30 years ago today the League title was won when Willie Miller scored in the 1-1 draw against nearest challengers Celtic.

It was the only time the title was won at Pittodrie – the other Championships were won a Shawfield (Clyde), Easter Road and Tynecastle. Although technically the League was not officially won until the following week against Hearts on the 4th of May 1985, it would have taken some near impossible results for Aberdeen not to win their fourth title. Aberdeen had also retained the championship for the first time in their history and would finish seven points clear of Celtic in the final analysis.

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The RedMatchday Magazine team look back at the campaign….

Aberdeen went into season 1984/85 as double holders and they were the team to beat in Scotland. They had reached the pinnacle with the Gothenburg squad virtually intact, but the pressure was now on as Doug Rougvie, Mark McGhee and Gordon Strachan all left the club in the summer. Alex Ferguson moved swiftly for direct replacements, although Billy Stark had been brought in a year earlier to take over from Strachan. Tom McQueen was brought in from Clyde while Frank McDougall was plundered from St Mirren.

On the eve of the season, Ferguson declared that retaining the league title was his prime target and with Aberdeen also having another shot at the European Cup, there was guarded optimism in the ranks though the loss of three Scottish internationals at the peak of their careers left a huge void in the squad.

Many thought that Aberdeen could be knocked from their lofty pedestal and those claims gathered momentum when they were knocked out of both the League Cup and worse still the European Cup in the First Round.
The early signs for the Dons were far from encouraging as a shock defeat against Ally MacLeod’s Airdrie at Broomfield in the League Cup, cast doubts on the Dons resolve. Despite outplaying an average Dynamo Berlin side in the European Champions Cup, the Dons went out of the competition in the return leg in Germany after a disappointing penalty shoot-out.

In hindsight that gave Aberdeen to opportunity to concentrate on the championship. Rangers were still in the middle of a transitional period and were not expected to muster a challenge while Dundee United’s success in 1983 meant they were still a competitor.

It was Celtic though that posed the biggest threat. Games between the two sides in that era were highly charged and never without incident. Both sides knew exactly what was at stake and the four meetings would have a huge bearing on the destination of the title.

Aberdeen were keen to get off to a good start and lead from the front and the opening fixtures were kind to the Dons and they took full advantage by winning their first five matches against Dundee and Hibernian at Pittodrie while full points were taken from St Mirren, Dundee United and Morton. It wasn’t until 15th September that the Dons dropped their first point; against Rangers at Pittodrie in a 0-0 draw.

Three weeks later, Aberdeen lost for the first time at Celtic. The 2-1 defeat was full of controversy but it was clear even at that early stage that the race would develop into a straight fight between the two sides. Nevertheless, it was a bad week for the Dons who had just come back from their penalty nightmare in Berlin, further heartache following when Billy Stark missed from the spot after Frank McDougall’s volley had levelled the match. A Davie Provan winner rubbed salt in the Dons’ wounds.

The winter months were critical to the Dons’ hopes as they held on to top spot despite their Parkhead defeat. Aberdeen won seven straight league games between October and December, which piled the pressure on the Celts who were due at Pittodrie next.

The game was billed as the league decider and an all-ticket 23,000 crowd packed Pittodrie to see Aberdeen comprehensively beat Celtic in a marvellous 4-2 win. Eric Black did the damage with two goals in a game that the Dons dominated from the outset. Aberdeen had gone in to two-goal lead after a soaring header from Black and a deflected McKimmie drive put Aberdeen in control. Celtic came back twice, but Aberdeen kept extending their lead within minutes.

Despite a rare defeat at Tannadice in the New Year derby, Aberdeen were still two points clear and it was from that setback that Aberdeen went on a run that was to break the Celtic resolve. Wins over Hibernian, Morton, Rangers and Dumbarton extended the Dons lead to eight points as Celtic slipped up and the Rangers win was a particularly memorable one as Aberdeen hit them for five with fabulous Frank McDougall weighing in with a hat trick. On March 2nd a majestic Aberdeen swept aside St Mirren at Pittodrie in a 3-0 win with Billy Stark the architect.

Meanwhile Celtic dropped a point against Dundee United and the lead was further extended with convincing 4-0 and 5-0 wins over Dundee and Hibernian. Aberdeen were relentless and looked unbeatable and their good form continued with a rousing 4-2 win over Dundee United at Pittodrie with John Hewitt scoring twice.
Celtic looked to Rangers to stop the Dons but a 2-1 win at Ibrox had Aberdeen firmly in the box seat, a position they were in no mood to relinquish.

