Talk:Aberdeen F.C.

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[edit] Unusual question

Pardon the perhaps unusual question. I am writing from the US. I have a medallion from a long ago Scotland Soccer event and would like to obtain some information on it. The Medallion has A.J. F. A. on the left side and 1903-04 on the right side. The center appears to be an upright Lion. The back of the Medallion states -Challenge Cup and my Father in Law's fathers's name- Thomas Geddes. Can someone please help with some history on the subject and what might A.J.F.A. stand for? Thank you for any assistance. Ed and Carol

My guess is Aberdeen Juvenile Football Association. Catchpole 10:04, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

POV/non-encyclopedic stuff in the Bright Future section should be cleaned up - particularly the last line: "And so we wait for the next season - reading rumours, and watching the world cup." QuinnHK 12:38, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Dons

  • Can anyone tell me why Aberdeen are called "the Dons"? (I was contemplating including a brief explanation under the Dons article.)
--Matt derry 12:26, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Yes, the precursor to Aberdeen F.C. - Aberdeen - was founded by local schoolmasters, and the River Don runs through the city.
--Discosebastian 17:57, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
  • According to the club's official history, there is some doubt over the whole 'schoolmasters' theory. The word 'Don' is not common in Aberdeen, and is unlikely to have been used by a football crowd. The author, Jack Webster, speculates that it could well have been a contraction of 'Aberdonian'; via 'The 'Donians' to 'The Dons'. He does have one concrete fact, however: the nickname was first used in print in a report on the Celtic game on February 15th, 1913. Certainly, before this date, the club nickname was the 'Black and Golds' or 'The Wasps' It's understood/By every single person/Who'd be elsewhere /If they could 17:42, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
  • I think the shortening of Aberdonian is more likely than the schoolmaster link. Catchpole 09:04, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Yes. I've got Webster's book too, and I can only agree.
--Discosebastian 22:52, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Floodlights

I was brought up a die-hard Don, and while I clearly remember the story about Donald Colman and the world's first 'dug-out' (which I'll write up shortly), I don't think we were the first club to have floodlights. My invaluable Jack Webster book gives the date as 1959, which seems kind of late to me - European games had been going on for several seasons before then, and weren't the famous Moscow Dynamo team in Britain to play floodlit games long before then? I'll do some digging. Watty1962 22:39, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

There may not be much history before 1980 (in terms of trophies, at least), but I think this could be given a bit more prominence. If I get time, I'll do some work on it, and see if I can't construct something a bit more solid. Watty1962 22:39, 29 September 2006 (UTC)


OK, it's a pretty major revision in the end - there may be one or two links which need attention; I'll come back to them in the next day or so. My aim was to give equal prominence to all parts of the club's history - I felt that the previous version had way too much detail on the last 5 years, and almost nothing on the 1950s, for example, when the club won several major trophies. I've tried to be as objective as possible; please let me know if anything still needs work.

I've removed the floodlight reference; I can't find anything which leads me to believe that AFC were the first to introduce them.

I've also taken out the 'expand' tag - I've done as much as I can to list famous players - feel free to put it back if you think there's more to do.

Watty1962 06:14, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Relegation

Aberdeen aren't one of three teams in Scotland to have never been relegated; Gretna and Elgin City have never been relegated, and there are probably more. Surely the line should be changed to something like "one of three teams in the SPL to have never been relegated?" Swaddon1903 14:26, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Correct, Swaddon1903. Don'tClickHerechat / what i've done / email 15:52, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Yeah but Gretna and ICT are also SPL sides who have never been relegated, so the total is five. 82.13.251.172 (talk) 14:19, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

I've gone through this and removed anything which seems redundant or not verifiable, as follows:

  • Goalkeeper Mark De Clerk scored on his debut versus Berwick Rangers in 1980; a Belgian keeper, signed from a Dutch club, scoring for a Scottish side on English soil. Changed spelling to 'de Clerck', which I believe to be correct. No source for this info, although I remember it well. I'll try to get some more info on this
  • Pittodrie was the first all seater stadium in Scotland and the first sports venue in the uk to have a dug-out. They were discovered during a tour of Iceland and brought back by trainer Donald Coleman in the early 1930s, Everton then played Aberdeen in a friendly and took them down to England. Pitoddrie was not the first all-seater stadium in Scotland - New Kilbowie was, although they had a whole side at least uncovered. Pitoddrie was trumpeted often as the first 'all seated, all-covered' stadium in Britain, but there are many of us who suffered the elements at either end of the South Stand who could tell you that this wasn't strictly true, either - but if verification can be found for this, it could go in. More troubling is the dugout stuff. It flatly contradicts the reference earlier in the article, and has no verifiable source. I have never heard the story of a trip to Iceland (which would have been unusual in the 1930s) or had any other source say anything other than that Colman was the inventor. If there is a source for this information, which would contradict the source I have (see references), then I'd like to know more.
  • Aberdeen are the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies - the European Cup Winners Cup against Real Madrid on 11 May 1983 and later that year the European Super Cup against the European Cup holders Hamburg.
  • Aberdeen, along with the 'Old Firm', are the only sides in Scottish football never to have been relegated from the top flight.Removed, per earlier discussions - not true, in any case
  • The first ever Aberdeen goalscorer was Willie McAulay against Stenhousemuir on 15 August 1903 in front of 8,000 spectators in Pittodrie.I don't doubt it, but what is the source? Mine agrees in all other respects, but does not give the name of the scorer.
  • Due to the perceived isolation of Aberdeen compared to the rest of Scotland, Aberdeen fans have been labelled 'sheep shaggers'. Consequently Aberdeen fans have taken pride in reinforcing this allegation and inflatable sheep are a frequent sight at games. It's true, but again - no source

