The night Aberdeen FC shocked Europe!
11th May, 2023 – 40 year anniversary!
John & Kathleen Anderson formed Elite Promotions a few years after we had worked together for the first time at a unique event in 1983. We were married six months before the biggest night in the history Aberdeen football club. At the time John was an area sales manager with Pirelli tyres and Kathleen was a business travel manager with Sunseeker Volta who were based at the top of Holburn Street.
As it is 40 years since that special day,and just for a laugh, here are John’s memories of the build up and the trip to Gothenburg.
I attended the quarter final tie against Bayern Munich which was a 28,000 sell out. The atmosphere was electric. The place was buzzing! Following a 0-0 draw in the first leg half the supporters were saying we had a great chance to go through, but half thought we should not build our hopes up too much as we still had to beat the great Bayern Munich. At the end of the game which we won 3-2. I like every other supporter was estatic. I went home and suggested to Kathleen she should look into chartering a flight which she did. By the the day of the final her company had chartered seven planes!
When we learned we would be facing Waterschei in the semi final things really went wild and bookings started to roll in. After we beat them 5-1 in the first leg it was unbelievable. By the time the second leg was over the seat sales went ballistic.
Sunseeker was kind enough to draft me in as a ‘temporary helper’ and myself and Kathleen managed one of the flights. At that time there was not the security for flights there is today. People were turning up at the airport asking if we had any seats and as long as they had their passport they could go. Two lads came over and asked if we had two seats. When we said yes they paid for the seats and said they would be back shortly. It turned out they had just finished their two week shift on the rigs and had called their wives to say they had been ‘bumped’ but would be home tomorrow. We later found out they were not the only ones! They got a taxi into Georgian Dress Hire were fitted out with kilts and back to the airport in time for the flight! The funny thing was that after the game we were beside the famous fountain outside the Ullevi Stadium where so many fans were going beserk and I think it was Frank Gilfeather who was interviewing the fans live on Grampian TV. As the interview was going on the two guys from the rigs were dancing in the fountain behind Frank, live on tv! I often wondered if their marriages survived that one!
When we arrived in Gothenburg the rain was torrential and there were concerns the game might be called off. We checked into the hotel and got ready for the match and had a bite to eat. We then assembled in the hotel reception to wait for the coach we had booked to take us to the Ullevi Stadium. NO BUS, it was a no show! We then had to get everyone into taxis and the hotel could only get us so many. That left Kathleen and I out on the streets absolutely soaked, flagging down taxis. Eventually we got everyone on their way but we struggled to find a taxi for us and walked half way before we got one. We finally got to the stadium and as we walked up the stairs and saw the pitch for the first time Willie Miller led the team out on the park. It was good of him to wait for us! The crowd of 18,000 who were not in the covered stands were soaked and taking cover under any dry area they could find, as a result most of the bench seats were empty. That did not stop an elderly Sweedish couple from prodding an umbrella in my back to tell me we were partly in his seat!
The first part I remember about the game itself was of course in the seventh minute when Eric Black swept the ball into the net and we were 1-0 up. The place was going wild and the noise was deafening. Then eight minutes later, disaster. Alex McLeish attempted a pass back to Jim Leighton which stuck in the very wet playing surface and Jim Leighton was judged to have pulled down their striker. The penalty was despatched by Juanito and we were back on level terms. The crowd was going wild but we all felt a bit nervous. However we played brilliantly and the game headed into extra time. The team played brilliantly throughout extra time, which they had to as they were against a top class side who were going full pelt for the win. Seeing their players giving everything they had in that famous all white kit was frightening. Especially when your team is trying to pull off the impossible. The rain seemed to be getting worse so with 10 minutes to go we took cover under a stairway leading up to the stand. Then in the 112th minute it happened. Mark McGhee’s cross found John Hewitt, the rest as they say is history. When the goal went in I jumped in the air, banging my head against the concrete staircase above me and nearly knocked myself out. I was groggy but saw something fall in front of me and heard this tinkle as it hit the ground. I looked in disbelief as one fan ran down from the stand, screaming his head off. He calmy bent down, picked up his false teeth put them back in his mouth and screamed YEEEEEEEEEES!
Then with a couple of minutes to go Real Madrid was awarded THAT FREE KICK. As they lined up I could hear numerous fans, me included, who were possibly not really religious, PRAYING out loud and pleading for a miss! Someone must have been listening as the ball went beyond the far post and the relief around me was unbelievable. Men and women were in tears as we then knew we could actually win the cup.
For the remainder of the game it was backs to the wall as you would expect but when the final whistle went it was unbelievable. Everyone was screaming at the top of their voices and hugging anyone within hugging distance. We eventually got back to the hotel to celebrate but the bar in the hotel was shut! We ended up drinking a duty free bottle of whisky in our room to celebrate. All in all it was the trip of a lifetime and you had to pinch yourself as our local team, small in world football terms, were not only playing the great Real Madrid in a European Final but actually winning the European Cup Winners Cup. I am so proud to have been there and witness that unbelievable achievement! I also feel the game did have a big part to play when we started our events business a few years later. We are still going to this day and in a couple of years we will celebrate our 40th birthday as well. Congratulations to Aberdeen FC.
