The Drybrough Cup was a Scottish annual football tournament. It was held from 1971 until 1974, and was revived from 1979 to 1980. It was open to the four highest-scoring teams from Division 1, and the four highest-scoring teams from Division 2. Th ...

in 1971 under Jimmy Bonthrone and the League Cup in 1976, under

Ally MacLeod Alistair Reid "Ally" MacLeod (26 February 1931 – 1 February 2004) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He is perhaps best known for his time as the Scotland national football team manager, including their appearance at th ...

. During this decade, Aberdeen had five managers: Eddie Turnbull, Jimmy Bonthrone, Ally MacLeod,

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish football player and manager. He had a long association with Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, manager and club ambassador. McNeill captained Celtic's 'Lisbon Lio ...

and

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

. They reached two more national cup finals—the Scottish Cup in 1978 under Billy McNeill and the League Cup in the following season under the new manager Alex Ferguson.

Alex Ferguson era (1978–1986)

Under Ferguson's guidance, the club won three league championships, four Scottish Cups, one League Cup, the European Cup Winner's Cup, the European Super Cup and a Drybrough Cup—all in the space of seven years. Players such as Jim Leighton, Willie Miller,

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

and

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Co ...

became the backbone of the team. Aberdeen's second League title was won in 1979–80, and this initial success was built upon, with Scottish Cup wins in three successive seasons from

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, and two more league titles in 1983–84 and 1984–85. Aberdeen Football Club Commemorative Pennant - ABDMS072039 - Aberdeen City Council (Archives, Gallery and Museums)

Aberdeen Football Club Commemorative Pennant - ABDMS072039 - Aberdeen City Council (Archives, Gallery and Museums)

During the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983, Aberdeen beat

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

Dinamo Tirana Futboll Club Dinamo Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital Tirana. They play in the Kategoria e Parë, the second tier of Albanian football, in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 1950 during the communist r ...

and

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

to face the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is consider ...

winners

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. This game was won 3–2 at Pittodrie after a goalless draw in Germany, John Hewitt with the winning goal. They then faced now-defunct

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

club Waterschei in the semi-final. Aberdeen beat them 5–1 at home, and lost for the first time in the tournament, 1–0 away, resulting in an aggregate victory which sent Aberdeen to the final. On 11 May 1983, Aberdeen beat

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

2–1 after extra time to win the cup and become only the third Scottish side to win a European trophy. The club released a song, " European Song", to coincide with the appearance in the final. This was followed up with the capture of the

in December, when

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

were beaten over two legs. Aberdeen reached the semi-finals of the

1983–84 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1983–84 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Juventus in a final against Porto. The next year, the club went on to complete a full complement of European trophies with the European Cup. Universitatea Craiova, winners of the ...

, before losing to

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

2–0 on aggregate. In the first round of the 1984–85 European Champion Club's Cup Aberdeen lost to

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

side

BFC Dynamo Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo () or BFC (), alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Ber ...

in a penalty shoot-out 4–5, following a 3–3 on aggregate in regular times. Today, both clubs enjoy friendly relations.

Post-Ferguson (1987–1999)

After Ferguson moved south of the border to manage

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

in November 1986, Aberdeen struggled to compete with Celtic and a resurgent Rangers. Aberdeen signed new co-managers in 1989, pairing

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the ...

and

Jocky Scott John Alexander "Jocky" Scott (born 14 January 1948) is a Scottish football coach and former player. During his playing career he played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Seattle Sounders and Scotland. An extensive management career followed with spells ...

. A number of foreign players were signed, including Dutch internationals

Theo Snelders Theodorus Antonius Gerardus Snelders (born 7 December 1963) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Snelders was born in Westervoort, Gelderland. He started his career with FC Twente but is mostly reme ...

and Hans Gillhaus. In the 1989–90 season, the club won both the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, they lost the last game of the season, and the league title, to Rangers. Former player Willie Miller took over in 1992 and presided over two seasons where Aberdeen came close to winning the title. However, the club ended the 1994–95 season second-bottom, and had to rely on a play-off victory over Dunfermline Athletic to retain their Premier Division status. Miller was sacked in February 1995, and replaced by Roy Aitken. Despite a Scottish League Cup success in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, the club continued to struggle. Alex Miller and

Paul Hegarty Paul Anthony Hegarty (born 25 July 1954 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish football player and manager. He was captain of Dundee United during their most successful era in the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Scottish league championship in 1983 and the ...

had spells in charge in the late 1990s, but with the financial burden of a new stand putting the club into debt for the first time in its history, the directors turned to

Stewart Milne Stewart Milne CBE, DBA, DTech (born 23 July 1950) is a Scottish businessman and football club chairman, from Alford, Aberdeenshire. Milne founded the Aberdeen-based Stewart Milne Construction Group, a housebuilding contractor, in 1975. He starte ...

