St Johnstone v Aberdeen

THE HISTORY by Kevin Stirling

St Johnstone's recent win at Pittodrie has meant the Perth side have just edged ahead of Aberdeen in previous SPL meetings with seven wins to the Dons six. The Perth side also have a superior goal tally, scoring five more than the Dons in 18 previous meetings. Despite that Aberdeen have enjoyed an unbroken spell in the top flight while St Johnstone's return this season was never in doubt after they just failed to reach the top six.

In all previous league meetings it is Aberdeen who have the better record, helped by their impressive spell in the Premier League between 1975-1998 when the Dons won 15 of the 28 meetings and suffered only five defeats. The last meeting at Pittodrie was the 102nd league clash between the sides and Aberdeen have scored 153 goals with 43 wins. The last occasion St Johnstone were relegated from the league in 2002, Aberdeen were undefeated in all four meetings as the Dons qualified for European football. The other occasions when Aberdeen have remained undefeated in all meetings was in 1983.84, 1992.93, 1993.94 and 2000.01.

When St Johnstone visited Aberdeen in September 1964, the Dons under Tommy Pearson had been inconsistent to say the least. While they could call on the talents of Charlie Cooke in what was his last season at Pittodrie, it was in defence they had problems. Against the Perth side in a league match, Aberdeen cruised into a 5-2 lead after an hour. The final score of 5-5 had the small Pittodrie crowd shaking their heads in disbelief.

Muirton Park