Hall of Fame | Thursday 29th October 2026

The Club is delighted to confirm the 11th AFC Hall of Fame dinner, sponsored by Scott James & Associates, will return this year, with more Dons legends set to be inducted on Thursday 29th October at The Marcliffe Hotel.

In the 2024 edition of the Hall of Fame, Charlie Nicholas, Hans Gillhaus, Brian Irvine and Matt Armstrong were inducted, and this time around, some more great names who have helped shape the history of the Club are set to be honoured.

Our inductees for the 2026 edition of the AFC Hall of Fame are Alex Smith, Robert Connor, Paul Mason, Andrew Considine and Jim Warrender along with the AFC Heritage Trust Posthumous Award to Tommy McMillan.

The evening will once again be a memorable occasion for all Dons supporters with a three-course meal with wine included, and Q&A sessions with our inductees throughout the evening.

Spaces will be available to book online via afc.co.uk/eTickets from Monday 17th August, with tables of 12 for the event priced at £1,650+VAT. There will be a limited number of individual spaces available for £138 +VAT per person.

For more information, please email [email protected].

Alex Smith

Alex Smith is one of Scotland’s best club managers.

He began his playing career at Kilmarnock, before having spells with Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion, East Stirling and Albion Rovers. In management, he started at Stenhousemuir, before a 12 year spell with the team he supported as a boy – Stirling. It was almost 50 years ago to the day when Stirling met the Dons in the quarter-final of the League Cup. After the second legged affair ended tied, a third game was needed at Dens Park. Ally MacLeod’s side eventually won 2-0, before going on to beat Rangers and then Celtic to lift the cup! This though was the start of the relationship between Alex and Dick Donald.

He remained at Annfield until 1986 before joining St Mirren. He led them to Scottish Cup glory in 1987, defeating Dundee United, before moving to Aberdeen a year later.

With Jocky Scott and Drew Jarvie alongside him, in their first full season the Dons challenged for all domestic honours, eventually having to settle for second place in the league as well as losing out in a classic League Cup final to Rangers.

It was in 1989/90 that Aberdeen returned to the winner’s enclosure, to end the club’s greatest ever decade the right way. In 1989, the Dons returned to Hampden and defeated Rangers with two Paul Mason goals.

In May 1990 an historic Scottish Cup final was decided by penalties for the first time. It was big Brian Irvine who scored the decisive penalty after Theo Snelders had saved from Anton Rogan of Celtic.

By that time, Alex Smith had again plundered the Dutch market and brought in Hans Gillhaus, a European Cup winner with PSV Eindhoven. A record buy at £650,000, the Dutch internationalist was an immediate success and he formed a brief but stunning partnership with Charlie Nicholas.

Aberdeen also finished as runners up in the league once more and, the following season, the Dons would take the title race to final day, before coming up agonisingly short.

After three and a half seasons in the North-east, spells with Clyde, Dundee United and Ross County followed, plus some work with various Scotland teams below the senior level, before he had two spells in interim charge at Falkirk. Alex then emigrated to Australia to spend time with family. Smith was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame to recognise his near 60 years in the game, and he now rightly takes his place in the AFC Hall of Fame.

Robert Connor

Sir Alex Ferguson bought and sold many players during a seven-year spell at Aberdeen that brought so much success. Ferguson’s penultimate signing before he left to join Manchester United was that of Robert Connor from Dundee.

Born in Ayr in August 1960, he signed for Ayr United as a 16-year-old and played under Ally MacLeod for a short spell. Robert went on to establish himself in the Somerset Park side, but it was not until 1982 that he first came to the attention of the Pittodrie patrons, in a semi-professional tournament that involved Scotland, England, Holland and Italy where Connor was outstanding for the Scots.

That gave Robert a taste of international football and on the back of that exposure, he returned to the top-flight when he joined Dundee in 1984 under manager Archie Knox. Archie rejoined the Dons in 1986 and took Robert with him later that year in a swap deal involving Ian Angus. Robert, or ‘Roger’ as he was known to his teammates, joined Aberdeen in a £350,000 deal and made his debut in a 2-0 win over Hamilton Accies at Pittodrie on 16th August 1986. Connor went on to play an integral part of the Aberdeen midfield and provided the perfect foil for Jim Bett and Neil Simpson.

