In 1929 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 from the one in 1927.

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 full Aberdeen party that made their way to South Africa in 1937 was; Willie Cooper, Billy Scott, Herbert Currer, Bob Temple, Billy Strauss, Jackie Beynon, 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 Beynon 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 Beynon died that evening, the 26th June 1937.

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.

Beynon had been a very popular player 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.

Beynon 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. Beynon 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 gone 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.

More about that later this week

DATE	OPPONENT	SCORE	LOCATION	SCORERS
1929 Tour of Norway
13th May	Brann Bergen	5-2	Bergen
15th May	Gjoa VIF	1-0	Oslo
17th May	Drafn	11-2	Drammen
21st May	Valerengen	2-2	Oslo
26th May	Oppland County	5-2	Oppland	cover photo
28th May	Stavanger IF	4-0	Stavanger
1933 Tour of Scandinavia
6th May	Brann	5-1	Bergen	Armstrong 5
9th May	Hardy	8-0	Bergen	Armstrong 4, Beattie 2, Love, Robertson
12th May	SIF Stavanger	3-1	Stavanger	Robertson 2, Beattie
14th May	Viking Stavanger	6-1	Stavanger	Armstrong,Robertson,Thomson,Donald,Beattie,Cooper
17th May	Frigg	0-0	Oslo
19th May	Drafn	6-0	Drammen	Armstrong 2,Beattie,Johnston,Thomson, Sharp
23rd May	Fredrikstad	5-2	Fredrikstad	Armstrong 4, Love
25th May	Kvik	3-2	Halden	Armstrong 2, Robertson
31st May	Gaja	3-2	Gothenburg	Beattie, Robertson, Armstrong
2nd June	KB Copenhagen	3-1	Copenhagen	Armstrong 2, Robertson
7th June	Malmo	2-1	Malmo	Armstrong, Thomson
1937 Tour of South Africa
24th May	Western Province	7-3	Cape Town	Mills3, Armstrong3, Benyon
26th May	Griqualand	2-1	Kimberley	Lang, McKenzie
29th May	South Transvaal	2-1	Johannesburg	Scott 2, Benyon
31st May	North Transvaal	2-0	Pretoria	Scott, Mills
5th June	Natal	3-1	Durban	Lang, Mills 2
9th June	Orange Free State	2-0	Bloemfontein	Armstrong, Benyon
12th June	Transvaal	2-4	Johannesburg	Armstrong 2
13th June	Lourenco Marques	6-4	Mozambique	Armstrong 3,Benyon 2, Devine
16th June	East Transvaal	1-2	Benoni	OG
19th June	South Africa	5-2	Durban	Armstrong 3, Lang, McKenzie
23rd June	Natal	3-3	Maritzburg	Scott 2, Mills
26th June	South Africa	5-1	Johannesburg	Mills 2, Scott 2, Lang
30th June	Frontier XI	6-1	East London	Scott 2, Mills 2, Lang 2
3rd July	South Africa	3-2	Port Elizabeth	Scott, Lang, Devine
7th July	Western Province	4-0	Observatory	Lang 2, Scott, Devine
1951 Tour of Norway
23rd May	Norway XI	4-0	Oslo	Hay 2, Yorston, OG
25th May	East Norway XI	3-0	Moss	Yorston 2, I Rodger
29th May	Bergen	7-1	Bergen	I Rodger 5, Hay 2
1st June	Norway County	7-2	Stavanger	Bogan, I Rodger 5, Boyd