Watty1962 00:09, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I go to a lot of Aberdeen's games and not once have I seen an inflatable sheep. Don'tClickHerechat / what i've done / email 15:54, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
Couldn't comment on whether they are a regular sight, but...[1] Archibald99 16:02, 31 December 2006 (UTC)


[edit] European Cup

Can this line be verified "Their reward, however, was not to be a place in the first European Cup competition - Scotland's place was awarded to Hibs." As I understand it, Hibs were only involved because the teams above them refused entry - this line makes it seem like Aberdeen were somehow bypassed in preference of a different team.Largo1965 15:57, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

They were bypassed. There was no stipulation that entrants to the first competition had to be league champions, although most associations did nominate their reigning champions. The SFA nominated Hibs as Scotland's entrant, although there appears a possible conflict of interest in this process - the President of the SFA at that time just happened to be Harry Swan, also chairman of Hibs. This article should prove a suitable reference. Caledonian Place 01:17, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New article?

I propose that the history section be given its own article as it seems a bit long-winded to be on the main article? Not that there's anything wrong with the section itself, I just think that it merits its own article. Swaddon1903 10:34, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree - that approach is in line with the template for football clubs, and it would streamline this article. I've done a piece on club colours as well, but I don't have time right now to edit down the history section, so it'll stay in both places for a short time until I can get back to it. Watty1962 23:35, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
OK, it's all done. I've rewritten the history section, perhaps it's too drastic an edit, but the old one is now on the new page, so feel free to amend as you see fit. I'm researching a short piece on the crest as well, although as with the 'colours' section, some corroboration other than my memory would be a positive thing.Watty1962 03:34, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notable Players

Why not have Brian Irvine, Peter Kjaer, Scott Severin and Scott Booth in this section? Also does Cato Guntveit have to be here? I'm not sure if he was that notable.

Severin is a current player, and I've noticed that for some reason, a legend like Brian Irvine doesn't have a Wikipedia article. Or at least he didn't when I last checked. Swaddon1903 (talk) 14:26, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Current state of play (December 2007)

I think that this article has a lot going for it, but needs a fair bit of tidying and reassessment. If I look at the template, I think we are not a million miles away from it, but there are some glaring improvements required:

  • References! I have a few reference texts, and I'll try to work through those in the coming days to try to improve things on this score
I've made a start: it already looks a lot healthier
  • The History, Stadium, and Colours sections are decent, but could do with some fleshing out in places. There is no 'Supporters' section; I have no verifiable source for anything, but I'm sure such things exist.
Made some amendments; introduced a Supporters section. If anyone has references for the two places I've indicated, that would be great.
  • UEFA Cup 2007/8 - is in entirely the wrong article. If it needs to exist (and I suppose it does, on balance), it should be in the current season article - but it ought there to be balanced by a section on each of the competitions. As it stands, in the main article on the club, it is half as long as the entire section on the club's 100+ year history. It's also somewhat subjective in places.
Deleted for now - I have a copy in my sandbox; I'll try to figure out what to do with it in due course
  • Aberdeenshire Cup - gets more prominence than any of the senior trophies - more words on this insignificant local cup than for the two European trophies, which is absurd. If it is truly notable, the Cup should have its own article; as it stands, it elevates it to a ridiculous degree - essentially, AFC have until recently been the only senior club in the competition, and generally entered it with reserve or youth squads. I'm a fan, and I'm struggling to make it sound notable.
See above
  • Famous Players - I'm still 3 short on the Hall of Fame, which I've been working away at all year. Teddy Scott is going to be the biggest problem; all sources agree how important he has been to the club, but few, if any, give biographical detail. I don't know his full name, his date or place of birth, or even, shamefully, if he's still alive. Any help with that would be most welcome. The others I will get to in due course. Beyond those, the remaining players definitely need to be fleshed out. Missing notables include the likes of Alex Jackson, the Yorstons, Donald Colman (who really should have an article of his own), Matt Armstrong, Paddy Buckley, Willie Mills, Bobby Wishart - the list goes on: the history of the club goes back beyond 1978...
Much improved; still plenty to do
  • Honours - this may well reflect the page on the club website, but so many of these trophies are insignificant to the point of obscurity - anyone got any idea what the Dewar Shield was? I propose that this is stripped back to notable trophies, and I remain to be convinced that reaching the third round of the UEFA Cup (for example) is in any way an 'honour'. To my mind, this section for all clubs should reflect trophies won by the senior team in competition with other senior teams, and perhaps at a push runners-up positions. Beyond that, it looks suspiciously like cruft to me.
  • Records and Achievements - looks suspiciously like a trivia section in parts.

