Aberdeen FC Summer Tours

While the summer months (or weeks these days!) usually mean a well deserved break for most clubs and players, it has also been the opportunity for club tours. Aberdeen in recent years have decided against such trips which can be exhaustive. The last major tour taken on by Aberdeen was in South Africa in 2006. Back in 1911 it was a pioneering Aberdeen that took to road, rail and sea to reach far off places in Eastern Europe…   

Three years before the Great War, in an adventurous trek to Eastern Europe Aberdeen were welcomed with great enthusiasm by their curious hosts. Aberdeen under Jimmy Philip had enjoyed their most successful season to date although they just failed to land the clubs first major trophy in season 1910.11. Aberdeen finished as strong runners up in the league and were eliminated at the semi final stage of the Scottish Cup. It was seen as great progress by the club in what was only Aberdeen’s 10th year in existence.

Manager Philip was never one to look back and he was certainly an innovative force; he had been the driving force behind the clubs efforts to gain admission to the Scottish League and he was also adamant that the players should broaden their experiences in the game. Part of that learning process would be to play against sides from foreign lands and as a reward for coming so close to success that year; Aberdeen announced that they had accepted an invitation to tour Bohemia, Moravia and Poland in the summer. The Aberdeen party set off for the tour with only 12 players from Aberdeen Joint Station at 8pm on Wednesday 10th May on board their Caledonian train to London on the first part of their journey. While the train was the usual mode of transport for the club back then, it was their eventual destination that had attracted a sizeable crowd at the station to wish them well on their journey.

The club were heading for Prague, back then in Bohemia, and then in modern times Czechoslovakia and now of course the Czech Republic. The party would not reach Prague until Saturday night with an overnight stay arranged in Dresden. The Aberdeen party left with 10 players, manager Philip, director William Jaffrey and Dr Ellis Milne. On route the train would collect a further two players; Jock Wyllie at Larbert and Dave Main at Coatbridge.
Such was the interest in Prague over the visit of the Scots, a capacity crowd gathered for the opening game against the Slavia Club of Prague in Bohemia. The game was played in very hot conditions and there was no doubt that this affected the Aberdeen players who had never before experienced such conditions. The local side also surprised the Dons with their speed and tenacity; however the Scots certainly looked more skilful. Despite goals from Stewart Davidson and Dave Main, Aberdeen went down 3-2 against a tough Prague side and the local crowd were appreciative of both sides with Aberdeen being given a warm welcome throughout the game. Two days later the sides met again and once more the ground was full to capacity. With only a threadbare squad, the Dons had to switch defender Jock Hume to centre forward and his two goals gave Aberdeen a 2-1 win over the Bohemians as Aberdeen looked better prepared than they had in the first outing.

After visiting Poland the Aberdeen party then took the train to Pardubitz for their final two games on tour. However on their way to the game they were stopped at Prerau in Bohemia where the local side their insisted on playing the Scots. Aberdeen duly obliged and turned on some exhibition stuff in what was a hastily arranged game. News had obviously spread and further down the line they were halted again at Brunn, and the Dons party were delighted to play the local Brunn side. The Aberdeen party finally arrived in their destination and played Pardubitz twice to close out the tour. Incredibly makeshift forward Jock Hume was the Dons top scorer with 18 goals from the eight games played.

In 1927 Aberdeen became the first Scottish club to visit South Africa. Aberdeen were no strangers to taking on such exhaustive tours, having previously broke new ground in 1911 when they toured the virtual unknown territory of Eastern Europe.

Football in South Africa began as early as 1862 when the first recorded football match was played in Port Elizabeth. The match was played between a home XI and a side from the colonies, both teams resplendent in long trousers, shirts and hats! There was no doubt that the game of football originated in Port Elizabeth and it was significant that a Mr Fullerton, a former player of Scotland’s oldest club Queens Park, who started up his Wanderers side in 1881, the same year as the original Aberdeen Football Club came into being.

While development of the game in South Africa was understandably slow, in 1899 a team of ‘Zulus’ from Basuto made an historic trip to Britain in what was the first contact between South Africa and Britain in a football sense. The trip to Britain was fraught with troubles as the Boer war was well underway and the tourists had little preparation and were soundly hammered by every side they played. The furthest north they travelled was to Dundee where they lost 6-4. It was only a matter of time before Britain would return the favour and in 1897 the famous Corinthinians from England embarked on a groundbreaking tour, which brought the first organised football to Africa. The English influence continued in 1910 on the back of the South African FA being formed, an English national team played 23 games, winning every one with relative ease.

