Pittodrie's Top Ten European Nights

[Elgindon]

Wark was a great player,with one of the best penalty conversion rates around at that time.

 

As to the game itself,3 of us bombed thru in my sisters boyfriends battered old VW Beetle.I'd nearly lost my ticket before the game,after showing it off to pals,and dropping it down a drain but managed to recover it.

    An unrivalled Pittodrie Euro experience for us that night,oblivious to the future treats in store.Ipswich at that time were an extremely impressive scalp.

 

  Happy days 

[SeeBass]

I'm sure I've read somewhere that Ipswich Town have an unbeaten European Home record which reads something like 25 victories and six drawn over said 1962-2002 period.  This includes visits from Barcelona, AC Milan, Feyenoord, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and of course Aberdeen!!!!!!

[BigAl]

And another one I attended, without a doubt the best start I've ever witnessed in a game made all the more remarkable given it was a European semi-final.

 

3 Waterschei 1983

 

The tie against Waterschei is high on our list due to the significance and result.

 

It is easy to forget just how good a performance this was.

 

The Belgium’s on route had comfortably beaten FA Red Boys Differdange from Luxembourg and Danish outfit Boldklubben af 1893 but they had overcome Paris Saint-Germain at the Quarter Final stages. An even more impressive result when you consider they were 2-0 from the first leg. They won the return game 3-2 after extra time.

 

For Aberdeen, after their incredible comeback against Bayern Munich, to then win their first European semi-final in such an emphatic way typified what the Dons were all about back then.

 

The fevered atmosphere at Pittodrie helped Aberdeen to attack from the kick-off.

 

The Belgians, despite their impressive win over PSG in the quarter finals, along with Aberdeen were rank outsiders from the outset.

 

While they may have done the business so far in the competition, a packed Pittodrie was something completely different.

 

Within four minutes Aberdeen were two goals up in a whirlwind opening.

 

The Dons blitz began in the second minute when Doug Bell’s mazy run ended with Eric Black scoring from close range.

 

Then Neil Simpson slalomed his way through the Belgian defence as his shot wen in off Waterschei keeper Pudelko. One of the great Pittodrie European goals.

 

After the break the outstanding Bell was again in the thick of it as he set up McGhee to make it 3-0.

 

In 69 minutes Peter Weir scored with a header before Gudmundsson the Icelandic international pulled one back for the visitors.

[Elgindon]

 

Said it all in there.Further highlights for me were Simmie running towards the main stand in celebration after the second goal,and Martin Tyler,guffie TV fitba commentater at the time,walking along the edge of the South Stand smiling up at the crowd hoping for attention,but being blanked by everyone.   

[BigAl]

2 SV Hamburg 1983

 

The only European Final to be played at Pittodrie and watched worldwide as Aberdeen defeated the European Cup holders in style.

 

Never had the club profile been so high with the game being beamed live to more than 80 countries.

 

Two years after SV Hamburg had defeated the Dons in the UEFA Cup it was the more glamorous and prestigious European Super Cup that both sides would meet again.

 

It seemed that Aberdeen had learned a lot from their previous experience, as it was the Scots who were to emerge victorious on this occasion. In the first leg in Hamburg on 22nd November 1983 it was the tactical nous of boss Alex Ferguson that once again proved decisive.

 

A poor crowd of only 15,000 turned up to see an efficient Aberdeen go about their business in impressive fashion.

 

The Dons once again surprised their opponents by adopting a positive attitude and that meant for an open game. It was in defence that the Dons had to rely on to keep the tie at 0-0 with all to play for in the Pittodrie return.

 

The Dons could even have come back with a lead had it not been for a poor Mark McGhee finish in the second half after he had beaten two Hamburg defenders only to shoot tamely at Stein.

 

The return at Pittodrie was a more pulsating affair and typical of the legendary European nights that Pittodrie has been famed for in the past.

 

A full house and worldwide television audience it was a stirring second half display from Aberdeen that won the European Super Cup, the only Scottish club ever to do so.

 

Hero of the hour was Neil Simpson whose goal two minutes in to the second half opened the game up and subsequent Dons success. Mark McGhee added a second in 64 minutes in a second period that was dominated by the Dons and their joyous fans. It really did not get any better than that.

