Connor McLennan became part of an exclusive club on Friday night as one of only a handful of players who have worn an Aberdeen shirt in a competitive game at the age of 16.

For many years, George Campbell was the youngest player to have ever made his debut for Aberdeen at only 16 years and 8 months old. He made his debut for Aberdeen against Hearts on August 10th 1974 in a Scottish League Cup game at Pittodrie Stadium. Aberdeen lost the match 1-0.

We are still researching the list. We know the likes of Willie Mills back in 1931 had just turned 17 when he made his debut, but that was rare back in those days.

Prior to Campbell making his debut, Tommy Craig held the record for a while but he does not make our exclusive list as he also had just turned 17.

Campbell’s youngest ever Don record stood for just on 35 years, until August 22nd 2009 when Fraser Fyvie broke it by three months when he was handed a starting place in the side for a game at Hamilton Accies. Fraser also had the distinction of doing something few of the other players on the list did, and that was to win a game on debut! That afternoon, the Dons comfortably dispatched Hamilton 3-0 with Fraser impressing in the middle of the park.

After a 35 year wait, the record was then broken again a year later. On April 7th 2010, Jack Gimmer made a substitute appearance at Ibrox at the age of 16 years 2 months and 13 days, so Jack still holds the record of being the youngest Don. As first team players have to be at least 16 to play a competitive match for Aberdeen, Jack’s mark may well go unbeaten for some time to come.  

That same year, again under Mark McGhee, Ryan Fraser made his debut when he came on late in a game against Hearts. The Dons again lost the match 1-0 but Ryan at least helped brighten up proceedings with some mazy runs. After a slightly overexcited tackle, Ryan famously told the referee he could not be booked because he was only 16. Sadly, referee Mike Tumilty produced a yellow card anyway. Let’s just say there were a number of worse tackles in that game….

Cammy Smith was also only 16 when he played for the first time in a game up at Inverness in 2012. Under Craig Brown, Aberdeen won that day 2-0. The only Dons still around from the team that played that day four years ago are Mark Reynolds, Andy Considine, Ryan Jack and Danny Rogers.

Fraser, Jack, Ryan and Cammy were all coached and developed under the watchful eye of Neil Cooper, therefore it is only appropriate that Neil is also on our list. After making his debut in a 2-2 draw at Airdrie in 1975, the defender then spent the next six years at Pittodrie, making 17 first team appearances. He returned to the club a number of years later to be a very successful coach with the youth teams.

The other Neale Cooper made his debut in 1980 in a 2-0 win over Kilmarnock. The midfielder went to make 220 appearances and, of course, was part of the Dons’ most famous ever side.

Another member of the Gothenburg team who made his debut under Alex Ferguson at the age of 16 was John Hewitt. On the 15th December 1979 the Dons played St Mirren at home and won 2–0 with goals from Alex McLeish and Derek Hamilton. It was the first of John’s 361 appearances and he also scored 90 goals, including some of the most important in AFC’s history.

Also part of that side, and also fitting he is on the list is Neil Simpson. He squeezes in on 16 years and 11 months. Simmy made his debut against Hamilton Accies in 1978. The Dons won a League Cup Round 3 Second Leg tie 7-1. Neil, the Head of the AFC Youth Academy, has played a big part in the development of Connor McLennan and is helping develop the next crop of youngsters who might join the 16 club.

If we have missed anyone from our list we are sorry and please let us know! It is still a work in progress as the club have not kept this information in any documents before.

Stats

George Campbell
Born 3 May 1957
Debut 10 August 1974

Neil Cooper
Born 12 April 1958
Debut 4 March 1975

Neil Simpson
Born 15 November 1961
Debut 11 October 1978

John Hewitt
Born 9 February 1963
Debut 15 December 1979

Neale Cooper
Born 24 November 1963
Debut 11 October 1980

Fraser Fyvie
Born 27 March 1993
Debut 14 August 2010

Jack Grimmer
Born 25 January 1994
Debut 7 April 2010

Ryan Fraser
Born 24 February 1994
Debut 16 October 2010

Cammy Smith
Born 24 August 1995
Debut 21 April 2012

Connor McLennan
Born 5 October 1999
Debut 22 April 2016

My First Time

There will be an interview with Connor McLennan coming up in RedMatchday Magazine about his debut. Here are a couple of interviews with two of the players on our list talking about their first games for AFC:

Neil Simpson

A League Cup return tie against the Accies in 1978 was the ideal opportunity for Alex Ferguson to hand Neil Simpson a first team debut; the Dons eased ahead with a 1-0 win in the first leg and despite going behind at Pittodrie, they went on to crush Hamilton in a 7-1 win. Sixteen year old Simpson was brought into the squad after some promising displays in his first full season as a reserve player and he’d scored a hat-trick the week before against Stirling University in a friendly.

His place among the Aberdeen substitutes was an early indication of how Alex Ferguson was to approach the League Cup competition, by giving his younger players a chance. After Doug Rougvie had scored to put Aberdeen ahead again on aggregate, it was all Aberdeen as they cut through the Hamilton defence at will.

Joe Harper increased his goal tally to the tune of four, two of them penalties. A rare Stuart Kennedy goal hastened the introduction of Neil Simpson who came on for his debut after 65 minutes, replacing Rougvie.

Although little more than a schoolboy, Simpson showed bags of promise as he went into the Aberdeen midfield. Aberdeen assistant manager Pat Stanton was pleased with the debutant, saying afterwards: “Neil soon found the pace of the game was a lot quicker than he had been used to. But I liked the way he went about his job and the experience will do the boy a power of good.”

