Aberdeen goalkeeper Bobby Clark created a club record in 1970/71 that still stands today when they went an astonishing 19 hours without conceding a goal.
The RedMatchday team look back at the incredible feat.

The sequence began after St Mirren scored a late consolation in the Dons’ 3-1 win at Love Street on 24th October 1970.

When Hamilton rounded keeper Bobby Clark to score in the 79th minute, it would be the last goal Aberdeen would concede until 16th January 1971. Next up for Aberdeen were home matches against Dundee United and Clyde, both convincingly won 4-0 and 3-0 respectively as the Dons’ title challenge gathered momentum.

On 14th November 1970 Joe Harper scored the only goal of the game in a tough encounter at Somerset Park against Ayr United. Hearts arrived at Pittodrie in confident mood a week later, but their resolve was again broken by a Joe Harper penalty on the hour mark after the Dons striker was hacked down in the box. Harper agreed to take the penalty after receiving medical attention. As Celtic were held at Falkirk that day, the Dons were now only one point behind and the victory over Hearts was their seventh in a row.

Aberdeen took a break from the league to welcome Polish side Gornik Zabrze to Pittodrie for glamour friendly in midweek.

As ECWC finalists, the Poles were expected to be a tough obstacle for the Dons but they were swept aside in a 5-0 win that saw Aberdeen play some of their finest football in a display of pace and power. Three days later it was back to league football and the mud bath that was Fir Park posed Aberdeen a problem until they got to grips with the conditions and second half goals from Henning Boel and Ian Taylor gave the visitors the victory.

Much attention was focused on the Dons who had now gone six league games without conceding a goal. Aberdeen deployed an offside tactic which was arguably perfected by the Tony Adams led Arsenal defence of the 1990s and highlighted in the film ‘The Full Monty’.

Aberdeen were the pioneers however and using Martin Buchan in a sweeper role made the Dons defence tough to breach.

Buchan was a master at reading the game and he also took control of the Aberdeen back line which mastered the tactic of catching opponents offside, infuriating opposing teams and supporters alike.

That solid defence went on to establish their record in style. After a customary 7-0 hammering of lowly Cowdenbeath at Pittodrie, the Dons faced the acid test at Celtic Park on 12th December 1970.

In front of a feverish 63,000 crowd, Aberdeen showed all of the character and tough mentality to not only defy the champions on their own soil but score a winning goal of sublime simplicity straight from the Turnbull training ground routines. It was Harper again (pictured) who notched the only goal of the game to put Aberdeen at the top of the league.

A week later Falkirk were beaten 1-0 and Harper again scored the only goal with a 19th minute penalty. Alex Ferguson was in the Falkirk side that day and his continued protestations to the referee warranted harsh words from the officials.

On Boxing Day, Aberdeen delivered a knockout blow to Airdrie at Broomfield with an impressive 4-0 win to take Aberdeen on to nine games without conceding a goal. Over the New Year period Aberdeen had to play Dundee at Pittodrie on New Year’s Day followed by a trip to Perth 24 hours later to face St Johnstone. Aberdeen were given a standing ovation by the 24,000 crowd after a 3-0 win over Dundee, the third goal coming from young Arthur Graham who ran 25 yards before unleashing an unstoppable shot in the final minute.

A day later, St Johnstone were sitting in third place in the table and were enjoying a good season. At their old Muirton Park, a huge Aberdeen support were behind the Dons as their title challenge continued to gather real momentum. Jim Forrest (pictured) scored the only goal of the game in the 76th minute on a frost bound pitch that tested Aberdeen to the limit.

A 3-0 win over Kilmarnock kept Aberdeen four points clear at the top before their record was finally broken against Hibernian at Easter Road on 16th January 1971. It took the returning Joe Baker and Hibernian captain Pat Stanton to break the Dons resolve.

When Stanton scored in the 64th minute, the Dons had gone 19 hours and 12 games without conceding a goal.

24/10 A St Mirren W 3-1

31/10 H DUNDEE UTD W 4-0
7/11 H CLYDE W 3-0
14/11 A Ayr Utd W 1-0
21/11 H HEARTS W 1-0
28/11 A Motherwell W 2-0
5/12 H COWDENBEATH W 7-0
12/12 A Celtic W 1-0
19/12 H FALKIRK W 1-0
26/12 A Airdrie W 4-0
1/1 H DUNDEE W 3-0
2/1 A St Johnstone W 1-0
9/1 H KILMARNOCK W 3-0

16/1 A Hibernian L 1-2

It stood as a UK record until Manchester United’s Edwin van der Sar beat it in February 2009. Fraser Forster broke the Scottish league record in 2014, although his run was stopped by Jonny’s Hayes incredible strike against Celtic at Pittodrie.

Sadly, the record would not lead to a League Championship as Aberdeen were agonisingly pipped to the title by Celtic. Many believe the Pittodrie Fire on 6 February 1971, which destroyed part of the Main Stand, and gutted the dressing rooms and club offices had an impact on the players during the run in. Aberdeen needed to beat Celtic on the penultimate weekend of the season at Pittodrie but they were held to a 1-1 draw.