, a local businessman whose firm had built the stand, hiring him as the club's chairman.

Skovdahl to Brown (1999–2013)

Aberdeen's first and only foreign manager,

Ebbe Skovdahl Ebbe Skovdahl Hansen (5 July 1945 – 23 October 2020) was a Danish football manager. He most prominently was a successful manager at Brøndby IF, for whom he had also played in his active years. He helped turn the side into the most dominant Dan ...

, was appointed in 1999 and his time in charge coincided with some of the heaviest defeats in the club's history. The low point of the club's history came in the 1999–2000 season, where they finished bottom of the table. As the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

(SPL) was being expanded to twelve teams, Aberdeen were due to take part in a three team play-off with the teams that finished second and third in the First Division. The play-off never happened though, as one of those clubs (

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had ...

) did not meet SPL stadium requirements, and Aberdeen retained their top flight status. This was followed by an early-season defeat to Irish club Bohemians on the away goals rule in the next season's

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. Steve Paterson was appointed to replace Skovdahl following his resignation in 2002, but lasted only two seasons. Paterson's tenure with Aberdeen was marred by his addiction to alcohol. In March 2003 he failed to attend a home game against Dundee due to being too hungover after a night of drinking prior to the match.

Jimmy Calderwood James Calderwood (born 28 February 1955) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Calderwood played for Birmingham City and Dutch clubs Sparta Rotterdam, Willem II Tilburg, Roda JC and Heracles Almelo. After retiring as a player, Calderw ...

took over in 2004 and Aberdeen posted more consistent results than in previous seasons. In the 2006–07 season, the club finished in third place in the league and entered the final qualifying round for the

2007–08 UEFA Cup The 2007–08 UEFA Cup was the 37th edition of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second-tier club football tournament. The final was played at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England on 14 May 2008 between Rangers of Scotland and Zenit Saint ...

. Aberdeen defeated

Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

on the away goals rule to progress (the first time Aberdeen had won on away goals in European football for 40 years). They went on to beat

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure o ...

4–0, which was the biggest margin of victory and one of Pittodrie's biggest crowds since the 1980s. This set up a meeting with German giants

, which they lost 7–3 on aggregate after a 2–2 draw which saw Aberdeen lead twice in the first leg. Calderwood was sacked by Aberdeen on 24 May 2009, hours after he took the club to a fourth-place finish and back into Europe. Poor domestic cup performances were thought to be the reason for Calderwood's dismissal. Mark McGhee of

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

was appointed as Calderwood's replacement in June 2009. McGhee controversially dismissed Aberdeen legend and goalkeeping coach Jim Leighton in August 2009 and replaced him with Colin Meldrum. Aberdeen suffered a 9–0 defeat to Celtic on 6 November 2010, their heaviest ever defeat. McGhee and his assistants were eventually sacked in December of that year. Aberdeen approached Craig Brown, who was working without a contract at Motherwell, to replace McGhee. Brown initially rebuffed an offer, but after further discussions with the club Brown resigned as manager at Motherwell to be announced as the next manager at Aberdeen two days later. The first act of the new management team of Brown and

Archie Knox Archibald Knox (born 1 May 1947) is a Scottish football player and coach. He was most recently the assistant manager of Aberdeen until leaving the club in March 2013. Knox worked with Alex Ferguson as an assistant manager at Aberdeen and Manch ...

was to re-instate Leighton. Aberdeen failed to produce better results under Craig Brown's tenure, and in March 2013 he announced his retirement to take up a non-executive director role on the club's board. Scottish League Cup 2014 - confetti

Recent years (2013–present)

Derek McInnes Derek John McInnes (born 5 July 1971) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock. He featured prominently for Greenock Morton, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion and Dund ...

was announced as the successor to Craig Brown in March 2013. In McInnes' first season as manager, Aberdeen won the 2013–14 Scottish League Cup after defeating

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histor ...

