Matches of the Season - 1979/80

Last updated : 12 May 2010 By Caddy Carhandle

1979-80 was a peculiar, if ultimately memorable season. It was the year that one trophy seemingly destined for Pittodrie slipped away, while another, altogether bigger, prize suddenly ended up in Aberdeen's lap.

Dougie Bell

Alex Ferguson had had his season of grace, which all managers demand though not all are fortunate enough to enjoy. Fergie's personal difficulties were behind him. The transfer market had been reasonably quiet. Sullivan had gone to Celtic for £82,000. The only players set to break into the side were fringe players, plus Dougie Bell, who Fergie had poached from St Mirren on a free transfer.

The season got off to a dreadful start, a last-minute defeat at Partick brought about by McLeish's handball. It was afterwards that Ferguson uttered his famous remark: 'Don't laugh, but I've got a scent about the way things are going to turn out this season.' Ferguson may have doubted his own words when Aberdeen lost at Morton, then at Arbroath (in a League Cup-tie), and then at home to Celtic, in a match seething with animosity. Tommy Burns was the only player expelled, though half a dozen others might have joined him. Billy McNeill, it seemed, did not like losing, least of all to his former employers.

The fifth defeat of this nascent season ended Aberdeen's interest in Europe for another year. Once again they were brought down by a German team, this time Eintracht Frankfurt, famous for their part in the epic European Cup Final with Real Madrid in 1960. Their currant side contained six internationals, among them Jurgen Grabowski and Bernd Holzenbein, both of whom had been in Germany's World Cup 74 winning team. At Pittodrie in the first leg spectators were treated to the rare sight of Stuart Kennedy, one of the nippiest full-backs in Scottish football, skinned alive by the lightning-fast Korean, Cha Bum Kun.

It was early October and Ferguson's team had yet to find their feet. Nor did fortunes improve in November, when Dundee United and Morton won at Pittodrie on successive Saturdays.

A third defeat by Morton dumped Aberdeen down to sixth. Ferguson was a year and a half into the job and progress seemed slow. Flashes of inspiration in cups were drowned in a sea of inconsistency in the league. Had the team finished in the bottom half, one wonders how Fergie would have been viewed by supporters, and more importantly by his employers. The question would remain hypothetical.

A cruel winter was again playing havoc with the schedule. This, plus Aberdeen's League Cup run, left them seriously adrift in their fixtures. A goalless home draw with Celtic failed to close the daunting ten-point gap, though the Dons had played three games fewer. At that halfway stage Aberdeen had a modest twenty points from eighteen matches, little better than par. It was asking much of any team to mount a serious challenge from that position.

Aberdeen timed their title push to perfection. In this they were assisted by the upheavals that precipitated Ferguson's arrival, for neither Rangers nor Celtic had yet bedded down. Under Greig and McNeill each was rebuilding concurrently, and neither was running away with the championship in the time-honoured manner.

These unusual circumstances, of two transitional Old Firm teams, encouraged others to have a tilt at the title. Aberdeen had to start winning, obviously, but Celtic also needed to scatter points like confetti to be caught.

Incredibly, Celtic fell to pieces. In the space of nineteen days in April they lost 1-5 at lowly Dundee and twice to the Dons at Parkhead. Aberdeen had won three times at Celtic in one season; Rangers had also been beaten five times, and these unprecedented upsets stamped the Dons' arrival as a power in Scottish football. All they needed was a prize to prove it.

The Scottish Cup option was dashed in a semi-final by Rangers, who all season had been little better than cannon-fodder to the Dons' sharpshooters. Only the league remained, but when Hibs, inflated with an overweight George Best in their ranks, drew at Pittodrie that seemed tantamount to whistling for the moon.

The next game brought Aberdeen's second triumph at Parkhead. It was a night of seething emotion, with Gordon Strachan missing a penalty. The 3-1 win nudged the Dons above Celtic with four games to play - three of them away from home. A year earlier Dundee United had been in the same position. Jim McLean's boys blew it, and there were many who expected Aberdeen to blow it too.


