Match of the Season - 1994/95
The summer witnessed a radical restructuring of the Scottish League. Not only was the Premier Division shrunk back to ten - inviting that mad dog-fight to escape the three relegation places - but an extra division was created and new clubs brought in to fill it. Another innovation, designed to brighten the tarnished face of Scottish football, was the introduction of play-offs. In the Premier League, the bottom team would face automatic relegation, while the team above them would play off against the Division 1 runners-up. For the likes of Aberdeen, these changes seemed of Martian insig¬nificance, of concern only to others.
Another change was the awarding of three points for a win. This had been introduced in England back in 1981, and play-offs in 1986. The Scottish League had insisted on maintaining the status quo. But with more and more nations switching over, and FIFA employing 'three points' in World Cup 94, Scottish compliance was only a matter of time.
Not that Aberdeen looked likely to benefit. Three points for a win punishes teams that draw, and no one drew more than Aberdeen. Had the new system been installed one year earlier, they would have finished third instead of second, eight points behind Rangers instead of three.
Whether or not these changes were responsible, Willie Miller wanted a clear-out. Though several players' contracts were up, the extent of the exodus took everyone by surprise. Lee Richardson, feeling hounded by referees, returned to England. Ten Caat's departure reduced the Dutch squad to one - Snelders. Miller's first signing, Mixu Paatelainen, joined Bolton. Most attention focused on the vanishing old guard. Bett had gone to Iceland, McLeish, after seventeen years at Pittodrie, was named manager of Motherwell, and Connor had also played his last game. With McLeish's depar¬ture, Stewart McKimmie was named captain.
The intake was just as extensive. Much was expected of £800,000 record signing Billy Dodds, a proven predator at Dundee and St Johnstone. Other arrivals were Peter Hetherston (Raith, £200,000), Colin Woodthorpe (Norwich, £400,000), and - in October - John Inglis (St Johnstone, £400,000). They would enjoy mixed fortunes.
The new broom did not sweep clean. Aberdeen embarked on a season of unsurpassed trauma. Bearing in mind they had finished second to Rangers in five of the previous six seasons, no one could have anticipated that they would fall so fast so quickly.
Aberdeen's first competitive fixture was in the Preliminary Round of the UEFA Cup. Despite being Latvian champions, Skonto Riga had been downgraded into the UEFA Cup. Whatever tournament they were in, they were there to be beaten.
By all accounts the 0-0 draw in Riga was dire. But it was made to look glamorous by Aberdeen's wan display in the return leg, which saw them ousted on the away-goals rule. Never in the European era had the Dons been so embarrassed by such humdrum opponents (who would be beaten 0-3 by Napoli in the next round). Emotions among spectators spilled over after the game, many insisting that what they had seen was beyond compare.
Had they a crystal ball, those same supporters would know to expect more of the same, and worse. Arguments would rage not about the best match of the season but the worst. And there was no shortage of candidates.
Stranraer in the League Cup - now sponsored by Coca-Cola - would have been a contender but for Duncan Shearer's face- saving winner. Aberdeen's next dose of humble pie was administered by Alex McLeish, Big Eck himself. Motherwell had never won at Pit¬todrie in the Premier League in thirty attempts. That is, until 15 October when, trailing to Billy Dodds' first-half penalty, McLeish's team struck three times. Defeat at Tynecastle the following Saturday dumped the Dons next to bottom. They had gone nine games without a win and had kept a clean sheet just once.
It was early to start thinking the unthinkable. Pundits dismissed the idea that Aberdeen might be relegated, insisting with famous last words that they were too good to go down. That did not square with what supporters were witnessing. Besides, it was nearly twenty years since the Dons had been in the mire. The players had no experience of scrapping their way to safety and would surely be disadvantaged against the Particks, Falkirks and Kilmarnocks, battle-hardened veterans in the art of survival. Whisper it quietly, but some Aberdeen players appeared docile in defeat. If losing hurt, it did not hurt nearly enough.
Miller had changed not only the personnel but also the tactics, experimenting with modern formations such as 3-5-2 or 5-3- 2. Players and supporters alike seemed bemused by the permutations.
