This will be the 255th league meeting with Motherwell and the 288th in all competitions. The full record is shown below.

Aberdeen first faced the Lanarkshire club in 1905/06 with both league matches ending all square, a 3-3 draw in Motherwell followed by a 2-2 result at Pittodrie. Motherwell achieved the first win the following year, 3-2 at home, and once again the two teams battled out a 2-2 draw at Pittodrie. Aberdeen finally gained the upper hand in 1907/08 with a 3-2 win in Motherwell and a 2-1 home win that kept up the high scoring affairs between the clubs.

The Dons’ biggest win came in 1979 when Motherwell suffered an 8-0 thrashing in a Premier League match at Pittodrie. Both Steve Archibald and Joe Harper helped themselves to a brace that day and further goals from McMaster, Strachan, Sullivan and Davidson helped create a new Premier League scoring record that evening. Motherwell’s biggest win was achieved in 1931 with a 5-0 victory at Fir Park. As mentioned above, there have been goals aplenty in this tie (850+ and counting)

Away back in 1952/53, there was certainly no shortage of goals in Aberdeen meetings with Motherwell. No less than 36 goals were scored in just six matches. Included in that was a sensational 5-5 draw at Pittodrie in a Scottish Cup tie in February. Incredibly Aberdeen went to Fir Park in the replay and won 6-1!

One of the most memorable games in recent history was a midweek league clash at Fir Park in 1999.
Ebbe Skovdahl had taken over the hot seat at the start of the campaign, but it had not been an easy start as the Dons lost their first seven matches, failing to score in the first six.

A 2-2 draw at home to Hibs halted the run of defeats but Aberdeen headed to Fir Park on the back of a 7-0 drubbing at Parkhead to add to the 5-0 reverse they had suffered on the opening day of the season. Five minutes before half-time, Eoin Jess netted to give the Dons an unlikely 4-1 lead, adding to goals from Dow and two from Winters. Surely the first win was in the bag?

However, a minute after the break, Goodman pulled one back. No problem for this freescoring Aberdeen team, as Winters secured his hat-trick and restored the three-goal advantage. Back came Motherwell again as Spencer scored his second to make it 3-5. Paul Bernard once again restored the three-goal advantage, but Spencer wasn’t finished and he also secured a hat-trick before Shaun Teale scored from the spot to make it 5-6 just before the added time board went up. Despite a classic faux pas by our own Dave Macdermid on the Northsound commentary as a late substitution was made (“NINE MINUTES!!!… no Dave, Robbie Winters is being replaced…”), the final whistle finally blasted and Aberdeen had their first league win of the campaign.
There have been plenty of good games at Fir Park in recent years and Saturday’s looks like being another cracker.

Top Dons goalscorer against Motherwell is Joe Harper with 14, all of them in league matches. Harry Yorston is only one behind, with Norman Davidson on 11. Billy Little and Eoin Jess complete the top five with 10 apiece. Of the current squad, Niall McGinn and Adam Rooney both have five goals, both having scored goals against ‘Well this season.

Joey Harper scored a hat-trick in a 7-2 win at Pittodrie in 1972. Johnny Miller of 1920s fame was the first Aberdeen player to score a hat-trick against Motherwell in 1923. Other Dons who have done the ‘trick’ against Motherwell include Norman Davidson, Ernie Winchester, Dave Robb and Robbie Winters. Jackie Benyon, who tragically died on the Dons’ tour to South Africa in 1937, had the distinction of scoring Aberdeen’s 50th goal against Motherwell at Pittodrie in the 2-0 win in September 1936. Willie Callaghan scored the Dons 100th against the Fir Park side in the Dons’ 3-0 win at Pittodrie in October 1961. In the Dons’ 8-0 rout in March 1979, Joe Harper notched the Dons’ 150th goal against Motherwell while Eoin Jess had the honour of scoring the 200th goal when he scored in the 3-0 Aberdeen win in December 1997.

Aberdeen v Motherwell | stats
 

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