I'll use this as a kind of 'to-do list' over the coming weeks as I have time; feel free to disagree or convince me otherwise. Watty1962 (talk) 00:09, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Watty1962 (talk) 22:29, 8 January 2008 (UTC)


OK, I've made some fairly major changes; I'd like to know what people think - I'm not sure how much more could or should be on a main page, given that there are several sub-pages. I'm no expert, but I feel it can't be far away from GA status - I might submit it just to get some feedback.Watty1962 (talk) 01:11, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
Actually, I just went ahead and submitted it - let's see... Watty1962 (talk) 01:17, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hall of Fame

At last, all the members of the Hall of Fame have an article. Next up, I'll work on the two remaining 'Famous players', then I guess it's back to the start to see if I can flesh out any of these a bit more. Watty1962 (talk) 03:18, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GA Review

Resolved GA Issues

Updated: Watty1962 (talk) 07:10, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm going to try and work on this. WEBURIEDOURSECRETSINTHEGARDEN tell me a joke... 17:30, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GA Review 2

Resolved GA Issues
  • The colours and crest section is weak on references.

Also just a quick note on dashes and hyphens. Hyphenated words should just have a hyphen, e.g. all-red. whereas dashes in the middle of sentences should be either spaced endashes, or unspaced dashes, e.g. "and the early 1980s shirts—as worn at the 1983 European Cup Winners Cup final—featured white vertical pinstripes." or "and the early 1980s shirts – as worn at the 1983 European Cup Winners Cup final &ndashes; featured white vertical pinstripes." but try remain consistent, using just one or the other. See WP:DASH for more details. I think I've corrected them.

I'll put it on hold for now until you can fix the above points. Drop me a line when you've done. Peanut4 (talk) 21:18, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

  • One more thing. A fair few of those references would not pass WP:RS. There are other wiki projects and forums in there for a start of. Peanut4 (talk) 22:27, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GA Pass

I'm going to pass it now, because you've done a superb job, from both the first review a couple of months back, and since starting this second nomination. Excellent work. However, with a bit more work this could reach be put forward for FAC, so I'll leave you a short list for some more work to push it on.


GA review (see here for criteria)
  1. It is reasonably well written.
    a (prose): b (MoS):
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.
    a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects): b (focused):
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    Fair representation without bias:
  5. It is stable.
    No edit wars etc.:
  6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.
    a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
  7. Overall:
    Pass/Fail:

To get it up to featured status, my suggestions would be:

  • Check to see if the sources all meet WP:RS. You've certainly made improvements since last night, and at first glance, they do seem to be.
  • Possibly use {{cite news}} or {{cite web}} to generate your references. You will need author's names, and dates that articles appeared to go in there too. And I'm not sure you need to say publisher is news.bbc.co.uk, just either BBC News or BBC Sport, etc. Y Done
  • I think the Stadium section could be expanded a little bit.
  • Possibly find a picture of Aberdeen supporters for the supporters section.
  • Once you've done that, head either for League of Copyeditors to brush up any English, or Peer Review for further input (or both) and then onto FAC.
  • Oh, and watch out for recentism. The last few lines of the history section are stacked up in favour of recent weeks.

Overall, great work. If you've any other queries, don't hesitate in giving me a shout back. Peanut4 (talk) 14:44, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] FAC comments

I don't like leaving lengthy lists of individuals issues on FAC, where they can take up a disproportionate amount of space, so I'm putting further comments here.

I think the article could benefit from a third party copyedit. I've taken a closer look at one particular section (Stadium) as an example, here are in depth comments:

  • Aberdeen have played their home matches at Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, since before their amalgamation in 1903,[31] where they were originally renting the ground, and proceeded to buy it in 1920. What Tony would call a "snake", which should be split into more than one sentence. The wording also implies that Aberdeen have played there since before they existed, when in fact in means the previous Aberdeen club. Here is an alternative: Aberdeen have played at Pittodrie Stadium throughout their existence. The ground was first used by the original Aberdeen F.C. in 1899; when they merged with two other teams in 1903, the new club took over the old Aberdeen ground. The club initially rented the ground, but subsequently bouth it in 1920.
  • The stadium consists of four stands: the Main Stand, which houses the club offices and players facilities; the Merkland Road Stand, or the family stand; the South Stand, a quarter of which is used to accommodate travelling supporters, except for Old Firm games, where half of this stand is given to the visiting fans; and the newest element, the Richard Donald stand at the East, or Beach End, of the ground, named after former chairman Dick Donald. Again, all one sentence. The staium is more than just the stands, there's also the small matter of the pitch. The description of the main stand makes it sound as though it is purely offices and changing rooms.
  • Other information such as record attendance could be included.
  • Is the information about the new stadium based on possiblity or certainty? The reference talks of a "possible development", but that sort of thing has been talked of for years without anything happening. Oldelpaso (talk) 22:06, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Another I've noticed: They are also the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies, both in the same season - The Super Cup was won in December 1983, so while it was in the same year, it occurred during the following season. Oldelpaso (talk) 16:33, 23 April 2008 (UTC)