The highs. The heartbreak. The people who made it. This is their story.
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FC HISTORYEST. 1903
Aberdeen ↗
Founded
1903
Known as
The Dons
Home turf
Pittodrie
From
Aberdeen
The long read
More than a scoreline.
From local beginnings to the big occasions. This is Aberdeen.
An introductory history of the men’s first team, from the club’s origins through 2014. Selected turning points and honours, rather than a complete season archive; later results are outside this edition.
Three clubs become one
The present Aberdeen Football Club was formed in April 1903 through the amalgamation of Aberdeen, Orion and Victoria United. The new organisation retained Pittodrie. Those earlier clubs belong in the account of its origins, with their separate histories kept distinct. Source →
A place among Scotland’s winners
The first Scottish Cup came in 1947 and the first league championship in 1955. Alex Ferguson’s later team won the league in 1980, followed by further championships in 1984 and 1985. Aberdeen challenged the assumption that the major prizes must go to Glasgow. Source →
A rainy night in Gothenburg
In May 1983 Aberdeen beat Real Madrid 2–1 after extra time in the Cup Winners’ Cup final. John Hewitt scored the winner. Captain Willie Miller lifted the trophy, giving the club a European achievement with a very specific place and night attached to it. Source →
A second European trophy and later cups
Victory over Hamburg brought the 1983 UEFA Super Cup. Domestic cup successes continued, though the Ferguson years set a demanding benchmark. In 2014 Aberdeen won the League Cup on penalties against Inverness, adding another cup-winning team to the record. Source →
The moments that mattered
Through the years.
✦
1903
A city comes together
Aberdeen, Orion and Victoria United combine to form the present club. [source]
The earlier Aberdeen club began playing at Pittodrie in 1899. The new club formed in 1903 retained that ground; its history therefore reaches back beyond the merger.
Our first chapter is an introduction, not an exhaustive archive. We credit existing research and will expand the collection as more material is checked. Our editorial approach ↗