BBC often do programmes well, and this was a good example of what they can do. It was shown last night to mark the 40th Anniversary of Aberdeen’s Gothenburg triumph, and it is well worth watching on iplayer or whatever.
It is not our team, of course, but we know the characters. Gordon Strachan appears quite a lot (surprise! surprise!) as does Alex Ferguson himself with some quite horrendous stories about players getting blastings for poor performances and being threatened with the deduction of wages if they laughed after they had lost to Liverpool!
Sometimes, if they really upset him they were banished to the Aberdeen Beach to face the North Sea at its worst. All good stuff, and you wonder how much it was exaggerated.
The time that Gordon Strachan was attacked by a cretin at Parkhead is shown, and there is footage of the two games that Celtic lost to Aberdeen to blow the League in 1980. Not great viewing for us, but there is quite a lot from John Hewitt whom I once saw talking to Steve Chalmers at Parkhead. And what do they have in common? Yes, winning goals in European finals.
Some great shots of the players coming back from Gothenburg to parade in a bus before thousands of fans. Where are all the fans now? One thing for certain, they don’t go to Pittodrie!
Aye, 40 years ago! A few days after that, Celtic beat Rangers at Ibrox but didn’t quite win the League which went to Dundee United. It was the day of the “Don’t Go, Charlie!” banner. But he did!
Anyway a good watch for an hour, but a pinch of salt is occasionally advisable. A good triumph for the Dons but I wish it had been Celtic!
David Potter
