Cover Story
The Dolly Digital masterpiece for this issue is inspired by one of the greatest ever Boxing films.
“Raging Bull” is a 1980 biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, based on Jake LaMotta’s memoir “Raging Bull: My Story”.
The film stars Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta, an Italian-American middleweight boxer whose self-destructive, obsessive rage destroyed his relationship with his family. De Niro deservedly won an Oscar for a performance that included gaining 60 pounds to portray LaMotta in his later post-boxing years. Also featured in the film is Joe Pesci – unknown at the time – as Joey, LaMotta’s well-intentioned brother and manager.
“Raging Bull” premiered in New York on November 14, 1980 though at the time, it had a lukewarm reception. However the film has gone on to be recognised as Scorsese’s finest achievement to date and many argue it’s the greatest film ever made.
If you have not seen it, try watching it over Christmas. Believe me, it will be better than the films on the box!
The greatest ever Aberdeen team was also being put together around that time.
Aberdeen went into 1980/81 as reigning Premier League Champions but a season that promised so much was to eventually falter in the closing weeks. The Dons made their first appearance in the European Cup a memorable one after a 1-0 win over Austrian champions Austria Vienna. Mark McGhee made history by becoming the first Aberdeen player to score in the Champions’ Cup. The Dons went through after a superb defensive performance in the Vienna return ended in a 0-0 draw.
In the second round, Aberdeen came up against favourites Liverpool in what was billed as the ‘Battle of Britain’. Pittodrie was at fever pitch for the first game as the Dons were effectively mugged by a street wise Liverpool side in a 1-0 defeat. The loss of John McMaster following a dreadful challenge from Liverpool’s Ray Kennedy was a huge blow for the Dons. There was a further lesson for an injury-hit Dons in the Anfield return as they went down 4-0 to the English champions.
In the domestic game, Aberdeen could do little wrong as they created a then Scottish record by staying unbeaten for the first 15 games of the season. Not for the first time, the Dons came unstuck in the Cappielow mud of Greenock in November, but following a 4-1 hammering of nearest rivals Celtic at Pittodrie on 27th December, the title looked set to stay in the North-east.
It was a bleak winter for Aberdeen though as they inexplicably collapsed and allowed Celtic to take over at the top. Four defeats in February killed any title chances. Perhaps the prolonged absence of Gordon Strachan and McMaster through injury had a negative impact on the Dons who struggled to reach their previous heights. The Dons’ Scottish Cup hopes did not pass another Greenock test as they went down 1-0 to Morton. That defeat was to be the Dons’ last reverse in the Scottish Cup for four years.
The UK in November 1980 was a dark place, and not just because we were in the middle of winter. Even worse than now believe it or not.
The Main interview is with Dean Campbell:
“I am very proud to be the youngest player to have played for Aberdeen. I was concerned on the first day of the season when Calvin Ramsay came into the squad for the Hearts game! It is credit to Calvin who did really well when he trained with the first team.
“He was rewarded with his place on the bench, but I knew it was only a couple of days after his 16th birthday, so if he came on he would have stolen my record for being the youngest ever player! I admit to giving him a little kick in the warm up so he would not achieve that feat!! I was very pleased at the end of the game with Ryan scoring the late winner and Calvin not getting on!
“All joking a side, I would not have cared (too much!) if he came on because the more young players that come through the Academy, the better for the club. I’m happy to see all the boys come in and do well and we have a lot of good players in the development squad at the moment. The U18s are also a good group and they are having a very good season.”
There is an interview with Joe Lewis:
It’s not been the prettiest first half of the season, but we are in and around the third place spot in the table so it’s been a decent enough start without the team consistently catching fire.
We have two very important games before the break to finish on a high. Hopefully these games against Livingston and Hearts will see us put our foot down and set us up in a good place for when we come back. Hopefully we can get some fluency into our performances – both attacking wise and defensively.
The Q&A is with Connor McLennan. Columnist Rachel Corsie looks back at an incredible 12 months for the Scotland captain. We pay tribute to Niall McGinn reaching 300 games and as it is the last game of the decade, we pick our favourite 20 moments of the past 10 years. There is the usual in-depth history section where we have found some cracking photos of Pittodrie in the snow from yesteryear.
All this for still only £3.00.
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