The bitterness of Aberdeen fans is nothing new

Doesn’t take me to tell you that it goes back further than ‘93.
Older posters might take us further back than the 1978 cup final incident that some reckon was the origin of their hatred of us.
 
tazzabear said:
Doesn’t take me to tell you that it goes back further than ‘93.
Older posters might take us further back than the 1978 cup final incident that some reckon was the origin of their hatred of us.
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Nah, I reckon people clutch at ideas hoping to find a single moment - in fact I think it changed over a few seasons down to the rise of the Aberdeen casuals and their attacking of ordinary fans.
 
There’s been a kind of cockiness about Aberdeen since Ally Macleod was in charge that’s led them to delude themselves that they have some kind of rivalry with us.
 
The 78-79 League Cup final when Rougvie got sent off started Alex Ferguson creating the "west coast bias" stuff he constantly went on about in the years that followed.
That seemed to change their fans attitude towards us, but I've never understood why they hate us so much more than Celtic. At the time, Celtic were more of a rival for trophies than we were.
 
I worked in Aberdeen for 10 years in the 80's. Went to see them a lot, especially early on and also as the only means of saving vouchers for Rangers tickets. Aberdonians generally are an odd bunch, a product of their geographic isolation perhaps. I could never work them out. They had a great team under Fergie but sadly believed they were special and that that would last forever. The look on their faces the morning after their Euro win, after I had heartily congratulated them, when I said there was only way now for them....and that was down o_O
 
Clicker said:
There’s been a kind of cockiness about Aberdeen since Ally Macleod was in charge that’s led them to delude themselves that they have some kind of rivalry with us.
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Reality changes cockiness into more and more and more BITTERNESS ! (sorry for the Caps.)

Add to that their disappointment at not being able to assume the position of Club 2 in Scotland in our absence - Well they were never ever going to become club number 1 and it is now eating their hearts out. At the end of the day it comes down to jealousy, small 'town' etc. etc. !

I can't remember but do they have a high bridge in Aberdeen (like the Erskine ?) No thought not !
 
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dh1963 said:
The 78-79 League Cup final when Rougvie got sent off started Alex Ferguson creating the "west coast bias" stuff he constantly went on about in the years that followed.
That seemed to change their fans attitude towards us, but I've never understood why they hate us so much more than Celtic. At the time, Celtic were more of a rival for trophies than we were.
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A lot of fans of other clubs do hate both Rangers and Celtic but are terrified to say a peep in public about Timothy.
 
mdingwall said:
A lot of fans of other clubs do hate both Rangers and Celtic but are terrified to say a peep in public about Timothy.
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That lot undoubtedly hate us more than they hate Celtic, and I honestly can't figure out why that is or remember what made them like that.
 
I still think its something do to do with the boom in the 80s's they had a good team, they had the money they became flash cnuts. They would come down mob handed and smash their route to most football grounds.

All other teams around the late 80's with the exception of Rangers, Hibs and maybe Motherwell allowed that to happen and they came to town and took the piss. So when we did stand up to them and turn that around they didn't take it too well.

Knowing a wee bit about some of the things that used to happen off the field, there is a pathway to events that turned all this in our favour. All non footballing wise but linked to the history of the fan scene.

For years Aberdeen coming to Glasgow they ruled the roost, the lads involved turned around that and made coming to Ibrox or Hampden for games against Rangers a much harder event for them.

Going to Aberdeen you didn't have many fans coming off the train and you didn't get many drinking in and around union street. My own bus used to go to the harbour area and for a few years that was as close as we went, then a few years before the Robbie Winters match something changed, Rangers fans started drinking in the city centre (again my own eye witness accounts) We started getting bolder, they tried to start attacking pubs that Rangers fans where drinking in, once we started fighting them off they couldn't handle it. This in my own opinion came to ahead the night of the winters match when it kicked off big style. Any time I ask them why they hate us so much they can't quite put a finger on it but know things changes massively around the mid 90's and only the press put everything on to the Simpson tackle.

They do hate us more than we hate them and for a while in the 80's-00's the matches between us used to be hatred but fun.

Now they are nothing but a blemish on our arse cheeks.
 
Lived >a decade there. Loved the people & the city. But the hatred for RFC is visceral. A mate moved down when I came back. 7 years ago, >20 after we became pals, his gloating earned a rebuke, he took the huff & we lost touch. Plenty bears in the town; it's just wise not to advertise. So I wore our top every Sunday:p;). No Surender.
 