In May 1927 Aberdeen became the first Scottish side to visit and their arrival was greeted with great enthusiasm from the locals. South African football had come a long way since the early part of the century and was now an established sport, despite rugby remaining as the predominant sporting activity. The 1927 tour was certainly a trip into the unknown for Aberdeen and the marathon trip to arrive in South Africa was rewarded when they were given the grandest of welcomes from their curious hosts. What many of the touring party had not accounted for was the scorching heat which most had never experienced before so sunburn was a new problem for many of the Aberdeen players.

The touring party in 1927 along with chairman William Philip and manager Pat Travers was; Harry Blackwell, Duff Bruce, Malcolm Muir, Willie Jackson, George Ritchie, Mike Cosgrove, Jock Edward, Sam Spencer, Jock McHale, Bob McDermid, Alec Cheyne, Bobby Bruce, Tom McLeod, Andy Love and Benny Yorston.

Once the Aberdeen party got used to the heat and the lighter ball, the tour was a hugely successful and popular one. The Aberdeen players were greeted with great enthusiasm wherever they went to play. Although Aberdeen suffered four defeats from their 14 matches, they had brought along a relatively untried centre forward in Benny Yorston. It was during the tour that Yorston showed his touch in front of goal and he had impressed the manager Pat Travers so much that he would immediately be elevated to the first team on their return to Scotland. Yorston weighed in with 16 goals on the tour and he also managed to find the net in a couple of the clubs defeats against the powerful Transvaal sides.

The success of Benny Yorston was undoubtedly the highlight of the tour for Aberdeen and manager Travers was happy that the tour had gone down well in all aspects and he cited the experience gained from playing against players from another continent would help his team on the domestic front. The Aberdeen party would have little time to recharge their batteries as the voyage home would take almost two weeks and that would not leave them much time for their opening league game on 13th August 1927.

Two years later Aberdeen took on a short tour of Norway, playing six matches in 15 days. This trip was down to Donald Colman the Aberdeen international and trainer who took on regular trips to Scandinavia in the summer months. Aberdeen won all six matches, scoring 28 goals in the process. Four years later Aberdeen returned to Norway and broadened their visit to include tour games in Sweden. Included in that tour was a first ever trip by an Aberdeen side to play in Gothenburg.  

Four years later Aberdeen made a return to South Africa and on this occasion it was a more formidable Aberdeen squad that made the trip. In the intervening years the Dons had went through a traumatic time with the Great Mystery of 1931 heralding a new era at Pittodrie. 1927 hero Benny Yorston was one of the players involved in the betting scandal that rocked the club and with Yorston and four other Aberdeen players leaving the club, it brought about a brave new era for the club as their style changed with the introduction of the likes of Willie Mills and Matt Armstrong. Aberdeen had turned into an impressive side with their tradition for quick passing and fine ball skills winning them many admirers throughout Britain. Those skills were to travel to Africa in 1937 on the back of the clubs first appearance in the Scottish Cup Final on 24th April 1937. Aberdeen suffered a rare defeat against Celtic, going down 2-1 before an all-time British club record crowd of 146,433 at Hampden Park. Before the club was about to leave for South Africa director Bill hay tragically collapsed and died while still a relatively young man.

The Aberdeen party left for Southampton to board the ‘Stirling Castle’ ship, which would take them to Africa. There was no airliner in those days and the voyage would take at least two weeks to reach Cape Town. It was common for the players to be stripped and ready for training on one of the decks on a daily basis. During the voyage the club made sure that the players would be great ambassadors for the club by dressing appropriately for dinner each evening with formal dress required. The Aberdeen players were not the only well known faces on board; also travelling was billiards world champion Joe Davis and world featherweight boxing champion Petey Sarron from America who was on his to Africa for a series of exhibition fights. The Aberdeen party that made their way to South Africa in 1937 was; Willie Cooper, Billy Scott, Herbert Currer, Bob Temple, Billy Strauss, Jackie Benyon, John McKenzie, Frank Dunlop, George Thomson, Eddie Falloon, Johnny Lang, Bob Fraser, Matt Armstrong, Willie Mills and George Johnstone. Manager Pat Travers was accompanied by director Frank Whitehead and trainer Donald Colman. Included in the party was of course Billy Strauss and Herbert Currer both South African born so it would be an emotional return to their homeland for them.

