Exorcising The Ghost Of 1991(Part II)

Last updated : 19 December 2007 By Stand Free Ed
BK1903 COPENHAGEN were seen as a novelty at the time of Aberdeen's Pittodrie fixture with them on the 18th of September 1991.

"Oh look, they've got our year of formation in their name! Bless 'em," we laughed. "Who?" we mocked.

At this point, Aberdeen had qualified for Europe virtually every year since 1980, with final and semi-final appearances in the European Cup-Winners Cup and a quarter-final appearance in the European Cup to their name. We were a regular fixture in the Euro draws, and a force to be reckoned with.

So when the unknown Danish side with the silly name arrived at Pittodrie, no one thought it would be anything other than shooting practice for Jess, Gillhaus, Booth, Mason and co.

But the fans had witnessed successive home defeats to Airdrie and St Johnstone, and this, coupled with the festering anger at the previous season's failure, put pressure on Aberdeen to deliver against the Danes.

They didn't, and it provoked supporter outrage never previously witnessed at Pittodrie.

Loud chants of 'Smith must go' followed substitute Kaus's 86th-minute winning goal for Boldklubben 1903. Even more alarmingly, team spirit crumbled, with experienced right-back Stewart McKimmie arguing with team-mates and, astonishingly, supporters in the South Stand.

Smith had previously managed to spin a 0-0 home draw in Europe as better than a victory, but not even he could stem the flow of supporter unrest following this result.

Amazingly, in between the home and away legs against BK1903, Aberdeen managed something they have not achieved in the sixteen years since - a victory at Ibrox. Heart-breakingly, the events of 1991 ensured that this feat was now a near-unique rather than regular occurrance.

In the return leg in Denmark, BK1903 brushed aside a powder-puff Aberdeen team. The Dons had no answer to the combative, well-drilled Danes in the Gentofte Stadium, and this was compounded by Brian Irvine's wayward thrown-in enabling the Johansen twins to work the opening goal between them.

Torben Piechnik, later to sign for Liverpool, headed on to Jensen for the Danes' second goal and the humiliation was complete. We lost 3-0 on aggregate, Aberdeen's worst ever European result.

The rot had set in, and the fans had turned. Of the sixteen remaining fixtures in 1991, Aberdeen won only six and lost seven. They had slipped to mid-table, and a 4-0 rout by bogey club Dundee United on New Year's Day in 1992 was an emphatic demonstration of the wreck that the club had become.

Demonstrations at Pittodrie were frequent, with calls for Smith's head led by rabble-rousing fanzine The Northern Light, but it took until February 1992 before he was removed, by which time the Dons had recorded only one more win in the league - a 4-0 thrashing of table-topping Hearts.

Meanwhile, BK1903 went on to reach the quarter final of the UEFA Cup after eliminating Bayern Munich (including an incredible 6-2 victory) and Trabzonspor.

So what has this little history lesson got to do with this week?


To be continued...


Stand Free Ed