Robert played for Aberdeen in three consecutive League Cup finals against Rangers. It was third time lucky in ’89 and the Dons were digging into the champagne after Paul Mason’s two goals saw Aberdeen to a 2-1 victory, ushering Willie Miller towards lifting another trophy, Robert’s first major honour. His second would follow shortly after, winning the Scottish Cup against Celtic on penalties with Bobby successfully taking the Dons’ second spot kick.

He so nearly completed a domestic set of medals in 1991 when Aberdeen lost the league on the final day of the season at Ibrox. Already capped for Scotland while playing for Dundee, the left-sided midfielder earned further international honours during his spell at Pittodrie.

Along with Alex McLeish and Jim Bett, Connor left the Dons in 1994, in his case to join Kilmarnock. He made 262 appearances and scored 22 goals for Aberdeen.

Paul Mason

When the Dons beat Rangers in the 1989/90 League Cup final, Paul Mason was the goalscoring hero with both goals in the 2-1 victory.

Liverpool born Paul Mason was one of hundreds of British tradesmen who left the country in search of work in Europe back in the ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet’ 1980s. Once there, Mason was soon spotted by Dutch top-flight side Groningen and when Alex Smith was across in Holland looking at another potential signing, he was so impressed by Mason that the Dons parted with £200,000 to take him to Pittodrie.

Mason had been playing as a full-back in Holland but it was in midfield that he was to soon establish himself in the Aberdeen side, though he was used in a variety of roles. A firm favourite with the Aberdeen support, it was in the 1989 League Cup final that Mason etched his name into Pittodrie folklore.

That season, he was used in an advanced role as he paired up with Charlie Nicholas before the arrival of Hand Gillhaus. Described by many observers as a 'complete player', it was testimony to his ability that Mason played in no less than five different positions for Aberdeen, in defence, midfield and in attack. For a player who was plucked from relative obscurity, he went on to become one of the most highly-rated players to play for Aberdeen in the post-Ferguson era.

Having won both domestic cups in 1989/90, the Dons ended the ‘80s on a real high with Mason established in the side. In 1993 he opted to join English Premiership side Ipswich Town in a £440,000 deal. Paul made 193 appearances for Aberdeen and scored 37 goals.

Andrew Considine

Andrew Considine had a quite brilliant spell at Aberdeen, spanning nearly 20 years.

The son of former Aberdeen defender Doug, Andrew was a product of the AFC Youth Academy. He made his professional debut in May 2004 in a 2-1 defeat to Dundee, making his second appearance at the end of the following season. He became a regular in the 2006/07 season, playing in 36 matches and scoring his first goals for Aberdeen in a 2-0 victory at St. Mirren in January 2007. He was in the Scotland U-20 squad in Canada in the summer of 2007 for the FIFA World Youth Championship tournament.

The powerful defender became a real stalwart of the team and was virtually a fixture in Derek McInnes' defence, either as centre-back or left-back, and was part of the side who won the League Cup in 2014.

At the age of 33, Andy finally gained national recognition when he was called up to join the Scotland squad in October 2020, being capped for the match against Slovakia on the 11th. He would go on and win three caps for his country.

With 645 senior appearances to his name, 571 of them made in a Dons shirt, the defender is fourth in the all-time Aberdeen appearances list, with only the might of Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Bobby Clark ahead of him. He also scored 40 goals.

Sadly Andrew’s final season at Pittodrie was not the one he wanted, a serious knee injury sustained on the atrocious surface at Qarabag, a blow that essentially ended his season. Had it not been for that, he might well have celebrated 600 games for the Dons. He played in the final match of the 2021/22 season, as Captain, against St Mirren.

In June 2022 he joined St Johnstone. On 8th July 2024, he announced that he had decided to retire from playing bring an end to one of the most enduring modern day careers.

Jim Warrender

The modern day Teddy Scott rightfully takes his place in the AFC Hall of Fame to mark his 40th year of working for the club, a remarkable achievement.

Jim, a groundskeeper by trade at Hazlehead Golf Course, joined as the Pittodrie groundsman in May 1986, just before the Dons’ Scottish Cup win. Working at Pittodrie alongside Alex Ferguson, he would go on and work with 18 permanent managers.

