ham1sh68

Zoltan Varga for Aberdeen. Emerged overnight, in 1972, from the midst of a ban for match fixing in Europe, played in 31 glorious games for the Dons scoring ten goals and then quietly departed as mysteriously as he arrived. Possibly the most outrageously talented player to grace a football pitch in Scotland. Cementing his status was the appearance of Zoltan Varga Anderson a few months after he left. He was a winner in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup and had an Olympic Gold Medal and confirmed his cult status by dropping down dead in the middle of an Old Boys game at the age of 65. Once seen, never forgotten.

The current set up at Pittodrie is the most puzzling there has been for a while. Every so often a good ( and possibly even really good) spell bursts out of a mediocre performance. Somewhere in the huge squad at his disposal Robson comes up with something which works. There seems to be a pretty decent side hidden in there. But is Robson the right man to work out the best eleven to put on the park? Extenuating factors such as the difficulties in coping with European involvement, travel , lack of time on the training pitch, injuries etc, make it difficult to decide. We will possibly get some answers in the upcoming Cup Final, where a good performance could lead to an upswing for the second half of the season, but another inept performance could leave the club floundering. I personally like Robson so I hope he can sort things out but conversely I fear the worst for him and his staff. Any thoughts on your best starting XI plus subs?

I go back a long, long way...my first game at Hampden was in 1962 to watch Scotland beat England 2-0 with goals from Davie Wilson and Eric Caldow (pen). The Scotland team that day was very strong Brown, Hamilton, Caldow, Crerand, McNeil, Baxter, Scott, White, St John, Law and Wilson. Scotland had some genuine world class players in the 60's but they always contrived to miss out on World cups etc. Organisation and selection processes were often mucked up by the blazers in charge at that time. A few random memories of the day; Hampden seemed enormous compared to Pittodrie which I had thought was huge! The crowd was supposed to be around 130,000 but so many youngsters got a " lifty o'er" the turnstiles that there must have been many more than that. A really gruesome memory is the streams of urine flowing down the terraces to form puddles at the retaining wall, inches deep - absolutely disgusting but it didn't put me off coming back many times. Most memories of Scotland and Aberdeen were good ones as we often left the old stadium with that winning feeling, especially in the seventies and eighties. Happy days.

Pre Season Friendly result today Lochee United 0-1 Hermes

I think this is good news for the Dons via McKenna's transfer,as Forest have secured their place in the Premier League by beating Arsenal.

Dyce are a progressive club and they have made great strides towards earning an SFA Licence; however a stumbling block at the moment might be provision of cover for 100 spectators. They do have an enclosure but it would only be suitable for approx 40 to 50 spectators. Presumably they will be aiming to double that capacity sometime during 2023, then they will be ready to go.

Banks o' Dee Juniors were only admitted to the NRJFA after accepting a rule that even if they win the Premier Division, they can not participate in the Pyramid playoffs.

Culter win Grill League Cup at Lochside Park, today, with a 5-1 drubbing of East End.

Scottish Junior Cup 2nd Round Ties featuring NRJFA Clubs this week: Aberdeen East End v Sunnybank Banchory St Ternan v Gartcairn Beith Juniors v Hermes Darvel v Glentanar Ellon United v Bathgate Thistle Forres Thistle v Thorniewood United Montrose Roselea v Shotts Bon Accord Newmachar United v Letham FC Rothie Rovers v Glenafton Athletic FC Stonehaven FC v Culter FC Stoneywood Parkvale v Bellshill Athletic FC First the good news. There are two all North ties so we are guaranteed two Clubs in the next Round. Possibly East End and Culter but it will be very tight. Now the bad news; not many prospects for the other clubs progressing. BST may come a cropper against Gartcairn. Hermes and Glentanar are away to Beith and Darvel and may face a long weary trip home. Despite home advantage, can't see anything for Ellon United, Forres Thistle, Montrose Roselea or Newmachar United. Rothie are a feisty bunch but Glenafton have seen it/done it all before. Stoneywood Parkvale are another lot who get stuck in so they might surprise Bellshill. Very much hope I am wrong and I am being too pessimistic. Can't wait. Anyone else care to peer into the Crystal Ball and make a better job of it?

All Junior results are now posted on the SJFA Website North, Midlands (still called East on the site ?), and Scottish Junior Cup: https://www.scottishjuniorfa.com/scottish-junior-fa/

I remember that day weĺl. The Dons didn't really dominate the game but Martin Buchan and co decided that the Bairns wouldn't get a sight of goal and, at the other end, their finishing was clinical. After the match Buchan, second only to the maestro, in my opinion as Aberdeen's greatest defender, could have folded away his shirt for the next match. Also witnessed a freak accident when a home supporter got his ring finger caught on the top of a chain link fence he had drunkenly decided to clamber over(?) and as he jumped/ fell down it took his finger clean off. We were gaping at his finger complete with ring still stuck on the top of the fence!

We encountered him recently jogging through the woodies opposite the Stewart Park in Aberdeen with his minder in tow. He was panting and sweating so much even our dog had to look away. Sadly he was gone before I could even think up an appropriate insult.

Haven't heard a lot on here recently about Scott McKenna, but he is doing very well at Forest. Helped keep a clean sheet against a quality Fulham attack tonight including Mitrovic who is really a Premier League striker. Forest might well be in the Premier League themselves next season and he has played just about every game.. Do we think McKenna might be in the reckoning for a start this summer.

A timely reminder on Saturday at Pittodrie of why we need VAR in Scotland. I heartily agree that is not to determine, by means of lines scribbled on the screen, whether a player's kneecap is a millimetre offside or if someone's toe has brushed an opponents slipper, causing them to crash to the ground in agony. VAR is neccesary to prevent incompetent clown officials from making howlers on a weekly basis which affect the outcome of (vital?) matches. Until our refs and assistants become semi capable of doing their jobs, VAR sadly will be an inevitable adjunct to the top flight matches.

Banks o'Dee won the Aberdeenshire Shield last night beating Huntly 5-3 on pens after a 3-3 draw. Dee were 2-0 down after an hour; fought back to eventually lead 3-2 before a Huntly pen levelled the scores. This means that Dee did the Aberdeenshire double after beating Formartine in the Shire Cup earlier in the season. If they get in, it should certainly create a stir in the HFL next season.