One of the club’s longest serving employees retired last week and before he departed Pittodrie he spoke to RedTV.

END OF AN ERA AS DJ RETIRES

RedTV | to watch the interview on RedTV please click here

Pittodrie will be a far quieter place when the new season gets underway after one of its longest serving employees stepped down after 26 years of sterling service.

David Johnston, or ‘DJ’ to all who know him, first arrived at the Club in 1989 as AFC’s first Commercial Executive, having worked in the oil industry with Baker Hughes following a spell in a similar role at Dundee FC, where he starred as a nononsense leftback in the ‘70s.

And Commercial Executive was just one of many job titles bestowed on DJ in the intervening years, including General Manager and Club Secretary.

“My initial role was out there chasing the money and since then I’ve had a number of different jobs. I think they were trying to find a job that I could actually do! Numerous positions, but all of them enjoyable.”

AFC today is a very different animal to the way it operated in 1989, as DJ outlines. “One of the big projects when I started was the construction of the Richard Donald Stand, which was identified as the only way we could expand within Pittodrie at that time. We were doing very well on the commercial side at that time but were suffering from a lack of space so it was a good opportunity and one that has been very successful too.

“Back then, football was very different and there wasn’t the financial disparity between Scotland and south of the border. We had the Dutch connection then and were able to pay sizeable fees for the likes of Hans Gillhaus for example, who was a top quality player. These days, finance is so challenging with probably the richest league in the world just over the border and that makes Scottish football not as marketable as we would like.”

Having endured some less than enjoyable times in his long spell at Pittodrie, DJ remains philosophical regarding his career.

“It’s a job that you’ve got to love. You know that there are always people around who don’t agree with what is happening or how the team is playing or whatever. When things are going well, everyone’s buoyant and things are great, but you’re always going to have bad periods and you just have to get on with it. You have to be able to speak to the supporters, who you need to be involved with at all times, good and bad. Fans of a certain age will always benchmark the Club against the unprecedented success of the ‘80s and that’s always a challenge.”

Of the staff who were at Pittodrie when DJ arrived, very few are still on the books.

“Davie Wylie, the physio and kit-man Jim Warrender are the only two I reckon. The size of the staff has changed as well. While we were involved in the community back then, it was nothing like the scale it is now with the formation of the Community Trust, while the administration required these days is far greater than it was in my early times.”

So what have been the highlights during DJ’s 26 year tenure?

“The team in my first season takes some beating, and then going to Ibrox needing a draw to cement the league in ‘90/91 is right up there, including the games leading up to the final day. That was a great side we had that year and we were unfortunate that we just didn’t do it on the day. Going to Ibrox, I always think things are stacked against us and, if we’d had a stronger referee, then maybe it would have been different. In terms of players, I’ve mentioned the Dutch contingent and there’s also the likes of Jess and Booth who were fantastic servants.”

Latterly, DJ has been project managing the new stadium plans and he still believes the Club will eventually end up located at Loirston.

“It’s been frustrating, to say the least, because we thought we were well over the line at one point. Loirston is still the best option as every other potential location has been investigated thoroughly and I think, come time, it will happen. When it does, it will be a massive lift for the city as well as for the football club.”

So what does retirement hold for DJ?

“I’ll be getting back on to the golf course a lot more than I’ve managed in recent years and I’m looking forward to that. I’m also certain that there will be plenty of chores left for me to do in the house as well and I’ll be planning to go to as many home games as possible – although not so many away matches.”

Enjoy your retirement DJ – you’ve certainly earned it!!