Meanwhile Aberdeen had eased through to the semi-final stage of the Scottish Cup as they were looking for a record breaking fourth cup success in a row. After seeing off Alloa (5-0), Raith (2-1) and Hearts (1-0 after a replay), the Dons came up against Dundee Utd at Tynecastle in the semi-final. Aberdeen’s record 23-game unbeaten Scottish Cup run came to an end in a bad-tempered and controversial replay in Edinburgh. Whilst Aberdeen should have won the first game, they were eventually beaten by a succession of poor refereeing decisions that cost them a record four-cup haul as they went down 2-1 in the replay.

Ten days later Aberdeen more than made up for their cup disappointment as they secured the league title in a 1-1 draw against old rivals Celtic. It was an historic occasion as it was the first and only time that Aberdeen had won the title on their own ground. It was also a sweet moment for Aberdeen captain Willie Miller whose headed goal secured the point required. Miller’s glory run in front of the South Terrace after scoring was legendary. A packed Pittodrie rejoiced to see their team retain the flag.

Aberdeen still had two games left to complete a Premier League points tally record and the duly completed that task with easy wins over Hearts (thanks to a superb first half hat-trick from Frank McDougall) and Morton. Aberdeen finished with 59 points from their 36 games in the days of two points for a win it was a Scottish Premier record at the time. The Dons also broke the goal scoring record with 89 goals from their 36 matches in a phenomenal season.

Also in the News in 1985:

At the start of the season Manchester United finally won a transfer battle to sign Gordon Strachan from Aberdeen. German side Cologne claimed that Aberdeen had agreed to let Strachan join them. When Strachan signed for Man Utd in a £500,000 deal, UEFA investigated and ordered Aberdeen to pay the Germans £100,000 in compensation.

On the international front another club record was achieved as Jim Leighton, Willie Miller and Alex McLeish all represented their country playing 14 consecutive games for Scotland.

Aberdeen won the BP Youth Cup after winning one of the greatest games ever seen at Pittodrie. Trailing Celtic 3-0, the young Dons battled back to 3-3 and then won the final in extra-time 5-3. Prior to the game Aberdeen received the League Championship Trophy.

It was a year where events off the field would change football forever. The game was blighted by hooliganism and it came to the television screens in front of a watching nation when Millwall played Luton in an FA Cup tie. Prime Minister Thatcher then conducted a full scale debate in Parliament as FA secretary Ted Croker retorted to the Prime Minister that “These people are society’s problem and we don’t want your hooligans in our sport.”

This year is the 30th anniversary of one football’s saddest ever days.

On the 11th May 1985, there was tragedy at the end of the season when Bradford’s Valley Parade was the scene of a fire in one of the stands. The match against Lincoln City had started in a celebratory atmosphere, with the home-team receiving the Football League Third Division trophy in front of a big crowd.

Tragically 56 supporters lost their lives.

The tragedy did not stop there as 39 people were killed after crowd trouble broke out at the European Cup Final in the Heysel in Brussels when Liverpool played Juventus.

Everton went on to win the league in emphatic fashion, securing the championship with five games to spare. Everton also went on to win the ECWC but fell short of a remarkable treble when they lost 1-0 to Manchester United in the final of the FA Cup.

In Spain all professional players went on strike in September in a protest over unpaid wages and broken contracts. One week’s matches were completed by amateur and junior players, and the following weeks fixtures were postponed before the dispute was settled.

Neil MacFarlane, the government Sports Minister refused to let the England v Scotland match be played at Wembley on May 25th, a Bank Holiday weekend. The fixture was switched to Hampden.

RedMatchday | every week in the matchday programme there is a comprehensive history section include the Golden Years – a feature on a particular season with news, stats and photos.

RedTV |

1984-1985 games on RedTV Memorable Matches Section

v Hibernian 1 September 1984
http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatchesDetail/0,,10284~2604542,00.html

v Dynamo Berlin 19 September 1984
http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatchesDetail/0,,10284~2067378,00.html

v Rangers 17 November 1984
http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatchesDetail/0,,10284~2069133,00.html

v Hearts 1 December 1984
http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatchesDetail/0,,10284~2240265,00.html

v Rangers 19 January 1985
http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatchesDetail/0,,10284~1340345,00.html

v Dundee 16 March 1985 http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatches/0,,10284,00.html

v Hibs 23 March 1985
http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatchesDetail/0,,10284~1410065,00.html

v Dundee United 30 March 1985
http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatchesDetail/0,,10284~1395710,00.html

v Rangers 6 April 1985
http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatchesDetail/0,,10284~2069135,00.html

v Hearts 4 May 1985
http://www.redtv.afc.co.uk/page/TV/MemorableMatchesDetail/0,,10284~1951017,00.html

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