4–2 on penalties, their first trophy in 19 years. Aberdeen finished third in the

, and began the next season by coming through the early rounds of the Europa League, beating Dutch club

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

before eventually being eliminated by Spanish side

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

. The club ended the season in second place—their best league position since 1993–94—in 2015, 2016, and 2017. In recent seasons' Europa League competitions, they were defeated in the third qualifying round four times: In 2015–16 by

FC Kairat Football Club Kairat ( kk, Qaırat Fýtbol Klýby) is a professional football club based in Almaty, which plays in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. Founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata, they became Urozhay in ...

, in 2016–17 by

NK Maribor NK may refer to: Businesses *Imerys (Euronext ticker code NK) * Nordiska Kompaniet, a department store in Stockholm, Sweden * Northrup-King Seed Company * Spirit Airlines (IATA code NK) *NK.pl, a Polish school-based social networking service Plac ...

, in 2017–18 by

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divis ...

, and in 2019–20 by HNK Rijeka. Aberdeen were league runners-up once more in 2016–17 and reached both cup finals, but were beaten 3–0 by Celtic in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

and 2–1 by the same opponents in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

when Aberdeen had finished second to Rangers in all competitions. They were again second the following season, earning a first league win against Celtic away from home for fourteen years in the final game of the season. This qualified them for the

2018–19 UEFA Europa League The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League was the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Olympic Sta ...

, where they were defeated after extra time by

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

in the second qualifying round. In November 2019,

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

side

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

acquired a less than 10 percent stake in Aberdeen for £2 million (US$2.57 million) as part of a strategic alliance between the two clubs. As part of this deal, vice-chairman

Dave Cormack Dave Cormack is a US-based Scottish entrepreneur and the Chairman of the Aberdeen Football Club. He is the founder of several software companies, including Soft Systems, MiracleWorkers.com, and Brightree. He is now Chairman of Curve Dental Softwar ...

became chairman of the club, replacing

. Atlanta United president

Darren Eales Darren Eales (born 6 August 1972) is an English sports executive who currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. He was previously a association football, footballer who played b ...

also took a seat on Aberdeen's board of directors. McInnes left the post of manager in March 2021 after almost 8 years in charge, and was replaced by Atlanta United 2 manager and former Aberdeen player Stephen Glass. Glass was dismissed in February 2021, and replaced by St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin.

Colours and crest

For the first season of the club's existence, the team played in a predominantly white strip. This is variously reported as all-white, or as white shirts with blue shorts and socks. This colour scheme was the direct descendant of the colours worn by the precursor

club, but lasted only one season before being replaced.The history of the blue kit
, Aberdeen FC, 27 June 2017 For the

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

season, Aberdeen adopted a black and gold striped shirt, which led to the team being nicknamed "the Wasps". This strip, with only minor variations, was worn until just before the start of the Second World War. The blue shorts lasted until 1911, and then were replaced with white ones. Socks were black with gold trim, either as stripes or as a solid bar at the turndown. In March 1939, Aberdeen changed the black and gold colours to red and white, reflecting the silver and red colours of the official City of Aberdeen arms. The first red strips were worn with white shorts, with either red or white socks from 1939 until the 1965–66 season. In 1966, Aberdeen adopted red shorts, making the official kit all-red, similar to that of

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, who made a similar change at around the same time. This arrangement has continued to the present day, with several variations in design, in common with most senior clubs as the replica shirt market has expanded. In the late 1970s an

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

strip featured five vertical white stripes on the left side of the shirt and shorts, and the early 1980s shirts—as worn at the 1983 European Cup Winners Cup final—featured white vertical pinstripes. Later design changes included significant amounts of blue, and a one-season reversion to white shorts, although the all-red scheme returned in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. Shirt sponsorship began in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, and the initial shirt sponsor was

JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...

. Since then, with the club making fewer appearances on the international stage, shirt sponsors have tended to be local to Aberdeen—they have included one of the local commercial radio stations, Northsound, as well as several Aberdeen-based oil service companies. , the current shirt sponsor is Saltire Energy.

