Anthony Stewart - captain of Aberdeen
This afternoon I went to Pittodrie to watch Anthony Stewart playing for Aberdeen. Not only has he gone straight into the first team but he’s been made club captain.
Apart from a misplaced pass in the opening minutes he gave an assured & commanding performance at centre-half. He looks to be an asset to the Dons as his headers & clearances went to team-mates virtually every time.
Raith Rovers had a couple of early half-chances but Aberdeen were superior & cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win in the group stage of the Premier Sports Cup.
Yesterday I took in Arbroath v Airdrieonians in the same competition. Again, apart from a couple of early chances for the visitors (very well saved by the Arbroath keeper) the home side’s superiority came through to earn a 3-0 win.
Arbroath’s Gayfield Park is a lovely old-fashioned ground with terracing on 3 sides & seats along just one side. There were lots of young children there who were able to run about without disturbing people watching the game. The ground is right next to the North Sea. A cold wind blew up from nowhere during the game. In January or February watching football there must be like taking part in an SAS endurance test.
This morning I took the chance to visit Aberdeen’s other grounds. Cove Rangers have made it to the Scottish Championship & are desperately trying to upgrade their ground in order to cope. A further 1,800 seats were being installed with work even going on this Sunday. Incidentally they play in light & dark blue (hoops).
Banks O’Dee FC have just been promoted to the Highland League. Their tiny ground (capacity 876) is part of a sports fitness complex. Both they & Cove Rangers have 3G pitches.
My overall impression of the 2 games & 4 teams I saw was that they all were trying to play passing football (Arbroath were possible a little more direct). And contrary to perception the goalkeepers were all excellent.
A very interesting short visit to Scotland & it’s back on the overnight Caledonian sleeper train shortly.
Comments
Hopefully your train actually leaves the platform! https://twitter.com/jim_metcalfe/status/1549611739834089473?t=Td5EqZ0-c2qa2H7VA5vz3A&s=08
I went to see Arbroath play Cowdenbeath in the Scottish Cup a few years ago. There was a storm on and most of the games in Scotland (including the one I had originally planned to go to) were called off pre-kickoff. The Cowdenbeath keeper kept sending these spiralling kicks into the sky which would end up landing barely 10 yards in front of where he took them thanks to the wind off the North Sea. The game didn't even last 20 minutes and is the only abandoned match I've ever seen other than the Oxford City replay in 1999.
What did the Oxford City game get abandoned for?
Fire under the Hillbottom Road Stand.
Have a watch of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McOMSYT2iDc
@A_Worboys what would you say the standard of Aberdeens play is? EFL league 1 or Championship? ie had Tools taken a step up or the same?
I can recall three I was at, the Oxford City game you’ve mentioned the Bristol Rovers (thunderstorm) and Barnet (Slightly misty day + Barry Fry🙄 ) but there must have been some more
Macclesfield at home in a snowstorm (2008)
Pompey v Wycombe in 2013 - a bit of rain.
Wasn’t there a game played on a dangerously icy pitch at Adams Park in which a goalkeeper got quite badly hurt when a player slid in on him, leading to the game getting called off.
From memory it was Farnborough Town, but I could be wrong.
What about the time we abandoned the season...?
Yes, it was Farnborough. Was the keeper called John Power?
Of course there was the infamous Peterborough game which we were winning 2-0 and all of a sudden their players were unable to maintain their footing on the "frozen" pitch even though our players were managing to do so quite easily
They were christened "Cheaterborough" after that
@perfidious_albion
I would see Aberdeen as playing top of the Championship in England. They are a good side but need refining a bit. It’s definitely a step up for Anthony Stewart but something he can well manage. There was a nice piece by him in today’s match programme (remember those?).
I probably held misguided views on Scottish football as many so south of the border. I was very impressed by how passionate the fans were for what was a group stage match in the League Cup. As I said earlier, the clubs I saw were all trying to play good football. Unfortunately Airdrieonians weren’t very good at it. What needs resolving most though is the finishing. But both matches were easy on the eye & it’s interesting that (per head of the population) more people watch football in Scotland than England & Wales.
Don't let Peterborough fans see that, whatever you do!
Merthy Tydfil (?) at Loakes Park in September late 80s and Notts County away, late on in the FA Cup Semi-final season (both thunderstorms).
Love that description @Twizz of a prolonged thunderstorm of biblical proportions. My Skechers took over a week to dry (but I’ve still got them).
The walk back to the coach must have been nearly half a mile, through streets flooded a couple of inches deep, because we somehow got caught up in crowds of Pompey fans going, for them, in the right direction. Nightmare.
Then we'll just show them their antics to get this game abandoned with us 2-0 up https://youtu.be/GuPicYaZ2fQ?t=3128