Match of the Season (1)

Sat 12th Jan 1980

Aberdeen 3 (Strachan 2, Archibald 70, Hamilton 89)
Rangers 2 (J.MacDonald 11, Jackson 49)

Aberdeen: Clark, Kennedy, Considine, McLeish, Garner, Rougvie, Strachan, Archibald, Hamilton, McMaster, Scanlon (Hewitt)

Rangers: McCloy, Jardine, Dawson (Smith), Forsyth, Jackson, Stevens, McLean, Russell, Parlane, A.MacDonald, J.MacDonald



Aberdeen capped and tailed an enthralling match with two delicious goals. Strachan opened the way with a 20-yard rocket. After Rangers had gone ahead Derek Hamilton squard for Archibald to levl, and then had the joy of bagging that vital winner.


Match of the Season (2)

Sat 5th April 1980

Celtic 1 (Doyle 23)
Aberdeen 2 (Jarvie 19, McGhee 56)

Celtic: Latchford, Sneddon, McGrain, Aitken, MacDonald, McAdam (Lennox), Provan, Doyle, McGarvey, McLeod, Burns

Aberdeen: Clark, Kennedy, Rougvie, Watson, McLeish, Miller, Strachan, Archibald, McGhee, Jarvie (McMaster), Scanlon



Aberdeen simply had to win. McGhee took the ball round Latchford for Jarvie's opener. Doy;e's back-header made it all square. After a Scanlon shot was blocked, McGhee thumped the rebound past Latchford. Then drama. Clark pushed McGarvey. Penalty. Clark dived to save from Lennox and Celtic's unbeaten home record was gone.


Match of the Season (3)

Wed 23rd April 1980

Celtic 1 (McCluskey 11 pen)
Aberdeen 3 (Archibald 9, McGhee 45, Strachan 65)

Celtic: Latchford, McGrain, MacLeod, Aitken, MacDonald, McAdam, Provan, Conroy (McGarvey), McCluskey, Burns, Doyle

Aberdeen: Clark, Kennedy, Rougvie, Watson, McLeish, Miller, Strachan, Archibald, McGhee, McMaster, Scanlon



This is Aberdeen's most vital league match of the season. The result is an even more emphatic win at Parkhead than secured earlier in the month. It provided a contrast of emotions for Gordon Strachan, having a penalty saved by Latchford at 1-1, before side-footing the third and decisive goal when Latchford dropped the ball.


Match of the Season (4)

Sat 3rd May 1980

Hibernian 0
Aberdeen 5 (Archibald 26, Watson 28, Scanlon 67,88, McGhee 84)

Hibernian: Huggins, Brown, Duncan, Paterson, Stewart, Callachan, Murray, McNamara, Torrance, Brazil, Cormack

Aberdeen: Clark, Kennedy, Rougvie, Watson, McLeish, Miller, Strachan, Archibald, McGhee, McMaster, Scanlon



On Saturday, 3 May, Aberdeen played at Hibernian, with Celtic engaged at Love St. The Dons also had a crucial match in hand, at Partick.

Easter Road was at that time a bogey ground for Aberdeen, who had yet to win there in the Premier League. Presuming Celtic won, Aberdeen would not be proclaimed champions at Easter Road. They would need a further point or two at Firhill the following Wednesday. Whereas Hibs were bottom of the league and going down, St Mirren were a feisty outfit, already sure of finishing third. They could be banked upon to resist Celtic.

Aberdeen polished off poor Hibs without fuss. The saddest man was Hibs' debutant goalkeeper, Dave Huggins, who was beaten five times and whose first match for Hibernian would also be his last. The points were safe for Aberdeen long before the end; all that mattered was the score at Love St. Thousands of mini-radios were pressed to thousands of ears.

Ten minutes from time Celtic, who were drawing 0-0, were awarded a penalty. A groan swept round Easter Road, followed by a mighty cheer. The referee had consulted a linesman and changed his mind. Aberdeen's game finished first, and anxious seconds passed before confirmation of the draw at Love St launched Ferguson's famous dance on the pitch.