Away colours Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a 2016 British film * ''Away'' (2019 film), a 2019 animated silent film * ''Away'' (TV series), a 2020 science fiction drama on Netflix Literature * ''Away'' (play), a 1986 play by M ...

have tended to be either white—often with black shorts—or a combination of yellow and black, referring back to the black and gold strips of the pre-war era, although for a time in the 1970s, Aberdeen sported an all-blue change strip with white socks. For the 2007–08 season, the change strip was all-white, with a third kit of yellow and black halves available if needed for European games, or in the event of a clash involving both red and white. The club did not have an official crest before 1972, but several variations on the letters AFC had from time to time featured on the shirt, usually in some kind of

cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionali ...

font. In November 1972, the club unveiled an official crest or logo, designed by Aberdonian graphic designer Donald Addison. The design represented a capital letter ''A'' as the side view of a football goal, with a ball forming the crossbar of the letter. This ball was crosshatched in such a way as to depict it as being inside the net, signifying the scoring of a goal. The logo was completed by the letters ''FC'' in smaller type at a level with the ball element. This badge was used on the shirts from around 1978, with no significant alterations until the mid-1980s when the words "Aberdeen Football Club" were added in a circular border, and the date of the club's founding, 1903, was added under the goal element. The current version of the crest, which retains these elements in a unified design, was introduced at the start of the 1997–98 season. Two stars signifying the winning of the two European trophies in 1983 were introduced over the badge in the 2005–06 season.

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Stadium

Aberdeen have played throughout their existence at

, the name of which comes from the

Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...

for "place of manure". The ground was first used by the original Aberdeen F.C. in 1899, in a 7–1 win over

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

; when they merged with two other teams in 1903, the new club took over the old Aberdeen ground. On 15 August 1903, 8,000 spectators turned up to watch the new Aberdeen draw 1–1 against Stenhousemuir, the first game played at Pittodrie by its amalgamated tenants. The club initially rented the ground, but subsequently bought it in 1920. The stadium currently seats . The record attendance is 45,061, during a Scottish Cup match between Aberdeen and Hearts on 13 March 1954. The stadium consists of four stands: the Main Stand, which also houses the club offices and players facilities; the Merkland Road Family Stand; the South Stand, which is opposite the main stand and holds the largest number of spectators; and the Richard Donald stand to the east, which was completed in 1993, contains hospitality suites, and is named after former chairman

Dick Donald Richard MacNaughton Donald (20 February 1911 – 30 December 1993) was a Scottish footballer, businessman and football administrator. He is best known for his time as Chairman of Aberdeen Football Club during the club's most successful period i ...

. A quarter of the South Stand is used to accommodate travelling supporters. In 1978, Pittodrie became the first all covered,

all-seater stadium An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football a ...

in Britain.

Training facilities

Aberdeen train at Cormack Park, which was opened on 31 October 2019 by former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who described the development as "up there with the best" that he had seen. As well as being a training centre for the first team, the complex is also home to the Bobby Clark Football Academy and the AFC Community Trust, as well as acting as a community sports hub. The training facilities are named after chairman

, due to the significant financial investment he made to realise the completion of the project. The complex is made up of a training pavilion, groundsman’s accommodation, three full-sized training pitches, two floodlit 3G pitches and two grass pitches. There is also flexible outdoor and indoor space that can be used for sporting or recreational purposes. All the pitches are named after club legends, chosen by the fans via an online poll. Prior to the opening of Cormack Park, the first team trained in a variety of locations around the city, including the local

Gordon Barracks Gordon Barracks is a military installation situated in Bridge of Don, Aberdeen. History The barrack buildings, which were built by J and W Wittet between 1933 and 1935, are located around the barrack square. Constructed of dressed granite blo ...

, beach,

Seaton Park Seaton Park is a public park in the Old Aberdeen area of Aberdeen, Scotland. One of the city's biggest parks, it was bought by the city for use as a public park in 1947 from Major J M Hay. It was formerly the grounds of Seaton House, which ha ...

Aberdeen Sports Village Aberdeen Sports Village is a sports facility in Aberdeen, Scotland. History The present athletics track is situated on the site of the Aberdeen Regent Park Greyhound Stadium which later became the Linksfield Stadium and subsequently the Chri ...

and Countesswells, the playing fields of

Robert Gordon's College Robert Gordon's College is a co-educational Independent school (UK) for day pupils in Aberdeen, Scotland. The school caters for pupils from Nursery through to S6. History Robert Gordon, an Aberdeen merchant, made his fortune in 18th century ...

