In conversation with Richard Gordon

 

Earlier this month, former Aberdeen midfielder Gordon Strachan was inducted into the AFC Hall of Fame along with Eric Black, Doug Rougvie and Mark McGhee. The addition of the four Gothenburg Greats to the Hall of Fame completes the XI who started for Aberdeen against Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1983.

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Arguably one of the Dons’ greatest and most important signings, Strachan joined Aberdeen from Dundee in November 1977 when manager Billy McNeill sanctioned a fee of £50,000 plus Jim Shirra to secure his services.

He struggled at first, before Alex Ferguson was appointed as manager in the summer of 1978. Though the 1978/79 campaign was a disappointment, Aberdeen went on to win the league title in 1979/80 after closing a ten-point deficit to Celtic with a late run that included two victories at Celtic Park, inspired by Gordon. At the end of the season, Strachan was elected SFWA Footballer of the Year and signed a new contract to keep him at Pittodrie until 1984.

Gordon went on to become a crucial player in the greatest ever Aberdeen side. With Strachan on the right flank – supported by full-back Stuart Kennedy – and record signing Peter Weir on the left, Aberdeen would go on and dominate Scottish football after lifting the Scottish Cup in 1982 with a 4–1 extra-time victory over Rangers, Strachan contributing an assist and a goal.

1982/83 saw Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup again as well as the European Cup Winners’ Cup following victory over Spanish giants Real Madrid at Ullevi in Gothenburg. Aberdeen and Strachan continued their success by delivering the league title and Scottish Cup in 1983/84, with Strachan setting up Mark McGhee for the winning goal in the cup final win over Celtic, the final act of an outstanding Aberdeen career. That win completed a unique treble, as they had defeated SV Hamburg in the 1983 European Super Cup the previous December.

At the end of that season, Gordon moved to Manchester United after scoring 89 times in 292 outings for the Pittodrie club. He would go on and enjoy success south of the border, the highlight being when he helped Leeds United to a English Championship and then a managerial career followed that included a spell in charge of the Scottish national team. As a player, he was capped 50 times for Scotland, and appeared in two World Cup Finals.

Reflecting on his move to Pittodrie, Gordon said, “When the offer came to move to Aberdeen, it was a no brainer. It was £25 a week difference! I could not turn that down. I had a house in Dundee, but unfortunately a similar house in Aberdeen was £5,000 more to buy. In Dundee it was £9,000 and in Aberdeen it was £14,500. My £25 did not stretch to central heating, as that was £500 extra! A garage was another £500 but I did not have a car!

“I was delighted that Tommy Gemmill did not want me to play for Dundee. It is incredible how life can change, that sliding door thing. I think Dundee got beat by Queen of the South in my last game but fortunately there was a guy there called Mike Jackson who was Billy McNeill’s best friend and he put in a good report to Billy about the way I preformed that night. Because of that I had the opportunity to go to Aberdeen and the rest is a funny, manic story.

“At the time Aberdeen was known as the main club outside the Old Firm. But what happened next, it snowballed into this thing where we became the best team in Europe.

“It was not planned as such, it just happened when Sir Alex came along. He changed us from guys who thought we were decent, thought we were competitive into people who were really competitive and did get better.

“But the laugher was what I remember most. We were all about the same age. Willie was a bit older, two years older that most of the boys. The team that won in Gothenburg, the oldest player was 27. 27! The rest of us were 24 or 25 and in Scotland, at that age you are still looked upon as a young player. We had to grow up and be men very quickly.

“The whole situation was a one off. There were big characters. There was Willie, big Alex, Doug Rougvie; everyone seemed to be a character and we could all stand up for ourselves. But when the manager walked into the dressing room, we all knew who the boss was.

“He was a young manager so he had to try and impose himself on us but the drive and energy was incredible. When he got older, his experience and reputation meant that he did not have to have that in your face kind of energy, but I spoke to Darren Fletcher who said he could still be like that when he needed to be. He seemed to be like that every weekend at Aberdeen!

“They talk about losing a dressing room, well he lost most of us every Saturday night because we all hated him, but by the time Tuesday came around again, we all loved him and knew what we had to do.

“It was a phenomenal experience to be with Sir Alex and all these guys, most of whom went on to be managers – different levels of success obviously but to be there when Sir Alex was starting on this road to immortality, we were so lucky to be in his company.”

There’s no doubt Ally MacLeod and then Billy McNeill laid good foundations for what followed, but could the side have achieved what they did without the influence of Sir Alex?

“There is no chance we could have won what we did without him. No chance. He was a one off and I would argue with anyone that he is the best manager in British football. I have mentioned a couple of times to him that he helped us get to where we did in our careers but we also helped him!

“Everything just gelled at the right time. This group of players came together but none of it would have happened without him. At the time we thought, “This is awful being treated like this”, but when you look back you think you would not have missed it. It was a magical experience.

“When we meet up, you go into this mode of going back 40 years, into the humour of 40 years ago. You go back to when anything goes and any abuse can get thrown about, whether it be hairstyles, weight you have put on, it does not matter. It is a band of lads who can say anything to each other as long as you get a laugh out of it. It’s great fun meeting them all.

“I especially enjoy meeting Stuart Kennedy again. You need to beef up all your concentration levels because Stuart has an unbelievable memory of things that went on at that time and things I had forgotten all about. He has got them off to a tee. There is about a 50% exaggeration with Stuart now that he sticks on everything, but it’s funny!

“When you talk about success, you cannot be successful on your own, you need team mates, specifically people who play in your area and if it was not for Stuart Kennedy, I would not have done half as much as I did in my career. Most right-backs I played with finished when they were around 30 or before. I played until I was 40, so I thank every right back that I played with.

“I am sorry about your careers, but I thank you for mine!”