Neil still recalls that debut day: “The Thursday before the game we played Stirling University with Fergie watching and I managed to get three goals and I was told on the following Tuesday that I would be in the first team squad. Being only 16 I got the bus from Newmachar and got off at Rosemount and walked to Doug Rougvie’s flat. We then walked to the Ashley House Hotel for our pre match meal. My first meal like that was chicken while just about everyone else had steak; I didn’t know there was such a thing in those days! Looking back at the diet then it was probably the worst thing I could have taken.

“I then got a lift down to the game with Ian Fleming and we were met by Pat Stanton who went through an extensive tactics talk. I was named among the substitutes. I remember coming on for Doug Rougvie in the second half, I was really nervous at that stage.

Four months before I was strutting around the likes of Aultons and Inverdee for Middlefield Boys Club, and here I was playing at Pittodrie for the first team. I remember Joe Harper scoring four and I set up one of them. It was a magical feeling being a local Aberdeen supporter and playing in front of the Beach End. It was a small taste of what was to be a great time at Pittodrie. After the game it was back to reality and I had to hurry to catch the Alexanders bus to Newmachar after walking to the Guild Street station from the ground. That all changed of course when I got my first car; a Morris Marina a year later!”

If Simmie had not been otherwise engaged at Pittodrie and hiking all over the city afterwards, he was just old enough to take in John Travolta and the stunning Olivia Newton-John in ‘Grease’ at the Odeon, or Kris Kristofferson in ‘Convoy’. He could even have put up with Doug McClure in ‘Warlords of Atlantis’ or perhaps gone to a concert and seen Barbara Dickson live at the Capitol. Perhaps that explains the healthy 10,000 attendance at Pittodrie that evening…

Aberdeen: Leighton, Kennedy, McLelland, Rougvie, McLeish, Miller, Sullivan, Archibald, Harper, Fleming, Scanlon. Subs; Simpson for Rougvie, Strachan for Scanlon.

Hamilton: Ferguson, Grant, Kellachan, Fairlie, Dempsey, Alexander, Young, Graham, Howie, Gavin, Reilly.
 
Neale Cooper

Neale Cooper was part of a group of young Aberdeen players that broke through to the first team at a time when the Dons were on the verge of a golden era. A contemporary of the likes of Eric Black, Bryan Gunn, John Hewitt and Neil Simpson, Cooper emerged as a defender of great potential.

Once likened to the great Franz Beckenbauer after some impressive performances with the Scotland Youth side, it was unkind to burden such a young talent with such expectations.

Aberdeen were well served in defence with the Miller-McLeish combine firmly entrenched, so Cooper had to make his way as a midfielder, a task that he took to in uncompromising fashion and with his great friend Neil Simpson, he formed the Aberdeen 'engine room' that was so critical to the Dons success at home and abroad.

As a youngster, Cooper wasted little time in trying to establish himself in the side. After joining Aberdeen from King Street Boys in 1979, the former Hazlehead Academy pupil was thrust into the side against Kilmarnock on 11th October 1980, given his chance by Alex Ferguson after an injury to Alex McLeish. At only 16 years of age, Cooper was one of the youngest ever Aberdeen debutants but Ferguson said before the game that he was ready:

“Despite his youth, Neale is certainly above reserve team standards. I have liked what I have seen so far, so the rest will be up to him, he will get his chance with us.”

On the morning of his first team debut, the club sold their allocation of tickets for the forthcoming European Cup tie against Liverpool at Pittodrie. All 24,000 tickets were snapped up four at a time in less than two hours. League champions, the Dons were protecting an unbeaten league sequence of 23 games, but with Jim Leighton also missing this would be a tough test for Cooper. Even so, Aberdeen cruised to a comfortable 2- 0 win and extended their lead at the top of the table and in reaching the 24-unbeaten game mark, a new club record was set after goals from Ian Scanlon and Drew Jarvie. Cooper strolled through the game, rarely tested in defence but showing enough quality to leave Ferguson delighted:

“The form showed by young Neale was a real bonus for us. I knew he would be ok as I have belief in him and he certainly showed enough today. I expect him to be seriously challenging for a regular position within three months. He got better as the game went on and he fully deserved the great reception from the Dons support when he came off in the second half.”

Neale recalled his early days at Pittodrie for us. “I suppose I was always going to play for Aberdeen. I started at Pittodrie at the age of ten when I used to go home and complain that I couldn't kick the ball because it was too hard! Then I became a ball boy which strengthened my connection and I was called in for training every time I was on holiday from school. When I signed professional it just seemed like the next logical step. It was really difficult at first but once I got a few games in the side it opened up all kinds of possibilities for me.

“I had been playing in defence with the reserves but with Willie and Alex in the side I knew my chances could have been limited. The manager was great at tactics though and he thought I would be well suited in a midfield role. Looking back it was an incredible time and a memorable one. I felt like a veteran at such a young age, as I never dreamt I would achieve so much so early in my career. It was more than most players win in a lifetime in the game. Aberdeen were a great side back then and there was never a dull moment with Fergie around.

“While I really preferred to play in the centre of defence I was happy to form a partnership in front of Miller and McLeish with Neil Simpson. I never resented the fact that I could not play there, I looked up to both Alex and Willie as I learned so much from them. After a few seasons I had the opportunity to move but I loved it at Pittodrie. I could have signed for Celtic in 1985 but looking back I would have been crazy to go to another club in Scotland. At that time Aberdeen were the dominant force and no matter which club I would have went to, they were never going to be as successful as Aberdeen.”

Aberdeen; De Clerck, Kennedy, Rougvie, Watson, Cooper, Miller, Strachan, McMaster, McGhee, Jarvie, Scanlon. Subs; Bell, Cowan.

Kilmarnock; Brown, Robertson, Cockbirn, Clark, Clarke, McDicken, Houston, Mauchlen, Gibson, Crammond, Street.

Attendance: 11,164