{"id":5289,"date":"2014-06-27T12:49:49","date_gmt":"2014-06-27T11:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=5289"},"modified":"2014-06-27T12:49:49","modified_gmt":"2014-06-27T11:49:49","slug":"back-to-the-eighties-the-rise-fall-and-rise-again-of-the-new-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=5289","title":{"rendered":"Back to the Eighties ? The Rise, Fall and Rise Again of the New Firm"},"content":{"rendered":"

From A. Reader…<\/em><\/p>\n

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I don\u2019t know if you actually can feel d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu but it feels like it\u2019s running through<\/p>\n

me as I hear that this could be the 1980s again when Aberdeen under Sir<\/p>\n

\u00a0Greetin\u2019 Face Ferguson and Dundee Utd under Jim Even More Greetin\u2019 Face<\/p>\n

\u00a0McLean came from nowhere (the north-east) to deprive Celtic of several titles.<\/p>\n

\u00a0On merit, too. It was a time when a club that was then just called Rangers were<\/p>\n

\u00a0battling Dundee for fifth place in the league.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The so-called New Firm are back, well the Daily Record keeps telling us, so it<\/p>\n

\u00a0must be true. Watch out Bayern and Real, the Sheep are coming to haunt you<\/p>\n

\u00a0again, just as they did in 1983.<\/p>\n

Both clubs have had a good season, Aberdeen taking their first title since Andi<\/p>\n

\u00a0Thom first graced Parkhead and were on for their own \u201ctreble\u201d before that<\/p>\n

\u00a0dream came to a halt by mighty St Johnstone and a wee bairn called Stevie<\/p>\n

\u00a0May. Dundee Utd, meanwhile, are looking for a second Cup win.<\/p>\n

\u00a0For the flocks north of Brechin there\u2019s something resembling optimism in a city<\/p>\n

\u00a0in which footballing empires like Stenhousemuir and Alloa Athletic have slain<\/p>\n

\u00a0the sleeping giant.<\/p>\n

\n

Heartbreaking cup defeats, thrashings in Europe and finishing bottom of the<\/p>\n

league, with dismal managers, bargain-basement players and an incompetent<\/p>\n

\u00a0board – Aberdeen FC have experienced their own pre-McCann years.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to figure out why. Aberdeen has all the advantages other top tier teams<\/p>\n

\u00a0like Inverness CT and Motherwell don\u2019t possess. Their history aside, Aberdeen<\/p>\n

\u00a0have a support base that has been in sloth-like hibernation for decades. Once<\/p>\n

\u00a0they would have buses and trainloads of supporters heading down to the Central<\/p>\n

\u00a0Belt to confuse the locals with their weird accent.<\/p>\n

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This dormant devotion returned in a one-off for the League Cup final with<\/p>\n

Aberdeen easily selling 40,000 tickets, and could have sold more. But, you\u2019re<\/p>\n

\u00a0saying, how come the sheep can fill their allocation when a piece of metal is<\/p>\n

\u00a0at stake, when the stadium is half-full on league days? Which is missing the<\/p>\n

\u00a0point. The fact is Aberdeen have the capability of filling Pittodrie and the New<\/p>\n

\u00a0Aberdeen Stadium when\/if it is built.<\/p>\n

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This is a city of 212,125 people according to the 2012 Census, with a further<\/p>\n

\u00a0232,850 residing in the sheep-shearing and tattie-howking toons and villages of<\/p>\n

\u00a0Aberdeenshire, and thousands more in north Angus and Moray. A catchment<\/p>\n

\u00a0area of half a million, and with some of the most affluent areas in the country,<\/p>\n

\u00a0Aberdeen has the potential to increase attendances and build a stronger team.<\/p>\n

\u00a0But there\u2019s a hitch \u2013 the club is \u00a315 million debt and as a consequence that<\/p>\n

\u00a0projected stadium on the outskirts of the city has been put on ice. Bank loans<\/p>\n

\u00a0of about \u00a310 million will have to be paid back over five years. In the current<\/p>\n

\u00a0economic climate enveloping Scottish football, they\u2019ll need more than just<\/p>\n

\u00a0success on the park to be able to pay all that back. Despite what the MSM may<\/p>\n

\u00a0reckon, owner Stewart Milne hasn\u2019t parted with much of his millions in the<\/p>\n