A ray of light appeared in the Coca-Cola Cup. Five goals against Partick and four against Falkirk carried the Dons to the last four, where Raith and Airdrie from Division 1 waited pensively. Sadly, Celtic made up the foursome, and it was they who came out of the bag. Brian O'Neil's extra-time header earned Celtic their infamous appointment with Raith.
Whether or not a Coca-Cola Cup triumph would have lifted the Dons we shall never know. The next black day was not long in coming. On 3 December Kilmarnock won at Pittodrie to push Aberdeen down to tenth. They could go no lower.
What needs reminding is that Aberdeen had not known a losing team since 1975-76. Both the Old Firm had experienced hard times since then - for Celtic, defeats outnumbered wins as recently as 1989-90, and Rangers in 1985-86. Prior to 1995, even the weakest Dons teams finished in the top half. What was happening now was beyond comprehension.
Clutching at straws, maybe, but the Dons staged a mini-revival. Six unbeaten games - three wins, three draws, twelve points - hoisted them to the dizzy heights of sixth. True, they were assisted by two own-goals and Pittodrie endured two miserable goalless draws, but at least fear of the dreaded drop was receding.
If only. The defeats returned - 2-4 at Hibs, 1-3 at Kilmarnock. Aberdeen were back down to ninth and at that point the directors decided enough was enough. Miller had to go.
Willie Miller was a fighter, and his departure must have hurt him deeply. Supporters had not directed their frustration at him; they blamed anyone and everyone, which meant their anger was blunted by being unfocused.
This is not to say they were unhappy at Miller's going. No one associated with Aberdeen FC escapes some share of responsibility for the sorry state of affairs the club found itself in. In these times of limited patience and success at all costs, supporters had put unprecedented pressure on the board. Judged purely by results, Porterfield and Smith were not bad managers. They were not judged by results, however, but against Alex Ferguson's record.
One could understand the board's thinking in asking Miller to take charge. He was the people's choice, not necessarily theirs, and if all turned sour it was the people who should take the blame.
Financial factors had to be weighed too. Aberdeen FC prided itself on good housekeeping. Ferguson nurtured success; he had not had to buy it. But in Fergie's time Rangers and Celtic also spent comparatively little. The mega-buck 90s, when Rangers splashed millions on anything that moved, created a market in which Aberdeen self-evidently could not compete. The Richard Donald Stand obliged even more belt-tightening. Supporters retorted that money cannot buy a team. Ferguson had proved that. What the club needed most was a new Ferguson, not a new stand.
Certain players also came in for criticism. McKimmie, as captain, took much of the flak and was provoked into unpleasant exchanges with the crowd. But when the heat was on, he came to the fore and led by example.
The bottom line, of course, rests with Miller himself. He knew the club inside out and had had three years in the job. There was talk of younger players failing to respond to him, of tactics being too complex, of opposing sides coming to Pittodrie with no thought other than to defend. But Miller had been in the game too long to expect others to carry the can. Looking back, everyone was relieved that he was not burdened with driving the club he loved into a lower division.
With twelve matches to play there was little sense in searching for an outsider, even though Roy Aitken was in many eyes too closely associated with Miller (and Celtic). Aitken was give temporary custody of the team till its fate was decided.
His first two games touched heaven and hell. First, Aberdeen beat table-topping Rangers 2-0 at Pittodrie. Then came the result that eclipsed even Skonto Riga. Stenhousemuir from Division 2 won 2-0 in the Scottish Cup. The score made headlines, the Dons had become the laughing stock. If confirmation was needed of their parlous state, this was it.
Aberdeen picked up just two points from their next six games. They were marooned at the bottom and Kilmarnock had achieved what no other club had ever done - beaten Aberdeen four times in the league in one season. When Rangers won 3-2 at Ibrox it seemed as if the patient was beyond resuscitation. Aberdeen's only escape, should the worst come to the worst, seemed to lie with idle gossip about restructuring the league. That would surely happen in the case of the Old Firm, but Aberdeen would probably be left to sink or swim. Besides, the shame of being rescued by bureaucrats would be worse than being relegated.
ABERDEEN HONOURS UNDER WILLIE MILLER
None.