Aberdeen did not have their troubles to seek in the early part of the tour as several players went down with injury, most notably Billy Strauss who was desperate to play in the land of his birth. To compound the touring party’s difficulties winger Jackie Benyon was rushed to hospital in Johannesburg after complaining of severe stomach pains. Jackie had been bothered with this in the past and it was soon discovered that he had appendicitis. Even back in those days it was not all that serious though he would certainly not be fit to continue in the tour. It was not until Matt Armstrong remarked to the others that Jackie had looked in a poor state on a visit to him in hospital. Armstrong was correct in his comments and after it was discovered that peritonitis had set in, tragically Jackie Benyon died that evening. The touring party was immediately plunged into grief, so far from home and all they could think of was their colleague and friend who had passed away. Benyon had been a popular player at the club and a true friend had been taken from the club and there was immediate concern as to Aberdeen continuing the tour. Despite their obvious grief it was decided that they would carry on but only after Jackie was laid to rest in an emotional ceremony in a Johannesburg cemetery. Benyon had hailed from Wales and many exiles joined in with thousands of locals who thronged the streets to pay their respects to the Aberdeen player. Benyon was later removed and taken back to his native Wales where he was laid to rest in his beloved Welsh valleys.

There was no doubt that the good nature of the tour was lost as the Aberdeen party lost one of their own but they continued with the tour and were greeted with a warm welcome from the thousands of locals who were clearly appreciative of the fact that Aberdeen continued to play in such circumstances. For the first time in their history the Dons would play three ‘Test’ matches against the national South African side. While all the players on tour were used in the matches, when the Test matches came around it was the strongest XI that manager Travers could muster that would take the field. It certainly worked as Aberdeen defeated the Springboks in the three matches, which attracted huge interest. In what was the clubs most ambitious tour ever undertaken, Aberdeen played 15 matches in 6 weeks. Against Lourenco Marques there was the farcical situation of the Aberdeen players playing on a sand pitch wearing rubber boots. Within minutes of the game starting a typical tropical monsoon hit the area and the sand quickly turned to mud. The conditions certainly gave the home side the advantage and they raced into a 3-0 lead at half time. A change of footwear was required and Aberdeen came back out for the second half more suitably attired and went on to win 6-4. George Johnstone, the emerging Aberdeen keeper refused to play in the match as it came on a Sunday.

The value of such tours came sharply into focus when the touring Aberdeen party on a day off went along to watch an amateur game in Cape Town. They came across a small winger who was effectively playing for fun and certainly looked different class. That winger was Stan Williams who was immediately asked by the Aberdeen manager to come across to Pittodrie to further his career. Williams had actually been following the Dons tour with great interest and had watched the Aberdeen players to see if he could be as good. A year later he was about to fulfil that promise as he signed for Aberdeen and went on to a remarkable career which culminated in Stan Williams etching his name into Pittodrie folklore when he scored the winning goal in the 1947 Scottish Cup Final to take the cup to Aberdeen for the first time in the Dons history.

In 1951 Aberdeen returned to Norway for a four-game end of season tour before embarking on the trip of a lifetime for many in 1956 as they toured Canada. By virtue of their league success a year earlier the Dons were box-office material and the invitation to tour North America offered those who made the trip the opportunity to see some fantastic sights and play in some incredible stadiums. Aberdeen travelled over by ship and during their stay they took internal flights to reach such destinations as Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto and New York. The Dons played Everton on four occasions as the best of British came to Canada.

While the tour to Canada was a memorable one, perhaps the most-remembered Aberdeen tour was the one to the USA in 1967. “The trip of a lifetime and one that I would have not missed for anything. It was a marvellous experience” That was how former Dons keeper Bobby Clark summed up the summer of 1967 when I asked him about the marathon tour to the USA and their participation in the Presidents Cup competition.

The Washington Whips story click here

Aberdeen returned to Canada in 1972 and once again came up against Wolves in four tour matches. However it was not the English club that concerned the Dons but the local support of Montreal Olympics when the Dons played them on 7th June 1972. The game was abandoned after 62 minutes after angry fans invaded the pitch and tried to attack the Aberdeen players after Joe Harper scored with a penalty. Montreal defender Luigi Mascalatio on loan from Italian side Verona barged Dave Robb as the Aberdeen player stood in front of the Montreal keeper. The penalty triggered unpleasant scenes as the referee stopped the game as he feared for the safety of the Aberdeen players. Fans set off firecrackers and threw stones and seats on to the field.

Two years later Aberdeen did not exactly seek more calm surroundings as their 1974 ‘World Tour’ began in Teheran of all places. Finishing up in Auckland in New Zealand the month long tour took in such venues as Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and New Caledonia.  

In 1994 Aberdeen finished their league campaign against Celtic at Pittodrie in a 1-1 draw to secure runners up place in the league. Some weeks later the sides clashed again, this time in Canada as part of the Hamilton Cup tournament that also involved Hearts and a local Canadian side. The Dons last major tour was a third trip to South Africa in 2006. The trip was fraught with organisational problems and although the venues and the opposition were of a high standard it was hardly the ideal preparation for the new season.