Dons Dubai Diary

The trip to Dubai will hopefully have set the first team squad up for what promises to be another exciting end to the season but off the field the visit to the United Arab Emirates saw a number of activities take place to enhance the reputation & brand of Aberdeen Football Club in the Middle East. Thanks to the generosity of club sponsor, Saltire Energy, a group of 36 players & staff travelled from Glasgow to Dubai for the visit.

From a corporate golf day to networking meetings with local businesses, the events allowed officials from the club to extend the reach of the club and explain in more detail about future plans including those for the training ground, community facilities and stadium.

First up was a visit to the local Arabian Gulf League side, Al Wasl where a delegation from AFC met with senior members of the Al Wasl board & staff.

The following day a golf day took place at Arabian Ranches Golf Club for members of the ex-pat community in Dubai. 60 golfers took part in the day alongside members of the first team squad and that was followed by a BBQ and question & answer session with Derek McInnes, Tony Docherty & Barry Robson. Former Dons boss Craig Brown then rounded off the evening with a repertoire of entertaining tales from his days in football.

Friday saw a delegation travel back to Al Wasl to take in their Arabian Gulf League match against Al-Jazira. Following the match the group met with key members of staff at Al Wasl to discuss the differing approaches to football between the UAE and Scotland.

Ahead of the first team’s training match against FC Bunyodkar, AFC officials visited the Headquarters of the United Arab Emirates Football Federation. Obaid Mubarak, Technical Director of the UAE Federation, guided the group around the outstanding facility before exchanging gifts with AFC CEO, Duncan Fraser.

Following the visit the group then gave a presentation at an event organised by the Corporate Group Business Network in the centre of Dubai which was attended by some key businesses in the area. Duncan Fraser delivered a presentation on the clubs ‘Vision of the Future’ before opening a question and answer session.

Business Development manager, Russell Anderson was the guest on this week’s edition of RedInsider on RedTV:

“First and foremost from a playing perspective I think it ticked all the boxes that they required with good facilities & good weather especially with weather back in Aberdeen.

“Off the pitch, it provided us with some opportunities to engage with the large supporter base we have over there as well as trying to get the AFC brand out there to people in the middle east who don’t much about the club.

“It was amazing to see the kind of response we got. We did manage to sell out the corporate golf day and there a lot of people who were delighted to see us make the effort just to try and do something with the supporters. They got the opportunity to spend time with the players and management out on the course and then in the evening had a chance to mingle further and listen to the management team in the evening.

“Our contact in Dubai had set up a couple of events on Sunday so we were lucky enough to visit the UAE Federation. They are very fortunate in that they are heavily supported by government in terms of the national federation and the facilities they have. There were lots of things we can learn from them and likewise we shared some information that they will look to take away and implement.

“We then had a meeting with a group of local business leaders. The majority of them didn’t know very much at all about Aberdeen Football Club so it was a great opportunity given the history of the club and plans going forward to provide them with some more information.

“If it wasn’t for the support of Saltire Energy then it is very doubtful if the trip would have ever happened so again it was another indication of the support and appreciation that we have for Saltire as club sponsor.

“We made some very good initial connections with people out there and the aim now for us is to build on that and cultivate these relationships. Hopefully in the fullness of time the club, and the city, will benefit from it.

“The plans [for the training ground, community facilities and stadium] look really exciting for the club going forward and it will certainly bring us to a new level in the future. In order to do that we will require funding for it and that will come various different sources. We’ve got a fantastic tradition here and it’s certainly something that if there was funding available from certain areas we would certainly look to investigate that but it would have be for the good of the club.”

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The club would like to thank the following people for their help & assistance with the visit to Dubai:

Saltire Energy Gordon Bisset Stuart Gibb UAE Federation Al Wasl Football Club Jebel Ali Golf Resort Arabian Ranches Golf Corporate Business Services