Runners-up in Scottish Championship 1992-93, 1993-94.
Runners-up in Scottish Cup and Skol Cup 1992-93.
A momentary respite came with a home success over Celtic, but cruel defeat at Motherwell, coupled with Dundee United's win at Partick, pitched Aberdeen to the edge.
Before kick-off at Hearts on 29 April Aberdeen looked to be beyond recall.
Pos Team Pld GD Pts
8 Kilmarnock 33 -5 42
9 Hearts 33 -6 40
10 Partick 32 -12 37
11 Dundee Utd 33 -13 36
12 Aberdeen 33 -7 32
Partick had aggravated matters, propping up the table for so long, but now pulling clear. Dundee United, however, were tumbling in the opposite direction.
Billy Dodds' late goal earned three precious points at Tynecastle. The rest, as they say, is history. The Dons won all their remaining games to defy the odds and stay in the Premier League.
Match of the Season 1
15th April 1995
Aberdeen 2 (Shearer 30, Irvine 41)
Celtic 0
ABERDEEN: Watt, McKimmie, Wright, Kane, Irvine, Smith, Heatherston, Shearer, Miller (Glass), Dodds (Jess), Grant
CELTIC: Bonner, Boyd, McKinlay (O'Donnell), Vata, O'Neil, Grant, McLaughlin, McStay, Falconer, Walker (Donnelly), Collins
Attendance: 16,668
Ref: Jim McCluskey
Celtic have drawn more than half their games and having reached the Scottish Cup Final seemed ill-inclined to roll up their sleeves and scrap. Shearer's soaring header from Stephen Wright's cross lifted spirits. Brian Irvine's first goal of the season was a super volley at the far post.
Match of the Season 2
29th April 1995
Hearts 1 (McPherson 64)
Aberdeen 2 (Dodds 61 pen, 85)
HEARTS: Nelson, Wishart (Jamieson), Miller, Levein, Berry, McPherson, Hamilton, Bett, Colquhoun (Robertson), MacKay, Hagen
ABERDEEN: Watt, McKimmie, Wright, Grant, Irvine, Smith (Glass), Heatherston, Shearer, Miller (McKinnon), Dodds, Jess
Attendance: 11,466
Ref: T McCurry
Aberdeen's missed chances in the first half look to be expensive. Hagen pushed Shearer in the back and Dodds sent Nelson the wrong way from the spot. McPherson looked offside when heading the equaliser. Dodds' glancing header means the Dons' fate is back in their own hands.
Match of the Season 3
6th May 1995
Aberdeen 2 (Dodds 38, Shearer 68)
Dundee Utd 1 (Winters 85)
ABERDEEN: Snelders, McKimmie, Wright, Grant, Irvine, Smith, Heatherston, Shearer, Miller, Dodds, Jess (Glass)
DUNDEE UTD: O'Hanlon, Perry, Malpas, Dailly, Craig, Johnston, Crabbe (McLaren), McInally, Gomes, Brewster (Winters), Hannah
Attendance: 20,124
Ref: H Williamson
The New Firm was a joke in Glasgow eyes. Here were these supposed east coast superstars battling it out just to stay up. It looked likely that both would go down.
Dundee United had lost their cutting edge some years earlier, though it was only when Jim McLean stepped upstairs as chairman that the cracks widened. Winning the Scottish Cup in 1994 had done little to arrest the general decline. As with Aberdeen, a generation of great players in the 80s had gone and never been replaced.
Even so, few expected these two clubs to be where they were. If Aberdeen lost, they would finish bottom and go down. Realistically, both teams were striving to finish ninth, where they would take their chances in the play-offs. United had won once in nine games, Aberdeen twice in nine, so no one could accuse the teams of over-confidence.
The atmosphere inside Pittodrie was electric, unrecognisable from that of even a few weeks earlier. Half-time was approaching when O'Hanlon parried Jess's header, allowing Dodds as easy a goal as he has ever scored. Dodds made the second, squaring for Shearer, unleashing a crescendo of noise that was stilled only when Robbie Winters pulled one back five minutes from time. The countdown was agonisingly slow, but the roar that erupted told its own story.
