2007–08 Aberdeen F.C. season

Aberdeen
2007–08 season
Chairman Stewart Milne
Manager Jimmy Calderwood
Stadium Pittodrie Stadium
Scottish Premier League 4th
Scottish Cup Semi-finals
League Cup Semi-finals
Top goalscorer League:
Lee Miller (13)
All:
Lee Miller (13)
Highest home attendance 20,446 (v Copenhagen, 20 December 2007)
Lowest home attendance 7,270 (v Inverness CT, 31 October 2007)
Average home league attendance 12,888
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

Aberdeen competed in the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and UEFA Cup in season 2007–08. It was the club's first season in European competition since 2002–03.

Qualification for the group stages of the UEFA Cup was secured with an away-goals qualifying victory over FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Aberdeen were drawn in Group B along with Panathinaikos, Lokomotiv Moscow, Atlético Madrid and Copenhagen. Aberdeen qualified for the round of 32 following a 4–0 victory over F.C. Copenhagen. They were drawn against Bayern Munich and lost 7–3 on aggregate, but did manage a 2–2 home draw with the German club.

Transfers and other changes

Summer Transfers
Player in From Fee
Scotland Lee Mair Dundee United Bosman
England Jonathan Kurrant Charlton Athletic Free [1]
Scotland Jackie McNamara Wolves Free [2]
Netherlands Jeffrey de Visscher De Graafschap Free [3]
Scotland Derek Young Partick Thistle Free [4]
England Jonathan Smith Wigan Free [5]
England Sone Aluko Birmingham Loan [5]
Player out To Fee
Scotland Jamie Winter Chesterfield Free [6]
Scotland David Donald Peterhead Free
Republic of Ireland Gary Dempsey Yeovil Town Free [7]
Netherlands Dyron Daal St Johnstone Free [8]
Scotland Russell Anderson Sunderland £1 Million
Scotland Craig Brewster Inverness CT Free

Summer transfers

Aberdeen had already announced that the contracts of Jamie Winter and David Donald were not to be renewed. Gary Dempsey rejected a new two-year deal to sign for Yeovil Town, and Dyron Daal left to join St Johnstone.

Aberdeen had secured the signatures of defenders Lee Mair from Dundee United, and youngster Jonathan Kurrant, who would join after he had finished his A-Levels. Both agreed pre-contracts. Wolves experienced defender Jackie McNamara and De Graafschap winger Jeffrey de Visscher both signed on free transfers. Former player Derek Young returned to the club on a free transfer after spells at Dunfermline and Partick Thistle. Sone Aluko was signed on a free loan deal from Birmingham.

Jamie Langfield
On 8 June 2007 it had been reported that Aberdeen's first-choice goalkeeper Jamie Langfield had been demoted after falling out with manager Jimmy Calderwood. The fall-out was believed to have been related to Calderwood's decision to reject a £70,000 offer from Rangers. The club later confirmed that they had made Langfield available for transfer, with an asking price of £100,000.[9] Langfield was recalled to the starting line-up for the UEFA Cup game against Dnipro at Pittodrie on 20 September. The day after Aberdeen's UEFA cup victory over FC Copenhagen on 20 December 2007, Langfield signed a new three-year contract with Aberdeen.[10]

Russell Anderson
On 27 June 2007 club captain Russell Anderson moved to Premiership side Sunderland. He signed a 3-year contract with the club, but also donated his signing-on fee to the youth development scheme at Pittodrie.[11]

Winter transfers

Winter Transfers
Player in From Fee
Scotland Stuart Duff Dundee United Free [5]
England Josh Walker Middlesbrough Loan [12]
Netherlands Dave Bus De Graafschap Free [13]
Republic of Ireland Alan Maybury Leicester City Free [14]
Player out To Fee
Scotland Chris Clark Plymouth Argyle £200,000 [15]
Scotland Michael Hart Preston North End Undisclosed [15]
Scotland Michael Paton Brechin City Loan
Scotland Stuart Smith Peterhead Loan [14]
Scotland Neil McVitie Peterhead Loan [14]

Chris Clark was the first player to leave Aberdeen in the January window after signing a three-and-a-half-year deal with Plymouth Argyle. The clubs agreed a fee of £200,000 for the midfielder who had played at Aberdeen for seven years. Michael Paton extended his loan deal with Brechin City until the end of the season. Striker Stuart Smith and defender Neil McVitie both went on loan to Peterhead until the end of the season.

