Saturday’s clash at Pittodrie between Aberdeen and Dundee will be the 200th league meeting between the old rivals.
Originally one of the oldest biggest fixtures in Scottish Football Calendar, it was also one of the main derby matches.
The first meeting between the sides in the league was not a day to remember for Aberdeen as they lost 0-6 at Dens Park on 18th November 1905. That day was later called “Black Saturday” by the Aberdeen support and local press as the reserves were also heavily beaten at Pittodrie on the same day.
The first ever Premier League game between Aberdeen and Dundee was at Dens Park on 30th August 1975 as the new 10-team set up began with Dundee edging Aberdeen out in a 3-2 win. Bobby Ford of Dundee had the distinction of scoring the first ever goal in the Premier League after two minutes.
By tradition, the Aberdeen v Dundee fixture was always the one that grabbed the attention long before the inception of the Premier League in 1975. Dundee were regular visitors to Aberdeen even before 1903 and it is well documented that the Dens Park club openly backed and supported Aberdeen’s bid to become members of the Scottish League after the amalgamation in 1903.
Dundee lobbied the powers that be back then in support of Aberdeen as they described “The last outpost in Scotland with a large population base without senior football”. Aberdeen did go on to gain admission to the First Division in 1905 in the days before any form of promotion or relegation. It was up to member clubs whether or not to allow clubs entry to the elite division in Scotland.
The ‘North East’ derby between the two sides can be traced back as far as the Dons’ formation in 1903, many years before city rivals Dundee United came into being. It was really only Dundee’s relegation in 1976 that brought United into the picture as Aberdeen and, then latterly, United flourished in the new Premier League set up.
Of the 200 league meetings, 118 were in the Old First Division, 52 in the Premier League, 28 in the SPL and 1 in the SPFL Premiership.
RedMatchday Magazine will have more in Saturday’s edition. You can buy a copy by clicking here Overall Record 1905-2014
Pittodrie P 100 W 54 D 30 L 16 F 174 A 96 Dens Park P 99 W 41 D 33 L 25 F 159 A 129 Total P 199 W 95 D 63 L 41 F 333 A 225
Pittodrie P 100 W 54 D 30 L 16 F 174 A 96 Dens Park P 99 W 41 D 33 L 25 F 159 A 129 Total P 199 W 95 D 63 L 41 F 333 A 225
