Forget the Old Firm duo of Celtic and Rangers momentarily and the remnants of Scottish football looks rather bare and barren, the vision of a champion outside the streets of Glasgow only a hallucination of the mind for many. With over 82% of the champions originating from the Scottish capital, the iron grip has resolutely shackled the prospects of the other ten competing clubs in the Scottish Premier League.
51 top-flight titles under the glorious name of Rangers and an additional 42 awarded to Celtic supplies us with all of the knowledge we require. Recollections of earlier seasons where one of the other twelve champions emerged victorious are rapidly descending into the past, but there was once upon a time when Aberdeen sat at the pinnacle of the domestic perch.
The years between 1978 and 1986 can be hailed as the club’s golden era when, under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson, Aberdeen won three league championships, four Scottish Cups, a League Cup, the European Cup Winner’s Cup and the European Super Cup. With the accolade of being the most recent club outside the Old Firm to win the title – in 1984/85 - Aberdeen can also pride themselves by remaining the only Scottish club to have won two European club competitions. Beating Bayern Munich en route to the European Cup Winner’s Cup final in 1983 was comfortably surpassed by overcoming Real Madrid in the continent’s finest showpiece. Afterwards they acquired the Super Cup at the expense of SV Hamburg.
Since the official unveiling of the Scottish Premier League in 1998-98, the fortunes of the Glasgow pair have gone from strength to strength on the domestic front and the concentration of their stranglehold has only intensified. Aberdeen have been unable to match the feats of the 1980s and with the recurring appearances of Celtic and Rangers in the Champions League, along with the financial bliss gained from pulling in the league’s two largest attendances, it is unlikely to radically change soon. Leaping past the UEFA Cup Group Stage last season and entertaining Bayern Munich again in a Last 32 glamour tie restored the pride of a bygone time and finishing in 3rd place this campaign would represent a noble effort and a hugely satisfactory outcome.
1 comment:
yeah... personally I felt it's very unhealthy for a league, in any part of the world, being dominated by duopoly or a small collective of elites..
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