Aberdeen were champions of Scotland, the first outside the Old Firm for fifteen years. The title had been won in Edinburgh, or so it seemed. But not to the mandarins of the Scottish League. Partick, who had set the season rolling so miserably all those months ago, could divert the trophy to Celtic if they beat Aberdeen by ten goals. That possibility was judged real enough for the coronation to be deferred till after the game at Firhill, which ended 1-1.

The championship meant different things to different players. For Bobby Clark it was the culmination of his long career, a clean sweep of domestic medals; for Willie Miller it was the beginning of a torrent of trophies under Alex Ferguson. For Gordon Strachan it was the realisation of his gorgeous talent. Ferguson had switched him from centre midfield to the right, and Strachan had blossomed to such an extent that he was voted Scottish Football Writers' Player of the Year. For Steve Archibald the league title was a fitting farewell. Transfer talk had been thick for weeks, and he would shortly be on his way to Spurs for £800,000.

No more Archibald, and no more Harper either. For wee Joey it was a season of frustration and, later, public criticism. He had been out since November with injury, but that appears to have saved him the indignity of being dropped. Ferguson states in his memoirs that the work-rate demanded of his team could not accommodate someone like Harper, not renowned for grafting, and that away from home Harper could be a luxury. Ferguson wrote: "I don't think we would have won the League Championship with Joe in the side." At 32, Harper's time was up. The principal beneficiary of his long absence was Mark McGhee, a £70,000 snip from Newcastle who, like Strachan, took time to adapt, but who would grow into a centre-forward of international stature.



Quotes from the Champions

MIDFIELD maestro Gordon Strachan has two very special reasons for being delighted that Ester Road was the venue for the Premier League championship "clincher".

• ONE was that he was born and bred in Edinburgh.
• TWO was that eight years ago Hibs turned down the opportunity of signing him!

Gordon explained: "I signed on an S-Form for Hibs when I was a schoolboy and attended Easter Road for coaching and training sessions.

"However, when Eddie Turnbull took over Hibs he decided not to call me up. The main reason was he thought I was being paid too much - £4 a week!"

Gordon went to Dundee before arriving at Pittodrie.

Scotland's Player of the Year capped the league triumph with another brilliant display, which earned the praise of his colleagues on the way home in the team bus.

"Some of his crossfield passes were out of this world", said skipper Willie Miller.

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"I CAN'T really believe it. It will take a couple of days before it sinks in."

That was the comment of young Andy Watson, the only Aberdonian in the Dons' team.

And what a day for the 20-year-old midfielder! He produced a great display which included a first half goal and a brilliant second half shot which almost shattered the crossbar.

"I was really proud of that effort", said Andy, "It's a pity it didn't go in. However, Ian Scanlon scored from the rebound - and that's what counts".

Andy came out for the second half with his left hand bandaged. "I staved my thumb in the first half", he explained, "but didn't have time to think about the pain!"

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DREW JARVIE, top scorer for the Dons in the Premier League with 13 goals, had to be content with a substitute's role on Saturday.

But that certainly did not prevent him from being involved in the tension during the match and the amazing celebration scenes afterwards.

"There was a young girl with a transistor at the back of the dug out", said Drew, "who kept us informed of the score between St Mirren and Celtic.

"At one stage we thought Celtic were leading 1-0 during all the furore and noise, but soon realised that was wrong when the boss did his victory jig.

"As for the game itself I couldn't wait for the third goal to go in. Once it did I knew we were home and dry.

"I'll never forget that feeling of joy and achievement when the fans invaded the pitch."

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SKIPPER Willie Miller doesn't believe in omens. But when the strains of the pop tune "Dream Machine" came to his ears as he led the team on to Easter Road he began to wonder.

"I remembered that some of the lines went 'not to lose now but to win, tell me where do I begin, cause I've a dream, a silver dream machine', and said to myself: 'This could be our day'.

"Everything worked out perfectly, of course, so you could say David Essex played a part in our triumph!"

The skipper did not bask long in the glory. "It will be even harder next season as everybody will be wanting to chop down the Dons. There is also the European Cup - so a lot of hard work lies ahead".


Research by CaddyCarhandle
Edited by StandFreeEd