Looking after the Pittodrie pitch in the morning, in the mid 1990s he would go and give Teddy a hand with the kit in the afternoon. Jim also worked as kitman for the reserve team when the fixtures would flip on a Saturday. It was also Jim’s job to open up and look after the stadium in those days. Gradually, Jim took over, Teddy’s role. Things were much different then - the kit would go to a laundry on George Street which meant Jim first taking the strips home on a Saturday night!

Jim was involved with cup wins in 1989, 1990, 1995 and was on the bench when Aberdeen won the League Cup in 2014 at Celtic Park. Jim has also travelled all over Europe with the club, dealing with all the logistical challenges that brings. He also had a spell working with the Scotland U21 squad.

Like Teddy before him, Jim was far more than ‘just a kitman’. He was someone who managers could seek solace with, and someone the young players could go and speak to for advice as they tried to adjust to professional football.

In more recent years Jim has looked after the needs of the Development Squad. He is still around Cormack Park most days and is very often the last out of the building, just as he was at Pittodrie for so many years where Teddy’s kitroom, built in 1993, was his spiritual home. Players, managers and staff past and present would enjoy a cup of tea with him in that room before and after games.

Just as Teddy was, Jim is someone who is much happier working in the background, but he has agreed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and a rare moment in the spotlight.

Tommy McMillan

The AFC Heritage Trust Posthumous award this year is Tommy McMillan.

Tommy was actually on the verge of emigrating to Australia when legendary scout Bobby Calder persuaded him to visit Pittodrie for a trial. He played in two reserve matches before being drafted straight into the first team against Rangers in August 1965, becoming a fixture from then on.

In 1966, he was capped for Scotland U-23 against Wales, then England a year later. In the summer of 1967 Aberdeen travelled to the USA and Tommy spent time playing as a Washington Whip. In September 1967, Tommy was in the Dons side that played the club’s first ever European tie against Reykjavik – and he scored.

The centre-half was a key player in the Eddie Turnbull revolution during the late ‘60s, culminating in the famous 3-1 win over Celtic at Hampden in 1970 to lift the Scottish Cup for only the second time. Dominant in the air and fearless in a tackle, McMillan was the rock at the centre of a fine defence, one of the very best in the club’s history.

The Dons rearguard developed, using the experience of Bobby Clark, an international goalkeeper, and the emergence of Martin Buchan, the first ‘sweeper’ in Scottish football. While Clark and Buchan took most of the plaudits, they were more than supported by the likes of Henning Boel, Jim Hermiston, George Murray and Tommy. McMillan was certainly the unsung hero in the side that won 15 league games in a row in 1970/71, 12 of them without conceding a single goal, setting a European shut-out record. The Dons just missed out on the league title that season, badly disrupted by the Pittodrie Fire.

Tommy made 248 Aberdeen appearances and scored two goals before joining Falkirk for a short spell in 1972. In his later years, Tommy was a regular and very popular attendee at the AFCCT football memories sessions at Pittodrie. Aged 81, Tommy passed away on 5 February 2026.

The Aberdeen FC Hall of Fame

One of the legacies of the centenary year in 2003 was the establishment of the AFC Hall of Fame. Aberdeen Football Club recognised the need to formally acknowledge the players and staff who have reached the pinnacle of their profession, making a significant contribution to the reputation of this great club. The inaugural dinner in early 2004 saw Teddy Scott, Willie Miller, Fred Martin, Drew Jarvie, John Hewitt and Jim Bett all honoured for their contributions to Aberdeen, and many other legends followed.

In 2015 the Hall of Fame was re-launched as an annual AFC event with the induction of the club’s most successful manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

A Hall of Fame committee, independent from the club, decides on the list each season. A number of players have been asked in the past and agreed to join at a time of their choosing, which the committee fully respects.

OTHER AFC HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES:

CHRIS ANDERSON

RUSSELL ANDERSON

MATT ARMSTRONG

DOUGIE BELL

JIM BETT

ERIC BLACK

HENNING BOEL

MARTIN BUCHAN

BOBBY CLARK

DONALD COLMAN

NEALE COOPER