New Aberdeen Stadium

Since 2009, Aberdeen have been examining a move to a new stadium. Plans for a new stadium began when the club indicated that further development of Pittodrie Stadium was not possible due to the age of the ground and the restrictions from surrounding land. Aberdeen City Council approved an initial project in May 2009, to be situated near Loirston Loch in the south of the city, subject to

planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

. In August 2010, a planning application for the new stadium was submitted to the council, which was approved the following February. The move was delayed by a year in May 2012 due to problems with land ownership, and suffered a serious setback the following August, when the council rejected a joint application by Aberdeen and

Cove Rangers Cove Rangers Football Club is a senior Scottish football club currently playing in the Scottish Championship. They are based in the Cove Bay area of Aberdeen and play their football at Balmoral Stadium, having left their former home at Allan ...

to build a community sports centre at nearby Calder Park. Aberdeen announced in November 2014 new plans to instead build training facilities at Balgownie, on land owned by the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, but the project was ultimately scrapped in the following July. Plans to develop a new stadium and training facilities near Westhill, close to the newly developed Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, were announced in May 2016. The new stadium is expected to have a similar capacity to Pittodrie Stadium. Although the project overcame legal challenges from local residents, progress stalled due to the economic impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland The COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland is part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease-2019, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Scotland on 1 March 2020. Community transmission was first reported on ...

. Alternative designs at the city's beachfront close to Pittodrie were released in August 2021.

Supporters and nicknames

Supporters

Aberdeen's supporters, known as the Red Army, are listed in the team squad list as wearing the number 12 shirt. In 1999, a group of supporters founded the Red Ultras group with the express aim of improving the atmosphere at Pittodrie. However, it was decided that this particular group was to disband at the beginning of 2010. Organised chants and

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

still take place in 'centre block' of the top tier of the Richard Donald Stand and Aberdeen fans still do choreographies at home and away games. Aberdeen are the only full-time team in the third largest city in Scotland, a city which is relatively remote, geographically, from other large population centres, and as a result have a large catchment area of potential supporters. The average attendance in the 2018–19 Scottish Premiership was 14,924. In the 1980s, a minority of the club's supporters had a reputation as one of Britain's most prominent casuals groups, the Aberdeen Soccer Casuals. The rise of the Aberdeen Casuals coincided with the most successful period in the club's history, and has been chronicled in more than one published account. Whilst numbers have steadily declined with the introduction of Football Banning Orders preventing hooligans from travelling to games, the Aberdeen Casuals still appear at big fixtures often away from home and in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. There were clashes at both fixtures against

in 2014, as well as 13 arrests after violent clashes with Dundee United fans at a game in December 2015.

Rivalries

Aberdeen have rarely played in the same division as their geographically closest neighbours (

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

, Montrose,

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. Th ...

, Elgin City, and

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games ...

), so rivalries have tended to come from further afield. Cove Rangers from the same city entered the professional leagues for the first time in 2019, although the Aberdeen derby is yet to occur in a league meeting. In the early 1980s, owing to the success both domestically and in Europe of Aberdeen and Dundee United, the pair were known as the New Firm. However, Dundee United have their city neighbours Dundee as close rivals, and the antagonism was not always reciprocated to the same degree. The same situation applies to Aberdeen's

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

with Rangers, in that Rangers have their own much older and well-known

rivalry with Celtic. Aberdeen's rivalry with Rangers arose after a number of incidents in matches between the two clubs in the 1980s, namely

Willie Johnston William McClure Johnston (born 19 December 1946) is a Scottish former professional footballer, best remembered for his time at Rangers and West Bromwich Albion. He made 22 international appearances for Scotland and was selected for their 1978 F ...

's stamp on John McMaster's neck in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

and

Neil Simpson Neil Alexander Simpson (born 15 November 1961) is a Scottish former footballer, who played for Aberdeen, Newcastle United, Motherwell and Scotland. Simpson, nicknamed "Simmie", was born in London to Scottish parents who soon moved back to Newm ...

