A look at what is in Saturday’s match programme.

Our Artist-in-residence Dolly Digital has done a brilliant retro cover for this weekend’s Scottish Cup game.

The design dates back to the early 1970s. We believe the artwork was done by Donald Addison. Donald, a local artist, designed a few covers back in the day and he is also responsible for the original ‘ball in the goal’ crest which was created at the end of that decade.

As for the back cover we pay tribute to the old Pittodrie half-time scoreboard. The original half time scoreboard was erected at the corner of the South Terrace away back in the 1920s but latterly the board was moved to the centre of the South Terrace as that was the only point where it could easily be seen by all spectators. There is no documented evidence of where or when the first half time scoreboard came into being in this country, but the idea went in tandem with what was commonly known as your ‘half time programme.’

Ever since Aberdeen began to issue regular match programmes once more after the war in 1946, the back page almost invariably held the key to discovering the latest results up and down the country. Of course, limited space would prevent a plethora of results; only the ‘big’ matches would be featured with one notable exception. If the young Dons or Aberdeen ‘A’ were playing they were always included, usually at the end – those were the far-off days when reserve fixtures were played at the same time as the first team. The key to the alphabet lettering in any board would be revealed in the programme where the usual round of fixtures in the country would be found.

The tradition was that one of the Pittodrie ground staff or an official would make the long trek along the back of the Beach End and up along the deep terraces of the South Terrace, armed with the piece of paper that had the all-important scores, gleaned from various phone calls made at half time. It was a long and tedious process as results were not put up until about ten minutes into the second half.

The board at Pittodrie was unique in that the letters ‘I’ ‘O’ and ‘J’ were missing, with the board running from A-S. The omission of the letters ‘I’ and ‘O’ were clear enough, to save confusion with a goal scored. However legend has it that the letter ‘J’ went missing many years ago and was never replaced because of some Pittodrie superstition.

In 1969, the club installed a clock directly above the old half time scoreboard. The ‘Rolex’ mounted clock became an integral part of the grounds appearance as many a tense glance upwards to try to wind down the minutes if Aberdeen were holding on to a lead. The half time scoreboard ceased to be in force in 1980 after Aberdeen had built the new cantilever roof over the South Terrace and bench seating was installed.

More about the old scoreboard in the programme.

Also in Saturday’s RedMatchday Magazine: interviews with Niall McGinn, Andrew Considine, Gary Mackay-Steven and Cammy Smith as we preview the big game. Plus an extensive history section looking back at some of our previous Scottish Cup games against St Mirren. There are columns from the manager, the captain, Richard Gordon and Chris Crighton as well as some one-off features. All this for only £3.00. RedMatchday Magazine is available to buy from the sellers in and around the ground and also the AFC Club Shop.

You can also purchase a copies online by clicking here