1979–80 Aberdeen F.C. season

Aberdeen
1979–80 season
ChairmanDick Donald
ManagerAlex Ferguson
Scottish Premier Division1st (Champions)
Scottish CupSemi-final
Scottish League CupRunners-up
UEFA CupFirst round
Drybrough CupQuarter-final
Top goalscorerLeague: Steve Archibald
Drew Jarvie (12 each)

All: Steve Archibald (22)
Highest home attendance24,000 vs. Celtic, 31 October 1979 and 19 January 1980
Lowest home attendance5,000 vs. St Mirren, 15 December 1979
Average home league attendance12,625

Aberdeen competed in the Scottish Premier Division, Scottish Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup in season 1979–80. They finished first in the Premier Division, the club's first Premier Division title and second Scottish league championship. In the cups, they reached the Scottish Cup Semi final, losing to Rangers, and lost the League Cup Final after a replay against Dundee United. In Europe, they were drawn against Eintracht Frankfurt, losing 1–2 on aggregate over two legs in the first round.

Results

Friendlies

In July 1979, Aberdeen embarked on a tour of Denmark, playing three games. This was followed by friendly matches against three Scottish clubs, and home games against English clubs Coventry City and Tottenham Hotspur. During the season, friendly matches were played against Leicester City, Rothes and an Arbroath Select.[1]

Date Opponent H/A Score Aberdeen Scorer(s) Attendance
17 July Denmark Kolding IF A 2–1 Archibald, Harper 0
19 July Denmark Randers A 1–0 Jarvie 0
21 July Denmark IK Skovbakken A 7–0 Archibald (2), McGhee (2), Garner, Cooper, Jarvie 0
30 July Buckie Thistle A 1–0 Watson 0
2 August England Coventry City H 4–1 Miller, Strachan, McGhee, Own goal 0
4 August Cowdenbeath A 3–0 McGhee, Jarvie, Rougvie 0
8 August England Tottenham Hotspur H 2–0 Archibald, McGhee 0
9 August Nairn County A 5–1 Jarvie (2), Harper, Scanlon, Cowan 0
5 September England Leicester City H 1–1 Watson 0
24 February Rothes A 4–1 Davidson (2), Scanlon, Hamilton 0
16 March Arbroath Select A 2–3 McGhee, Jarvie, Rougvie 0

Scottish Premier Division

Match Day Date Opponent H/A Score Aberdeen Scorer(s) Attendance
1. 11 August Partick Thistle A 0–1 7,500
2. 18 August Hibernian H 3–0 Archibald, McMaster (2) 10,300
3. 25 August Dundee United A 3–1 McGhee, Archibald, Harper 10,982
4. 8 September Morton A 2–3 Archibald, McMaster 5,540
5. 15 September Rangers H 3–1 McMaster, Strachan, Rougvie 23,000
6. 22 September Celtic H 1–2 Strachan 23,000
7. 29 September Dundee A 4–0 Archibald, Harper, Jarvie (2) 11,817
8. 6 October St Mirren A 2–2 Archibald, Harper 9,163
9. 13 October Kilmarnock A 3–1 Strachan, Jarvie, Scanlon 12,000
10. 20 October Partick Thistle H 1–1 Davidson 12,000
11. 27 October Hibernian A 1–1 Watson 7,000
12. 3 November Dundee United H 0–3 12,500
13. 10 November Morton H 1–2 McLeish 10,400
14. 17 November Rangers A 1–0 Archibald 18,500
15. 15 December St Mirren H 2–0 McLeish, Hamilton 5,000
16. 5 January Morton A 0–1 6,000
17. 12 January Rangers H 3–2 Archibald, Strachan, Hamilton 18,600
18. 19 January Celtic H 0–0 24,000
19. 2 February Dundee A 3–1 Jarvie (2), Hamilton 7,661
20. 9 February St Mirren A 1–1 Strachan 7,900
21. 23 February Kilmarnock H 1–2 Archibald 9,600
22. 1 March Partick Thistle H 1–1 Jarvie 9,000
23. 15 March Dundee United H 2–1 Watson, Jarvie 10,000
24. 19 March Dundee H 3–0 Watson, Jarvie, Miller 7,000
25. 22 March Morton H 1–0 Jarvie 7,250
26. 29 March Rangers A 2–2 Jarvie, Archibald 20,000
27. 1 April Kilmarnock A 4–0 McGhee (2), Strachan, Kennedy 5,000
28. 5 April Celtic A 2–1 McGhee, Jarvie 40,000
29. 7 April Dundee H 2–1 Strachan, Jarvie 11,600
30. 16 April Hibernian H 1–1 Watson 15,000
31. 19 April Kilmarnock A 3–1 Strachan, McGhee, Archibald 3,000
32. 23 April Celtic A 3–1 Strachan, McGhee, Archibald 48,000
33. 26 April St Mirren H 2–0 Rougvie, Scanlon 19,000
34. 29 April Dundee United A 1–1 Strachan 12,954
35. 3 May Hibernian A 5–0 McGhee, Archibald, Watson, Scanlon (2) 12,921
36. 7 May Partick Thistle A 1–1 MacKinnon 7,000

Final standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Aberdeen (C) 36 19 10 7 68 36 +32 48 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Celtic 36 18 11 7 61 38 +23 47 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
3 St Mirren 36 15 12 9 56 49 +7 42 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Dundee United 36 12 13 11 43 30 +13 37
5 Rangers 36 15 7 14 50 46 +4 37
Source: Statto and RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Results by round

Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536
GroundAHAAHHAAAHAHHAHAHHAAHHHHHAAAHHAAHAAA
ResultLWWLWLWDWDDLLWWLWDWDLDWWWDWWWDWWWDWD
Position842624343333434654334464222222211111
Source: Statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Drybrough Cup

Round Date Opponent H/A Score Aberdeen Scorer(s) Attendance
QF 28 July Kilmarnock A 0–1 0

Scottish League Cup

Round Date Opponent H/A Score Aberdeen Scorer(s) Attendance
R1 L1 15 August Arbroath H 4–0 McGhee, McMaster, Davidson, Jarvie 6,700
R1 L2 22 August Arbroath A 1–2 Black 9,000
R2 L1 29 August Meadowbank Thistle A 5–0 Garner, McGhee, McMaster (2), Strachan 1,200
R2 L2 1 September Meadowbank Thistle H 2–2 McMaster, Strachan 6,000
R3 L1 26 September Rangers H 3–1 McLeish, Garner, Harper 18,000
R3 L2 10 October Rangers A 2–0 Strachan, Harper 28,000
QF L1 31 October Celtic H 3–2 Archibald (3) 24,000
QF L2 24 November Celtic A 1–0 McGhee 39,000
SF 1 December Morton N 2–1 McGhee, Strachan 11,896
F 8 December Dundee United N 0–0 27,173
F R 12 December Dundee United N 0–3 28,933

Scottish Cup

Round Date Opponent H/A Score Aberdeen Scorer(s) Attendance
R3 26 January Arbroath A 1–1 Archibald 5,764
R3 R 30 January Arbroath H 5–0 Archibald, Scanlon (3), Hamilton 9,127
R4 16 February Airdrieonians H 8–0 Scanlon, McMaster, Miller, Strachan, Archibald (4) 10,410
QF 8 March Partick Thistle A 2–1 Archibald, Jarvie 8,584
SF 12 April Rangers N 0–1 44,000

UEFA Cup

Round Date Opponent H/A Score Aberdeen Scorer(s) Attendance
R1 L1 19 September West Germany Eintracht Frankfurt H 1–1 Harper 20,000
R1 L2 3 October West Germany Eintracht Frankfurt A 0–1 20,000

Squad

Appearances & Goals

No. Pos Nat Player Total Premier Division Scottish Cup League Cup Europe
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Scotland SCO Bobby Clark 52 0 34 0 5 0 11 0 2 0
GK Scotland SCO Jim Leighton 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF Scotland SCO Doug Considine 25 0 15 0 1 0 7 0 2 0
DF Scotland SCO Neil Cooper 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF Scotland SCO Willie Garner 34 2 20 0 1 0 11 2 2 0
DF Scotland SCO Stuart Kennedy 53 1 35 1 5 0 11 0 2 0
DF Scotland SCO Alex McLeish 52 3 35 2 5 0 11 1 1 0
DF Scotland SCO Willie Miller (c) 46 2 31 1 5 1 8 0 2 0
DF Scotland SCO Doug Rougvie 37 2 25 2 4 0 8 0 0 0
MF Scotland SCO Doug Bell 16 0 10 0 4 0 2 0 0 0
MF Scotland SCO Duncan Davidson 13 2 7 1 2 0 3 1 1 0
MF Scotland SCO Derek Hamilton 19 4 13 3 4 1 2 0 0 0
MF Scotland SCO John McMaster 51 9 33 4 5 1 11 4 2 0
MF Scotland SCO Ian Scanlon 42 8 29 4 4 4 7 0 2 0
MF Scotland SCO Gordon Strachan 51 15 33 10 5 1 11 4 2 0
MF Scotland SCO Andy Watson 20 5 17 5 3 0 0 0 0 0
FW Scotland SCO Steve Archibald 52 22 34 12 5 7 11 3 2 0
FW Scotland SCO Joe Harper 20 7 11 3 0 0 7 3 2 1
FW Scotland SCO John Hewitt 5 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
FW Scotland SCO Mark McGhee 29 10 21 6 1 0 7 4 0 0
FW Scotland SCO Drew Jarvie 44 14 30 12 4 1 8 1 2 0
FW Scotland SCO Dom Sullivan 7 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

Unofficial Appearances & Goals

No. Pos Nat Player Drybrough Cup
Apps Goals
GK Scotland SCO Bobby Clark 1 0
DF Scotland SCO Doug Rougvie 1 0
DF Scotland SCO Willie Miller (c) 1 0
DF Scotland SCO Doug Considine 1 0
DF Scotland SCO Willie Garner 1 0
DF Scotland SCO Derek Hamilton 1 0
DF Scotland SCO Alex McLeish 1 0
MF Scotland SCO Dom Sullivan 1 0
MF Scotland SCO Gordon Strachan 1 0
FW Scotland SCO Duncan Davidson 1 0
FW Scotland SCO Drew Jarvie 1 0
FW Scotland SCO Steve Archibald 1 0
FW Scotland SCO Mark McGhee 1 0

References

  1. ^ "Aberdeen FC 1979–80". Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  • Kevin Stirling. Aberdeen A Centenary History 1903-2003. Desert Island Books 2002. ISBN 1-874287-49-X.