\u00a0past, so what chance he is going to open up the purse now.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0In Timdom, we don\u2019t generally care for any other teams, but this writer has a<\/p>\n

\u00a0certain empathy for the Sheep (with or without the furry coat), coming from<\/p>\n

\u00a0the north-east himself, 40 miles south of the Oil City. Aberdeen were never<\/p>\n

\u00a0going to usurp my devotion to Celtic but as a loon I cheered as Fergie\u2019s fighters<\/p>\n

\u00a0bashed the boche (Bayern Munich) and skelped the Spaniards (Real Madrid)<\/p>\n

\u00a0in the supposed diddy tournament of Europe in 1983. They liked to dish up<\/p>\n

\u00a0a beating for the Huns and forged a hate-hate relationship with the Orcs that<\/p>\n

\u00a0continued for a good decade and a half. Alas, they also had the measure of<\/p>\n

\u00a0Celtic in this time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Aberdeen and their partners in the lazily-titled New Firm won four league titles<\/p>\n

\u00a0and a pile of cups between them in a decade. One of them won a European<\/p>\n

\u00a0trophy, the other got to the final of another, the Uefa Cup, and also made the<\/p>\n

\u00a0semi-finals of the European Cup. Celtic remained a force at the time, winning<\/p>\n

\u00a0the league three times between 1981 and 1986, but the combined forces of<\/p>\n

\u00a0Dundee Utd, Aberdeen and Hearts (at least for one season) consigned Rangers<\/p>\n

\u00a0(RIP) to the odd League Cup win. Alas, there was a grim and abrupt end to this<\/p>\n

\u00a0unusually competitive domestic set-up when Sir David, the Most Revered Man<\/p>\n

\u00a0in Scotland, Ever, pumped other people\u2019s money into Ibrox.<\/p>\n

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Aberdeen were hit hard, and the last-day failure in Govan in May 1991 to lose<\/p>\n

\u00a0the league began a downward spiral of relegation battles and a fear of Queen\u2019s<\/p>\n

\u00a0Park. Dundee Utd experienced cup heartache, and the dreaded nine-in-a-row<\/p>\n

\u00a0began.<\/p>\n

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But before the Evil Empire destroyed Scottish football, I can\u2019t ever recall<\/p>\n

\u00a0anyone complaining that five teams were fighting for trophies. And the national<\/p>\n

\u00a0team didn\u2019t do so badly either, qualifying for all World Cups between 1978 and<\/p>\n

\u00a01986 and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Both Aberdeen and Motherwell finished with far more points than the \u2018best of<\/p>\n

\u00a0the rest\u2019 winner gets, 62\/63 points in the past three seasons. One cup has gone<\/p>\n

\u00a0north, the other went to Perth. Aberdeen has beaten Celtic twice<\/p>\n

\u00a0this season, inflicting the only League defeat on Lennon\u2019s men. Meanwhile, the<\/p>\n

\u00a0national team has been resurrected under Strachan and there\u2019s barely a sign of a<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sevco player among the squad.<\/p>\n

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But regardless of how lofty Aberdeen are, they are still 31 points behind Celtic<\/p>\n

\u00a0and were scrapping with Motherwell for a second spot that means nothing<\/p>\n

\u00a0without the second Champions League spot. All that early and mid-season<\/p>\n

\u00a0running faded after the League Cup win for Aberdeen, losing their way in the<\/p>\n

\u00a0league, to end up third, and going out in the Cup semi-final. The reality is that<\/p>\n

\u00a0Derek McInnes is no Alex Ferguson, and Jackie McNamara is no Jim McLean.<\/p>\n

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And for those in the MSM and elsewhere who think that Sevco will challenge<\/p>\n

\u00a0Celtic in their first season back at the top flight (barring administration,<\/p>\n

\u00a0liquidation or losing to Raith Rovers), please remember that Ross County won<\/p>\n

\u00a0the first division by 24 points in 2012. After being in contention for Europe<\/p>\n

\u00a0in their first season in the SPL, they only just avoided being involved in the<\/p>\n

\u00a0prestigious relegation play-offs. To quote that famous Celtic fan, Karl Marx:<\/p>\n

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\u201cHistory repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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__,_._,___<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From A. Reader… I don\u2019t know if you actually can feel d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu but it feels like it\u2019s running through me as I hear that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/afc-dufc.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1nj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5291,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5289\/revisions\/5291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}