 

Aberdeen were quite superb in their approach and to the delight of manager Ferguson they took a deserved lap of honour after being presented with the Super Cup plaque. The fact that Hamburg’s ‘invincibility’ had been crushed only added to the occasion. The Germans were European Cup holders and the mantle of Europe’s best team was up for grabs.

 

The subsequent ‘Adidas European Team of the Year’ award came to Pittodrie on the back of their Super Cup success to end the year 1983 as the one year that Aberdeen were indeed the best in the continent. Aberdeen also had to put up with all sorts of statements attributed to some of their more illustrious names as they scoffed on the Aberdeen sides ability to compete with the best.

 

The Aberdeen players responded in the best possible fashion by eventually outclassing their more ‘illustrious’ opponents. Stewart McKimmie was signed from Dundee in a £90,000 deal only days before the Hamburg game and the young 21-year-old played in the Dons side that won the Super Cup; his first European appearance for Aberdeen.

[BigAl]

It was always going to be this way wasn't it.

Still brings a tear to my eyes.

Those of us old enough to have been there will take the memory of that night to the grave

 

 

1 Bayern Munich 1983

 

No surprises for the No1 position.

 

“Pittodrie’s Greatest Night” has been revered in memory and club video.

 

The night when Aberdeen defied the odds and claimed the scalp of one of the top clubs in world football.

 

Aberdeen were dining at the top table in the European arena and Alex Ferguson’s side were revelling jousting with Europe’s elite. Certainly, in those days the ECWC was full of some of the best sides around. There was no easy passage into the European Cup; that was still the privilege of the respective league champions of each country.

 

That meant the likes of the ECWC was littered with top sides every season.

 

It is hardly surprising that Ferguson was cautious in his assessment of Aberdeen chances in Europe that season. In the ECWC that season were the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Tottenham.

 

The Dons had only managed to reach the third round of any European competition for the first time the previous season. There was little to suggest the likes of Aberdeen could compete against some of the biggest clubs in world football.

 

Aberdeen as one of the unseeded sides also had to face a Preliminary tie; against Swiss side Sion.

 

The Dons negotiated their way through to the quarter finals with relative ease, almost unnoticed; certainly, by the bigger clubs who were expecting to battle it out in the latter stages. When the Dons came out in the draw for the quarter finals against Bayern Munich, they were instantly written off.

 

The Germans were dismissive of the Scots chances. Franz Beckenbauer the German international legend who was in the Hamburg side that played Aberdeen the year before declared that Bayern would be too strong;

 

“Aberdeen gave us a hard time in Scotland, but like most British teams they don’t travel well in Europe. I expect Bayern to be far too good for Aberdeen. The Scots will provide a test but technically Munich are better.” The German media were also of the same opinion as Aberdeen were not that well known across Europe. Bild newspaper declared that “Aberdeen will not present Bayern with any difficulty. It is a good draw for Munich who could have been paired with far more difficult opponents.”

 

Uli Hoeness, the Bayern coach took a more cautious view after watching Aberdeen dismantle Celtic at Parkhead; “We will need to be at our best to get through this tie. Aberdeen are well organised; technically superior to any British side I have seen in recent years. They present a real test for us

 

And it is important for us to take a lead to Scotland.”

 

That never materialised of course as Aberdeen went to the Olympic Stadium in Munich and looked a real class act as they held Bayern to a 0-0 draw that was without doubt one of the finest displays from a Scottish side on foreign soil.

 

It was manger Ferguson’s turn to be cautious; “The job is only half done. Bayern will present us with the toughest of tests as we still must win the tie. An away goal would give us a real problem; hopefully it will be one of those famous European nights at Pittodrie.”

 

After Aberdeen defeated the Germans 3-2 in what was the greatest night ever seen at the old stadium, the belief that was in the Aberdeen squad was now apparent in the Scottish media as expectations grew on the back of the Dons stirring performances in Europe. That additional pressure was well managed by Ferguson.

 

He knew his side were well equipped to meet such high demands and he was keen to temper the growing expectancy; “We have won nothing yet. The team have done well to get us into a position where we could make history. We have to keep our focus on the next challenge.”