Aberdeen Football Club is pleased to confirm that manager Derek McInnes and assistant Tony Docherty have elected to remain at Pittodrie until at least the summer of 2019.
 
Chairman Stewart Milne commented, “I am personally absolutely delighted that Derek and Tony have agreed to stay and have never doubted their commitment to the Club.
 
“Given what Derek has achieved here, there is inevitably going to be interest from other clubs and in making the decision to stay, he has demonstrated how much Aberdeen Football Club means to him. It is now up to all of us, the Board, staff, players and supporters to show how much we appreciate having him at the helm by getting right behind him in every way possible.
 
“I make no bones about it, it would have been a massive blow to lose Derek at this time, not only when we are about to embark on the new season, but knowing that so much more can be achieved with them driving the Club forward.
 
“Derek is not only ambitious for himself, he has real ambitions for the Club and we are all on the same page as to what we would like to achieve over the next period. We are in the process of rebuilding a strong squad to ensure we continue our on-field progress, we need to deliver the new Training and Community facilities and subsequently the new Stadium.
 
“Over the last four seasons, I have built up an extremely strong relationship with Derek and that has been very important through this current challenging time and I am convinced that by continuing to work closely together, and with the rest of the team, that relationship will go from strength to strength.”
 
Derek McInnes added. “As the Chairman has said, I have ambitions in the game and while there was interest from elsewhere, and I did talk to Sunderland, I feel there is so much still to be done here at Aberdeen. While we have lost players from last season, they will be replaced by signings of similar quality and our first challenge is to reach the group stages of the Europa League after coming so close in each of the last three seasons.
 
“Since the first day I arrived at Pittodrie, my biggest gripe has been the lack of training facilities and, with progress at last on that front, it’s something I am keen to see through to its conclusion”.
 
“The delivery of these training and Community facilities are vital, for helping retain our top players, attracting new players to the Club, the development of our young players, and equally importantly enable us to play a far greater role in the wider community. I sincerely hope everyone across the Region can pull together to help develop these facilities”.
 
“The recent investment in the Club from Dave Cormack, who has rejoined the Board, now puts us in an even healthier situation financially and that will allow us to be in a position to take the Club to the next stage. We have improved season on season and that is not something I’m planning on changing.”