Donald Addison 1937 – 2025

Everyone at Aberdeen Football Club was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Donald Addison recently.

Born in 1937, Donald Addison was chartered designer, printmaker and watercolourist, Donald, who at one time was a lecturer at the city’s Gray’s School of Art, and is a former President of Aberdeen Artists Society, will always be synonymous with Aberdeen FC.

With the opening of the first ever club shop in Nelson Street near Pittodrie in 1972, the club commissioned Donald to produce a new club logo, which in turn would be registered and used on all club merchandise and stationery. Addison was chosen after he famously designed the Dons programme covers in the early 1970s and is regarded as a pioneer of programme design. Many of his iconic covers have been reproduced by Dolly Digital in recent years in this publication, and even as recently as last month for our Scottish Cup issue against Dunfermline Athletic, the cover was inspired from Donald’s work.

The design for the logo was kept under wraps until November 1972 when it appeared on the cover of the Dons’ programme for the visit of East Fife, the first time the design had been seen anywhere.

The new logo depicted the letter ‘A’ in the shape of the then Pittodrie goal stanchions with a ‘ball’ in the net to complete the genius, yet simple, piece of design which is rightly regarded as one of the best in football.

Only a few months ago, Donald kindly met with Mal Panton from the Red Matchday team to tell his story about working with AFC and how he came up with the brilliant design for the Dons crest. He also spoke about his friendship with Vice-Chairman Chris Anderson and his pride in seeing his work still being appreciated 50 years on.

That interview, plus a full tribute to Donald, including on the cover, will appear in Saturday’s programme.

Our thoughts are very much with Donald’s family and friends at this time. Rest in Peace, Don.

Also in Saturday’s bumper Scottish Cup edition.

Kevin Stirling caught up with Bobby Clark ahead of the Dons Scottish Cup-tie against his first club Queen’s Park. Bobby looks back on his early days with the Glasgow side and his Scottish Cup memories with the Dons…

‘Regarding signing for Aberdeen, it I suppose came just not long after losing in the Scottish Cup to Celtic. Aberdeen approached Eddie Turnbull about coming to Pittodrie after they had decided to let Tommy Pearson go. When Eddie left Queen’s Park in February, we were second top of the old Division Two and in with a strong chance to clinch second spot and get promotion to the top league. Had Eddie remained and we had got promotion I am sure I would have stayed with Queen’s but when he left, we finished in fourth place. At this point I decided to turn professional since Queen’s Park, although playing in professional football, were amateur.”

Brian Irvine, who was recently inducted into the AFC Hall of Fame, had a long and very successful career at Aberdeen, making 387 appearances for the Dons and scoring 40 goals along the way. But he will always be remembered for winning the Scottish Cup in 1990. There is a special interview with the former Dons defender.

“I haven’t actually watched the full 120 minutes of the cup final since. It probably wasn’t very good. In your mind it’s better! You started thinking in extra time, ‘This is looking like penalties.’ But I didn’t think I’d be involved in the penalties because I wasn’t going to nominate myself for one of the five.

“So when the full-time whistle goes next time, you think, ‘That’s me, I’ve done my job, I’ve kept a clean sheet. Now it’s up to the five guys that are going to give their name to Jocky or Alex to take the penalties. Five of them did that. The rest of us just stood and watched.”

Coming into Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final, Sivert Heltne Nilsen has form over the distance, having twice won the Norwegian Cup, most recently with Brann when he was the skipper. But it is his first cup winner’s medal that carries an even bigger story – a quite remarkable one, when IL Hødd carrying off the trophy in 2012.

“The final was in front of 25,000 people in Oslo. The most we had played for was the semi-final at home, I think the crowd was 5,000, but normally we had around 1,000 at our games. It was a crazy experience. It was so unreal to think about now, because it feels like forever ago, but still it’s a memory that I can think about and I just smile. When we won that final, it gave me so much inspiration, and the belief that everything is possible. I really feel that.”

There is also an interview with Mats Knoester. He may only be a handful of games into his Aberdeen career, but Mats has already impressed in central defence.

“I was raised in Holland, and came through the Dutch football school. It is known for trying to play football, it is very technical, building up from the back. That’s what we are raised with in Dutch football culture. But I also learned in other countries and leagues how to be physical. In Denmark, it is a physical league, so I learned a lot there as well. I think I can handle that side of the game very well.

“I don’t like to talk too much about the way I play before showing people something, so first I just want to show my qualities and help the team. Of course, you always hope and want to be important for the team, for the club, and make a name. But I feel that I can do well in Scotland.”

In the history section there is a look back at Aberdeen v Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup. While the records show the first clash came in 1905, the Hampden amateurs were previously in Aberdeen for a Scottish Cup tie on 9 November 1889. Queen’s at that time were a huge attraction and one of the best sides around. The original Aberdeen FC were only eight years in existence and a record 5,000 crowd turned up at the Chanonry. The Glasgow side gave a masterclass and ran out 13-1 winners. Such was the attraction that the Queen’s players were greeted at Aberdeen on their arrival at 11.20am by home supporters who walked with them to their hotel.

Plus many other special features and columns, including captain Graeme Shinnie who is closing in on his 600th competitive appearance.

How to Buy

Red Matchday Magazine is 84 pages and produced by Curtis Sport. Priced at £4.00, the official Aberdeen FC programme is available to buy in and around the ground on Saturday from the sellers and is available in the AFC Club Shop. You can also buy your copy online and have it delivered direct to your door by clicking here