's tackle on

Ian Durrant Ian Durrant (born 29 October 1966) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is currently a first team coach at East Kilbride. During his playing career, Durrant played as a midfielder for Rangers for 13 years and was part ...

in 1988, as well as Aberdeen's dominance in Scottish football throughout the decade. There are still often violent clashes between both sets of supporters within and outwith the stadium to this day. Aberdeen developed a minor rivalry with

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Fo ...

since Inverness were first promoted to the SPL in 2004. It is known as the North derby due to the fact that Aberdeen and

are the two largest settlements in the north of Scotland. Aberdeen's re-emerged as one of the top teams in Scotland during the 2010s, which increased the rivalry with

both competitively and between supporters. There have been minor incidents at games, mainly relating to political disturbances by Celtic supporters at games between the clubs, including the disruption of minute's silences and the display of banners showing support for the

1981 Irish hunger strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special C ...

Nicknames

Aberdeen are known as "The Dons", a name that has been in use since at least 1913. The origin of this nickname is unclear. One theory is that it derives from the word " don" meaning "teacher", given Aberdeen's history as a university town. It may also be a reference to the nearby River Don, or a contraction of "Aberdonians". Before the popular adoption of "The Dons", the team were variously known as "The Wasps" or "The Black and Golds", both names a reference to the yellow and black striped shirts of the time. As with many teams that play in red, Aberdeen may also be called "The Reds", and are referred to by some supporters as "The Dandy Dons" or "The Dandies". Rival clubs occasionally refer to Aberdeen as "The Sheep" and their supporters as "The Sheep Shaggers". The term was eventually accepted by the club's supporters, and fans began chanting "the sheep are on fire" at games. The song was originally sung by away fans poking fun at an Aberdeen fan set on fire on a train while wearing a homemade sheep costume. This in turn led to specialised merchandise being sold by the club and local businesses.

Songs

Chants and songs include "The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen" and "Stand Free", the latter of which is set to the tune of " Lord of the Dance".

Honours

Domestic

** Winners (4): 1954–55, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1984–85 ** Runners-up: 17 times *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, ** Winners (7): 1946–47, 1969–70, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90 ** Runners-up: 9 times *

** Winners (6): 1955–56, 1976–77, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1995–96, 2013–14 ** Runners-up: 9 times

European

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

**Winners: 1982–83 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

**Winners:

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

UEFA rankings

Other Awards

France Football European Team of the Year The ''France Football'' European Team of the Year (french: Challenge Européen de Football), also known as European Challenge Interclubs (), was an association football award conferred by French sports magazine ''France Football'' with the sponsor ...

: 1 :: 1983 * The Club was awarded the

Freedom of the City of Aberdeen The Freedom of the City of Aberdeen is an honour bestowed by the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. History The Freedom of the City of Aberdeen has its origins in the 12th century, through the city's Guild of Burgesses. Certain respected residents would ...

on 16 December 2022 following a Unanimous Vote by Aberdeen City Council.

Club officials

Technical staff

* Manager: Jim Goodwin * Assistant Manager: Lee Sharp * Goalkeeping Coach: Craig Samson * Head of Recruitment: Darren Mowbray * Pathways Manager:

* Academy Director: Gavin Levey * Development Phase Manager and U18 Head Coach:

Barry Robson Barry Gordon George Robson (born 7 November 1978) is a Scottish football coach and former player who currently works for Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership. Robson played as a midfielder for several clubs in Scotland, England and Canada and r ...

* Youth Phase Manager:

Stuart Duff Stuart Duff (born 23 January 1982) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who last played for Inverurie Loco Works in the Highland Football League. He was primarily a central midfielder although his versatility saw him play in most d ...

* Head of Sports Science and Fitness: Graham Kirk * Physiotherapist: Kevin Bain

Management

* Chairman:

* Board of Directors: ** Tom Crotty (non-executive) ** Dimitrios Efstathiou (non-executive) **

Willie Garner William Garner (born 24 July 1955), also known as Willie Garner is a Scottish former footballer best known for playing for Aberdeen. He is now a manager, mainly of clubs in the junior ranks of Scottish football. Career Garner was born in Stirl ...

(non-executive) **

(non-executive) ** Zoe Ogilvie (non-executive) ** Kevin MacIver (finance) ** Robert Wicks (commercial) * Secretary: Roy Johnston * Director of Football: Steven Gunn * Club Ambassador: Craig Brown * Honorary President:

Ian Donald Ian Donald (27 December 1910 – 19 June 1987) was an English physician who pioneered the diagnostic use of ultrasound in obstetrics, enabling the visual discovery of abnormalities during pregnancy. Donald was born in Cornwall, England, to a ...