Match of the Season 4
13th May 1995
Falkirk 0
Aberdeen 2 (Thomson 14, Glass 50)
FALKIRK: Parks, Weir, McGowan (McDonald), Hughes, McLaughlin, Clark, Kirk, Rice, Fulton, Johnston, MacKenzie
ABERDEEN: Snelders, McKimmie, Wright, Grant, Irvine, Smith, Thomson (Kpedekpo), Shearer, Miller, McKinnon, Glass
Attendance: 12,835
Ref: J McGilvray
If Aberdeen win and Hearts lose, the Dons will avoid the play-offs. 7,000 travelling fans outnumber and outshout home fans. Scott Thomson heads in Glass's free-kick, then Glass scores from a move begun by Thomson. Hearts beat Motherwell to send Aberdeen into the play-offs.
Match of the Season 5
Play-off, 1st Leg, 21st May 1995
Aberdeen 3 (Glass 39, Shearer 56, 87)
Dunfermline 1 (Robertson 49)
ABERDEEN: Snelders, McKimmie, Wright, Grant, Irvine, Smith, Heatherston, Shearer, Miller, Thomson, Glass
DUNFERMLINE: van de Kamp, MacNamara, Fleming, McCathie, Tod, Smith, den Bieman, Robertson, Moore (Shaw), Petrie, McCulloch (Hawkins)
Attendance: 21,000
Ref: L Mottram
Aberdeen have a history of firsts - winning the first Scottish championship that qualified (in theory) for the first European Cup (1955); losing the first ever European tie to be decided on penalties (1970); playing in the first Scottish Cup Final to have extra- time (1982) and penalties (1990); now participating in the first ever play-offs. We should have known all along that this was to be the Dons' destiny.
Winning at Falkirk in the final fixture earned Aberdeen that privilege. Whether the opponents would be Raith, Dundee, or Dunfermline was not determined until the final kick of the final match.
The rules stipulated that the Premier side be at home for the first leg. But in the minds of supporters, though not players, the hard part had been done in beating Dundee United. That had been the one that mattered. The atmosphere for the visit of Dunfermline was in consequence perceptibly less tense, almost as if safety was a foregone conclusion.
Dunfermline had lost only four times all season - the fewest in any Scottish division - and the most recent of those had been back in January. They had missed automatic promotion by just one point and Stewart Petrie and Hamish French had scored 26 league goals between them. Dunfermline, in other words, were not short on confidence, and their preference to play it tight was not necessarily the wisest option.
It took almost forty minutes to break through, Stephen Glass's free-kick eluding the keeper. Craig Robertson did his former club no favours when heading Dunfermline level from a corner, and at that point, survival seemed far from assured. Seven minutes later Shearer nodded in McKimmie's lob, and three minutes from time added a ferocious volley to make it 3-1.
'It's a goal, Duncan Shearer,' roared the faithful. Young Stephen Glass had earlier hung his head, having waltzed through the Pars' defence on his own, only to miss badly. Now all was forgiven.
Match of the Season 6
Play-off, 2nd Leg, 25th May 1995
Dunfermline 1 (Smith 72)
Aberdeen 3 (Dodds 49, Miller 65, Glass 80)
DUNFERMLINE: van de Kamp, MacNamara, Fleming, McCathie, Tod, Smith, den Bieman, Robertson, Moore, Petrie, McCulloch (Shaw)
ABERDEEN: Snelders, McKimmie, Wright, Grant, Irvine (Inglis), Smith, Heatherston, Shearer, Miller (Kane), Dodds, Glass
Attendance: 16,000
Ref: J McCluskey
At East End Park the Dons had too much know-how to let the Pars off the hook. Half-time arrived without inroads into their lead, and after the turnaround Aberdeen turned on a show. When Dodds headed in Wright's cross the nightmare was finally over. The party began. Stephen Glass almost scored a sensational goal in the first leg. Now it was fitting that he should wrap things up by taking the ball round van de Kamp.
DID YOU KNOW?
Dunfermline's last league win over Aberdeen was on 22 January 1972. Since then they had tried and failed 20 times.
Research by: CaddyCarhandle
Edited by: StandFreeEd