They'll tell you the hatred started after a stamping incident involving Willie Johnstone and John McMaster.
 
I think it's a jealousy thing. They were high on the crest of Scottish football and then when the magnificent one arrived the pendulum swung to us. We were news UK wide. The modern-day hatred in my opinion stems from the monumental fall out with the assault on Durranty. That really set the tone. Their mob are finished. Still clinging on to yesteryear hanging around with Fissle and the Germans. They don't even turn out when we are up there and hardly appear down here when they come. A draw against us is a victory in their eyes. They're always too busy dropping their knickers for the scum and they know it. They have more of a kinsmanship with them now.
 
It’s hard to believe now but in the early 80s I used to meet a couple of mates who were Aberdeen fans for a few pints before games at Pittodrie. Not only that but I recall the football specials from Queen Street (those were the days) used to have a small number of fairly amiable Aberdeen supporters along with the hordes of Bears fans, without any bother. The rise of their casuals introduced a nasty edge to it and it became advisable to avoid city centre bars after that. My feeling at the time was that they were no more than a bunch of tiresome arseholes, but clearly they took it much more seriously that that and have done so ever since.
 
The Johnstone-Rougvie incident for me was an incident that took the hatred to a new level. TBH I cant recall the details other than that it involved a footballer and a non-footballer and was over on their main stand and west side. I could be wrong on the detail maybe.
 
I first arrived in Aberdeen in the early 70's. Used to go to the occasional game at Shittidrie, but it wasn't until Ferguson fired them up in the eighties that the vitriol really started.
Ultimate wee man with a chip on his shoulder syndrome. Fùck em, I say.
 
Folk in the North East used to be very territorial, some still are but I'd imagine it's a lot less now. They hated anyone from yon side of Perth, especially Glaswegians. As Rangers are THEE Glasgow team we are hated with a venom. Trying to pin it on a football incident would be impossible, it's been bred into them for generations.
 
dh1963 said:
The 78-79 League Cup final when Rougvie got sent off started Alex Ferguson creating the "west coast bias" stuff he constantly went on about in the years that followed.
That seemed to change their fans attitude towards us, but I've never understood why they hate us so much more than Celtic. At the time, Celtic were more of a rival for trophies than we were.
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Simple. They're feart to hate celtc in case they get labeled sectarian.
And anyway, if a diddy team is going to go all out to manufacture a 'rivalry' with another club, who better to target than the top dogs, why piss about with the likes of celtc?
 
Clicker said:
Maybe these days a lot of people in this bitter wee backwater hate British patriotism more than Irish republicanism.
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nail on head , and the only reason the snp are in the position they are now

what a bigoted country we live in now
 
Over 15 years ago at work I once walked in on a sheepy colleague telling an American visitor all about Scottish fitba culture, the atmosphere, the rivalries, etc.

Just as I walked in, the Yank asked him who his club's big rivals were and he - suddenly aware I could hear them - said sheepily (how appropriate?) "em, er, his team Rangers, b-b-but their real big rivals are celtc, so our rivalry with them is a bit one sided from their point of view."

"And don't you forget it!" I told him. His coupon was as red as a sheep's shirt, much to the amusement of the Yank.

To this day I still have no more regard, derision, concern or hatred for them than I would for Hertz, HIVs, the Arabs or anybody else.
I find the idea that they see themselves as our rivals so fucking amusing.
 
dh1963 said:
That lot undoubtedly hate us more than they hate Celtic, and I honestly can't figure out why that is or remember what made them like that.
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Certainly from the mid-1980s when Rangers has all the English players, it was easy and nobody in media or even the police would criticise you in Scotland for shouting anti-English abuse at someone.

Rangers are they symbol of Protestant Unionism in Scotland for people who don’t support the club, as much as for those who do. Although clearly the motives for identifying Rangers as such differ depending on whether you are for or against the club.

By around 2010 the Aberdeen support were coming to Parkhead and singing, “We hate Rangers more than you”.
It is their identity... it’s all they’ve got these days - hating a club that is located 150 miles away.
 