Players

Current squad

On loan

Notable players

;Hall of Fame Aberdeen inaugurated a Hall of Fame as part of the club's centenary celebrations in 2003. Six players were inducted following the initial dinner in March 2004, and a further six were included in November 2004. Ex-manager Alex Ferguson was inducted at a re-launch event in November 2015. In 2017, Neale Cooper, Archie Knox, John McMaster and Graham Leggat were inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 2018, Eoin Jess, Peter Weir, Bobby Clark and Donald Colman were inducted. * Chris Anderson *

Jim Bett James Bett (born 25 November 1959) is a Scottish former professional association footballer who played in central or left midfield. He played with Aberdeen for nine seasons and had shorter spells at other clubs in Belgium, Iceland and Scotland. ...

* Henning Boel * Martin Buchan * Bobby Clark *

Neale Cooper Neale James Cooper (24 November 1963 – 28 May 2018) was a Scottish football player and coach. He played as a midfielder during the 1980s and 1990s, most prominently for the Aberdeen team managed by Alex Ferguson, and later played for Aston Vil ...

* Arthur Graham *

Joe Harper Joseph Montgomery Harper (born 11 January 1948) is a Scottish former footballer, mainly remembered for his two spells with Aberdeen, during which he won the three main domestic trophies once each and became the club's record goalscorer with 20 ...

* Jim Hermiston * John Hewitt * Drew Jarvie * Eoin Jess * Stuart Kennedy *

Graham Leggat Graham Leggat (20 June 1934 – 29 August 2015) was a Scottish international footballer. Playing career Born in Aberdeen, Leggat started his career at his home town club as a right winger. He was part of the Aberdeen team that won the Scottish ...

* Jim Leighton *

* Fred Martin *

* John McMaster * Willie Miller * Teddy Scott *

Ally Shewan Ally Shewan (born 5 August 1940) is a Scottish former footballer.Ally Shewan
AFC ...

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He's known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ''Gallipoli'' (1981), ''Witness ...

* Alec Young ;Greatest ever team In November 2015, supporters cast votes to determine the greatest ever Aberdeen team. * Jim Leighton (1977–88, 1997–2000) * Stuart Kennedy (1976–83) * Willie Miller (1972–90) *

(1978–94) *

Russell Anderson Russell Anderson (born 25 October 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He played in the Scottish Premier League for Aberdeen, the Premier League for Sunderland, and the Football League for Plymouth Arg ...

(1996–2007, 2012–15) *

(1977–84) * Eoin Jess (1987–96, 1997–2001) *

(1985–94) *

(1980–90) *

(1969–72, 1976–81) *

Duncan Shearer Duncan Nichol Shearer (born 28 August 1962) is a Scottish former footballer, currently coaching the 'Development squad' at Inverness Caledonian Thistle. During his playing career, Shearer predominantly played for Huddersfield Town, Swindon Town, ...

(1992–97)

Records

Individual

All players are from Scotland unless otherwise stated. Competitive, professional matches only, up to the end of the 2021–22 season. ; Top goalscorers ; Most appearances

Managers

''List of full-time managers, as of 22 December 2022. Only competitive matches are counted.

Caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a care ...

s are not listed.''

References

; Bibliography * * * * * *

External links

*
AFC Heritage Trust
{{Authority control Football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1903 Football clubs in Aberdeen Former Highland Football League teams 1903 establishments in Scotland Scottish Football League teams Scottish Cup winners Scottish Premier League teams Scottish Professional Football League teams Scottish League Cup winners UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winning clubs UEFA Super Cup winning clubs United Soccer Association imported teams

History

Formation and early years (1903–1939)

Halliday to McNeill (1939–1978)

Alex Ferguson era (1978–1986)

Post-Ferguson (1987–1999)

Skovdahl to Brown (1999–2013)

Recent years (2013–present)

Colours and crest

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Stadium

Training facilities

New Aberdeen Stadium

Supporters and nicknames

Supporters

Rivalries

Nicknames

Songs

Honours

Domestic

European

UEFA rankings

Other Awards

Club officials

Technical staff

Management

Players

Current squad

On loan

Notable players

Records

Individual

Managers

See also

References

External links