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RUSSELL ANDERSON

ART & SCIENCE

Russell Anderson this week joined the top 10 all time Aberdeen appearance list. He spoke exclusively to RedMatchday.

Academics might well tell you that statistics are a science here history is an art. That in itself is a nice summary of the game of football and its conflicting elements, part art, part science. Both halves of the story matter, both inform our Saturday afternoons. And both join forces today for the statistics tell us that Russell Anderson has made history, entering the top ten of Aberdeen appearance makers, no small feat in these days where few players stick around at a club for long and where even the smallest clubs practice a for of squad rotation that reduces the opportunities to get your games in. More impressive still, given some luck on the injury front, Russell might yet end this season at number six on the all-time list and not too far shy of 400 games for the Dons. That is some record and some company to be keeping.

“When you look at the list, there are one or two things which stick out. Willie’s total of 797 games played is incredible. Drew Jarvie’s goal scoring record is also very impressive, 131 goals with a goal ratio of almost 34%. My goal ratio is not quite as impressive! But I would like to point out that my 5.23% is better that Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Stewart McKimmie! It is an interesting list to look at. The obvious names are up there, along with one or two that maybe surprise people. I am just very proud to be on the list.

“I can’t say I can remember every single game! There are games I remember and incidents in games I remember but a lot of them fade into a bit of a blur to be honest because when you are playing, you are just going from game to game through a busy season”.

“All these games later, I still get just as annoyed as I ever did when we lose a game, when I have a bad training session, when I am in a bad team at training and lose. It still annoys me every bit as much. Likewise I still enjoy winning as much as ever, I still enjoy being on a winning team at training. There is nothing better in terms of a job than going out and training with your teammates, having a good session and then going to a game on a Saturday in a good frame of mind and coming away with a good result”.

To see the list in full and to read the rest of the interview buy a copy of RedMatchday on Saturday.

There is the second part of the interview with AFC FPs goalkeeper Bobby Clark.

Did you ever fancy the Dons job?

“I never really saw this as something that made sense for me. I was contacted on numerous occasions when I was working at Stanford to coach in the MLS but never felt tempted. I find my current role as a coach at one of the top academic and athletic universities in the US a much more rewarding job. I am working with top athletes, in fantastic facilities and I get to share coaching ideas with all the other sports coaches on a daily basis. It is a fantastic sporting environment to be in and I feel I learn something new every day. I have three assistant coaches, an operations person, a physiotherapist, a strength coach who I share with two other sports, two sports nutrition specialists who work with all our teams, a sports psychologist that works with our teams – it really is a very professional set up. Our players practice or play six days per week from early August through until the end of April.

“Combine that with scouting for players in the off season, running camps and you can see I am kept very busy. There is also the academic side and this is where I feel very satisfied as all my players will leave Notre Dame with a top degree regardless of whether they were a starter or the 30th player on the roster.

“They will all feel they have been a success regardless of football. We have had a 100% graduation rate and I must give much praise to our Academic Advisor who works closely with all our players, and to our staff, to make sure that all our student-athletes are keeping on top of their studies.”

We also remember another Dons goalkeeper, Fred Martin.

The Aberdeen ‘keeper and his displays caught the attention of the Scottish selectors ahead of the World Cup in Switzerland in the summer of 1954. George Farm had been the regular ‘keeper in the national side but after Martin made his debut against Norway at Hampden on 5th May 1954, Martin was also in the side that travelled to Oslo for the return match two weeks later as the side prepared for the finals.

Martin recalled the trip: “It was a shambles to be honest. For whatever reason, we were not prepared at all and I don’t think the authorities knew what it was all about. We travelled for the finals with only 13 players as the SFA tried to keep costs down. Among them was George Hamilton, my team mate at Pittodrie and he was injured! That left 12 players and I was the only ‘keeper. It all went wrong in the first game against Austria in Zurich when we really suffered from the heat. We played with thick cotton jerseys, ideal for a Scottish winter but not so pleasant for a Swiss summer. We were beaten 1-0 by Austria and then humiliated by Uruguay. They turned up with these thin shiny strips and football ‘shoes’ that made them all the more mobile. We were leaden footed and shattered in that heat and we were given a real lesson that day.”

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