Exorcising The Ghost Of 1991(Part III)

Last updated : 19 December 2007 By Stand Free Ed
ABERDEEN'S opponents in the most important European tie at Pittodrie for a generation are FC Copenhagen. You know that. 

FC Copenhagen was founded in 1992, not long after Alex Smith was removed from the manager's chair at Pittodrie. The club was formed as a merger between 15-time Danish football champions Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB) and seven-time Danish football champions Boldklubben 1903, both clubs from Copenhagen.

FCK used BK1903's club license to start its history in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship, while KB became the official reserve team of the club. So FC Copenhagen is effectively the new name for BK1903 Copenhagen.

The club plays its matches at the Parken Stadium, which also serves as the venue for Denmark national football team matches. Since its founding, FCK have had a fierce rivalry with fellow Copenhagen club Brøndby IF, and the so-called "New Firm" games between the two sides attract the biggest crowds in Danish football.

Okay, enough of the Wikipedia-based background. The fact is that by beating FC Copenhagen on Thursday, Abedeen can finally exorcise the ghost of 1991.

Victory would be a psychological boost to those Dons fans who have been suffering from fitba-related depression for sixteen years. We can shake the monkey from our backs.

We would be a European force again, rather than the European farce we have been for over a decade. It would be a marker in the ground - we would qualify from a group where we were bottom seeds.

But can we do it? Our current manager, while often playing the sort of football that makes Alex Smith look gung-ho, seems to understand how to set up a team to play in Europe.

He has also been saying the right things in the build-up to the game; galvanising the support with Fergie-echoing comments about Central Belt bias, and showing genuine belief that we can win on Thursday.

Yesterday, he said: "It is absolutely fantastic that we are in the position that we find ourselves in this week where we know exactly what we have to do to continue our European adventure, namely record a victory against a very good Copenhagen side here at Pittodrie.

"It is indeed a measure of how far we've come and all credit to the players for making it all possible.

"Right from the outset, I said it could well come down to what happens in the last game here and that's exactly how it's transpired.

"I felt that, while Madrid could easily go on and win the competition, we could have taken something in Athens and should have defeated Moscow here in Aberdeen. Indeed, being gutted at only drawing with Moscow underlines how the bar has been raised at the club!

"I have heard folk moaning about the fact that we have yet to win in our group but could still qualify but we don't make the rules, we only play by them. We knew what we had to do before the start and if we do get through, we are there on merit."

Unfortunately, Aberdeen have not had much luck against Danish sides in Europe. In fact we have managed a single draw in four games - and no wins.

As well as the 1991 defeats to BK1903 Copenhagen, 1996 saw Brøndby IF - then managed by future Aberdeen boss Ebbe 'Miniskirts' Skovdahl - knock Roy A*tken's side out of the same competition via a 2-0 victory in Aberdeen and a 0-0 draw at the Brøndby Stadium.

Team news is not great either. Darren Mackie, Jackie McNamara, Jeffrey de Visscher and Derek Young will all be missing, but Jamie Smith will be fit to face the Danes.

The match is a 21,000 sell-out, so let's make some noise and push the Dons over the finishing line.

And then, of course, there's the Rangers game...


Stand Free Ed