From A. Reader…
I don’t know if you actually can feel déjà vu but it feels like it’s running through
me as I hear that this could be the 1980s again when Aberdeen under Sir
Greetin’ Face Ferguson and Dundee Utd under Jim Even More Greetin’ Face
McLean came from nowhere (the north-east) to deprive Celtic of several titles.
On merit, too. It was a time when a club that was then just called Rangers were
battling Dundee for fifth place in the league.
The so-called New Firm are back, well the Daily Record keeps telling us, so it
must be true. Watch out Bayern and Real, the Sheep are coming to haunt you
again, just as they did in 1983.
Both clubs have had a good season, Aberdeen taking their first title since Andi
Thom first graced Parkhead and were on for their own “treble” before that
dream came to a halt by mighty St Johnstone and a wee bairn called Stevie
May. Dundee Utd, meanwhile, are looking for a second Cup win.
For the flocks north of Brechin there’s something resembling optimism in a city
in which footballing empires like Stenhousemuir and Alloa Athletic have slain
the sleeping giant.
Heartbreaking cup defeats, thrashings in Europe and finishing bottom of the
league, with dismal managers, bargain-basement players and an incompetent
board – Aberdeen FC have experienced their own pre-McCann years.
It’s hard to figure out why. Aberdeen has all the advantages other top tier teams
like Inverness CT and Motherwell don’t possess. Their history aside, Aberdeen
have a support base that has been in sloth-like hibernation for decades. Once
they would have buses and trainloads of supporters heading down to the Central
Belt to confuse the locals with their weird accent.
This dormant devotion returned in a one-off for the League Cup final with
Aberdeen easily selling 40,000 tickets, and could have sold more. But, you’re
saying, how come the sheep can fill their allocation when a piece of metal is
at stake, when the stadium is half-full on league days? Which is missing the
point. The fact is Aberdeen have the capability of filling Pittodrie and the New
Aberdeen Stadium when/if it is built.
This is a city of 212,125 people according to the 2012 Census, with a further
232,850 residing in the sheep-shearing and tattie-howking toons and villages of
Aberdeenshire, and thousands more in north Angus and Moray. A catchment
area of half a million, and with some of the most affluent areas in the country,
Aberdeen has the potential to increase attendances and build a stronger team.
But there’s a hitch – the club is £15 million debt and as a consequence that
projected stadium on the outskirts of the city has been put on ice. Bank loans
of about £10 million will have to be paid back over five years. In the current
economic climate enveloping Scottish football, they’ll need more than just
success on the park to be able to pay all that back. Despite what the MSM may
reckon, owner Stewart Milne hasn’t parted with much of his millions in the
past, so what chance he is going to open up the purse now.
In Timdom, we don’t generally care for any other teams, but this writer has a
certain empathy for the Sheep (with or without the furry coat), coming from
the north-east himself, 40 miles south of the Oil City. Aberdeen were never
going to usurp my devotion to Celtic but as a loon I cheered as Fergie’s fighters
bashed the boche (Bayern Munich) and skelped the Spaniards (Real Madrid)
in the supposed diddy tournament of Europe in 1983. They liked to dish up
a beating for the Huns and forged a hate-hate relationship with the Orcs that
continued for a good decade and a half. Alas, they also had the measure of
Celtic in this time.
Aberdeen and their partners in the lazily-titled New Firm won four league titles
and a pile of cups between them in a decade. One of them won a European
trophy, the other got to the final of another, the Uefa Cup, and also made the
semi-finals of the European Cup. Celtic remained a force at the time, winning
the league three times between 1981 and 1986, but the combined forces of
Dundee Utd, Aberdeen and Hearts (at least for one season) consigned Rangers
(RIP) to the odd League Cup win. Alas, there was a grim and abrupt end to this
unusually competitive domestic set-up when Sir David, the Most Revered Man
in Scotland, Ever, pumped other people’s money into Ibrox.
Aberdeen were hit hard, and the last-day failure in Govan in May 1991 to lose
the league began a downward spiral of relegation battles and a fear of Queen’s
Park. Dundee Utd experienced cup heartache, and the dreaded nine-in-a-row
began.
But before the Evil Empire destroyed Scottish football, I can’t ever recall
anyone complaining that five teams were fighting for trophies. And the national
team didn’t do so badly either, qualifying for all World Cups between 1978 and
1986 and beyond.
Both Aberdeen and Motherwell finished with far more points than the ‘best of
the rest’ winner gets, 62/63 points in the past three seasons. One cup has gone
north, the other went to Perth. Aberdeen has beaten Celtic twice
this season, inflicting the only League defeat on Lennon’s men. Meanwhile, the
national team has been resurrected under Strachan and there’s barely a sign of a
Sevco player among the squad.
But regardless of how lofty Aberdeen are, they are still 31 points behind Celtic
and were scrapping with Motherwell for a second spot that means nothing
without the second Champions League spot. All that early and mid-season
running faded after the League Cup win for Aberdeen, losing their way in the
league, to end up third, and going out in the Cup semi-final. The reality is that
Derek McInnes is no Alex Ferguson, and Jackie McNamara is no Jim McLean.
And for those in the MSM and elsewhere who think that Sevco will challenge
Celtic in their first season back at the top flight (barring administration,
liquidation or losing to Raith Rovers), please remember that Ross County won
the first division by 24 points in 2012. After being in contention for Europe
in their first season in the SPL, they only just avoided being involved in the
prestigious relegation play-offs. To quote that famous Celtic fan, Karl Marx:
“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.”
Indeed it does brother.
Now that the S.F.A.and the general Hunnish behaviour of their wards, the so called establishment club r.i.p,are at rock bottom has anybody with any say in our game with a sence of decency, feckin do something about it?.hh
Good article.
I never missed games,home or away,in the 80’s or 90’s for that matter.In the 80’s there was good competition,with all teams on a level-playing field,financially.This did not go down well with the Huns ( now Zombies ),who had their Greig years,and didn’t win the league for 9 years,until they started buying it with borrowed money.
The 90’s was the hardest time,to be a faithful Celtic supporter.
But,we endured it,for the love of the Tic.So,I couldn’t give a feck,what the SMSM say.
What I do know,in nearly 40 years,supporting our great club,I don’t want these present day times to end,for us Tims.
Hail Hail !!
“The 90s was the hardest time to be a faithful Celtic supporter”?
You should have been there from the mid-50s to the mid-60s mate.
Timbuffy,
With respect,I was talking about my OWN personal experience,m8.Obviously,I was not born then !!
However,the 90’s were real tough,watching the Huns spending
through their big blue noses.At least in your era,spending was
not an issue,failure was down to events on the park,NOT OFF it.
So,Keep the Faith,old bean !!
Holy Sea:
Spending was an issue in the 50s & 60s as Celtic wage structure was crap to what other teams paid there playrers ( mainly in England, granted )at a time when Celtic were possibly the biggest club in Britain ( gate wise )But granted the 90’s were a nightmare but we got through it as supporters, not fans.
HAIL HAIL N aw That !!!!!