Nizzy72 said:
There are that many Rangers fans in Aberdeen and that's another reason why your average Aberdeen fan hates us so much.
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I mentioned on another thread about visiting grounds when we were down the leagues...
I stood outside Stair Park on a February (Champions League on terrestrial TV) night,trying to sell on our RSC spare ticket for two hours before the game kicked off... when it finally got sold I went into the ground;and as the game went on; I got talking to the four guys next to me.... members of the Granite City Loyal...... that`s dedication. What I had done headed over from Dumfries at 3pm paled into insignificance.
 
williewoodburn said:
I worked in Aberdeen for 10 years in the 80's. Went to see them a lot, especially early on and also as the only means of saving vouchers for Rangers tickets. Aberdonians generally are an odd bunch, a product of their geographic isolation perhaps. I could never work them out. They had a great team under Fergie but sadly believed they were special and that that would last forever. The look on their faces the morning after their Euro win, after I had heartily congratulated them, when I said there was only way now for them....and that was down o_O
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I beg to differ Re Fergie, he was a second class player for us, with his Hot Head antics on field. However his intimidation of Referees at a time when Us and the Scum were poor, led them to have a slight highlight. His intimidation of Refs reminds me of Liewell, linked to Valentine the Creep of a Ref from Dundee almost gave them the points.
 
Aberdeen is not strictly nationalist. With the fishing and oil industries it means the Tories have done pretty well up there.
Having spent 5yrs living there they are the oddest bunch. They just hate us as we stand for everything they wish they were. Incidents like Durant etc just help flame the rivalry. Personally I hate them just as much as mentally challengeds. They are a nasty horrible lot.
 
They cannot be reasoned with or speak with any kind of objectivity when it comes to Rangers.

Seeing the hurt it has caused them of our return and quickly surpassing their achievements in our absence has not gone down well with the core of their support. A support so struck by delusions of grandeur and completely devoid of any kind of realism as we will soon begin to witness with the appointment of Dave Cormack as Chair.

Best summed up by savouring their semi final victory against us last year in a competition they ultimately lost.
 
Nothing has changed with them, the most bitter set of fans, id say on par with C*****, Work in Aberdeen, no matter the score, no matter what happens. The hatred for rangers is incredible, forever in our shadow.
 
that's what happens when you become less important and overtook by another side

know you'r place dolly
 
It keeps them believing they are a big club after the Ferguson era. I live in Aberdeen and it really is an irrational attitude they have towards us.
 
Glendonagasaki said:
Nothing has changed with them, the most bitter set of fans, id say on par with C*****, Work in Aberdeen, no matter the score, no matter what happens. The hatred for rangers is incredible, forever in our shadow.
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I'm all for hating other clubs, I have a list as long as my arm, but I don't understand how people seem to be more passionate about hating another club than supporting their own.

An old work pals bf was an Aberdeen fan and everything out his mouth was Rangers bashing, never saw him talk about his own club in a non Rangers context.

It's probably the only way they'll ever get any attention as they've clearly nothing else to shout about
 
A team with faded delusions of grandeur. The high water mark was Gothenburg for them and they were a major force in our league. With achieving nothing is 30 years its easier for their fan base to form kinship / camaraderie / bonds by focusing on hating a rival than actually supporting your own side.

The MSM also stoke up the hatred theme when we play them, which appeals to theIr sense of utter jealousy and inferiority.
 
Paisleybear30 said:
I'm all for hating other clubs, I have a list as long as my arm, but I don't understand how people seem to be more passionate about hating another club than supporting their own.

An old work pals bf was an Aberdeen fan and everything out his mouth was Rangers bashing, never saw him talk about his own club in a non Rangers context.

It's probably the only way they'll ever get any attention as they've clearly nothing else to shout about
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My point proven, the most bitter set of fans out there, when they have won sweet **** all.
 
China Bear said:
A team with faded delusions of grandeur. The high water mark was Gothenburg for them and they were a major force in our league. With achieving nothing is 30 years its easier for their fan base to form kinship / camaraderie / bonds by focusing on hating a rival than actually supporting your own side.

The MSM also stoke up the hatred theme when we play them, which appeals to theIr sense of utter jealousy and inferiority.
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The irony being that many, many fans of other clubs wanted them to win in Gothenburg. That wouldn’t be the case now.
 
mdingwall said:
Nah, I reckon people clutch at ideas hoping to find a single moment - in fact I think it changed over a few seasons down to the rise of the Aberdeen casuals and their attacking of ordinary fans.
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I remember their casuals getting a battering in george square by celtic fans (who they were playing) and a train full of Rangers fans arriving in a football special at Queens Street then finished them off. That was before simpson / durrant. The hatred stemmed from this era.
 
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