Red Matchday Nine | Preview

This week’s Red Matchday Magazine has an in-depth interview with Sam Cosgrove, Q&A with Joe Lewis and the Development Don featured is Luke Turner. Plus, all the usual features and articles.

As Saturday is our closest game to Remembrance Day, Dolly Digital has produced a special warp round cover as we pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and as always we remember those from AFC who went to war and never returned.

THE COVER STORY

Our cover image is from a game at Pittodrie during the 1929/30 season, midway between the century’s two world wars.

From this distance, it’s hard to imagine just what some of those in our picture had already been through or were about to endure.

The 1920s, also known as the ‘Roaring Twenties’, was a decade of real contrasts.

The Great War had just ended in victory, peace had returned and with it, for some, prosperity as many manufacturers who aided the war effort had benefited financially throughout the war years.

For the ‘Bright Young Things’ of the aristocracy and the upper classes, life was good. Jazz clubs and cocktail bars sprouted up in the major cities. This generation had missed the war and they felt a need to enjoy life to the full, because so many other young lives had been lost on the battlefields of Flanders.

But for many of those who did return, the mental scars never healed whilst peacetime failed to deliver the “homes fit for heroes” that politicians had promised.

By the mid 1920s, the post-war period of prosperity was well and truly over as the British economy for various reasons went into a steep decline. Poverty amongst the unemployed contrasted strikingly with the affluence of the middle and upper classes. In some cities it was as high as 70%.

This led in turn to the Great Strike of 1926 and, following the Wall Street crash of 1929, the beginning of the Great Depression of the 1930s. From a decade that started with a boom, the 1920s ended in an almighty bust which, in turn, led us back to war by the end of the 1930s.

As for the Dons, the side on view in 1929 certainly offered some escapism from all the hardships. That season Alex Cheyne scored three goals direct from corner-kicks!

Aberdeen won 16 of their 21 competitive games at Pittodrie and remained unbeaten at home all season, the only team in Britain to manage that. Benny Yorston, who played every game that season, scored 38 League goals, an all-time club record and scored 46 goals from only 42 games. Other players of note were Alex Cheyne and Frank Hill who were capped for Scotland against France in Paris. Jimmy Smith had a benefit match against Huddersfield Town, which saw a return home for the wonderful former Don Alex Jackson.

Aberdeen finished the season with a then record points total in the League, 53. They finished above Celtic but in third spot behind Motherwell and Champions Rangers (60 points). Whilst the Dons showed great consistency in the league, they could not reproduce that form in the Scottish Cup. They exited in the third round after going down 3-2 to Partick Thistle at Firhill. At the same venue four days later, they lost 2-1 in the league, ending the Dons’ title challenge.

The actual game pictured was between Aberdeen and Rangers on the 7th September 1929. The sides drew 1-1. The Aberdeen team that day, playing in front of a then record Pittodrie attendance of 32,000 was: Yuill, Hickie, Livingstone, Black, McLaren , Hill, Love, Cheyne 1, Yorston, McDermid, Smith.

The image is in fact two negatives that were very skilfully put together by Aberdeen Journals Archives Assistant Gary Thomas.

Red Matchday Historical Editor Kevin Stirling then worked out which game the photo was from.

“That wonderful pic of Pittodrie comes from a game v Rangers on 7th September 1929.

“The reasons I have come to this conclusion; The Main Stand construction along with the Bon Accord fascia in centre was completed in 1928 whilst the cover over the King St end was built in 1934 so the image is between 1928-1934 for certain. It was the sale of the legendary Alex Jackson that helped fund the costs to extend the Grandstand. There were also clues on the keeper’s kit with the distinct ‘band’ across the jersey was again only used by the club during this period. It was a time when the club were keen to develop the ground having taken ownership of Pittodrie in 1921.

“With Rangers being the opposition noted on the original negative that narrowed it down a bit. Closer inspection of the image confirms the goalmouths are in very good condition so back then that would be early season; certainly not winter or end of season. That only left two options; the one above and one from 1927; that attendance was 25,000 in 1927, the image I would argue is more like 32,000 than 25,000.” The vantage point where the images were taken was similar to one take in 1908 for the visit of Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final. That tie attracted a then record attendance of 20,000.

“The 1929 image is one of such great detail that it is unsurpassed in terms of quality and is as good an image as I have ever seen given that it dates back to 90 years ago.”

Many thanks to Gary, Kirsty and Aberdeen Journals for this and many of the wonder historic photos that appear in the programme throughout the season.