Stuart Duff was Aberdeen's first signing of the January transfer window. They signed the midfielder from Dundee United on a free transfer. Sone Aluko agreed to extend his loan from Birmingham City until the end of the season.[16] Defender Dave Bus was signed from De Graafschap until the end of the season. Aberdeen signed Middlesbrough midfielder and England under-18 captain Josh Walker on a loan deal until the end of the season. The Republic of Ireland international Alan Maybury was signed from Leicester on a loan deal until the end of the season.

Michael Hart
After Michael Hart rejected a new deal with Aberdeen, a fee thought to be in the region of £200,000 was agreed between Aberdeen and Preston North End for his transfer.[17] However, Preston reduced their offer after carrying out medical tests on an injury due to keep him out for weeks.[18] Aberdeen refused to release the player unless Preston pay the agreed fee. He eventually moved to Preston for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of £100,000.[19]

Summer clearout

It was announced on 15 April that seven contracted players would be leaving at the end of the season,[20] Barry Nicholson decided to leave, rejecting a new deal. The other six players were all not offered new deals, these were; Goalkeepers Derek Soutar (who had replaced Jamie Langfield for a large part of the season) and Greg Kelly, defenders Richie Byrne and Dave Bus and strikers Jonathan Smith and Steve Lovell. Loan signings Sone Aluko and Josh Walker returned to their clubs at the end of their loan periods.

On 21 April defender Jackie McNamara was released from his contract by the club.

Results

Pre-season friendlies

Date Opponent H/A Score[21] Aberdeen Scorers[22]
12 JulyCove RangersA5–1Maguire (19), Miller (43, 65), De Visscher (52), Lovell (90)
15 JulyBuckie ThistleA3–0Brewster (31, 52), Mackie (88)
18 JulyEgypt Arab ContractorsA0–2
21 JulyEgypt Al-AluminumA2–0Brewster (47), Foster (66)
23 JulyEgypt El-ItthadA2–1de Visscher (44), Lovell (74)
25 JulyEgypt Al-EtesalatA5–1Smith (20), Clark (21), Miller (40, 43, 60)
31 JulyInverurie Loco WorksA6–0Maguire (14, 31), Kurrant (25), Brewster (52, 66), Paton (73)

Scottish Premier League

Match
Day		 Date Opponent H/A Score[21] Aberdeen Scorer(s)[22] Attendance Report
1 4 August Dundee United A 0–1 12,496 BBC Sport
1 12 August Heart of Midlothian H 1–1 Nicholson (45) 13,134 BBC Sport
3 19 August Celtic H 1–3 Brewster (24) 16,232 BBC Sport
4 25 August Hibernian A 3–3 Brewster (18, 37), Jamie Smith (57) 15,280 BBC Sport
5 1 September Kilmarnock A 1–0 Miller (54) 5,814 BBC Sport
6 15 September Motherwell H 1–2 Jamie Smith (65) 10,154 BBC Sport
7 23 September Rangers A 0–3 49,046 BBC Sport
8 29 September Gretna H 2–0 Diamond (16), Jamie Smith (18) 10,279 BBC Sport
9 7 October St Mirren H 4–0 Severin (43, 71) Miller (63, 88) 12,841 BBC Sport
10 21 October Inverness CT A 2–1 Young (8), Tokely (62 o.g.) 6,023 BBC Sport
11 28 October Falkirk H 1–1 Severin (45) 10,399 BBC Sport
12 3 November Dundee United H 2–0 Aluko (45), Miller (90) 11,964 BBC Sport
13 11 November Heart of Midlothian A 1–4 de Visscher (38) 17,122 BBC Sport
14 24 November Celtic A 0–3 58,000 BBC Sport
15 2 December Hibernian H 3–1 Miller (33), Clark (47), Young (86) 10,110 BBC Sport
16 8 December Kilmarnock H 2–1 Nicholson (63), Miller (75) 10,207 BBC Sport
17 15 December Motherwell A 0–3 5,326 BBC Sport
18 23 December Rangers H 1–1 Miller (45) 17,798 BBC Sport
19 26 December Gretna A 1–1 Lovell (85) 1,730 BBC Sport
20 29 December St Mirren A 1–0 Lovell (85) 5,025 BBC Sport
21 2 January Inverness CT H 1–0 Nicholson (83 pen.) 18,372 BBC Sport
22 12 January Falkirk A 0–0 5,457 BBC Sport
23 19 January Dundee United A 0–3 8,579 BBC Sport
24 26 January Heart of Midlothian H 0–1 14,000 BBC Sport
25 10 February Celtic H 1–5 Miller (62) 14,651 BBC Sport
26 16 February Hibernian A 1–3 Diamond (18) 13,825 BBC Sport
27 24 February Kilmarnock A 1–3 Alan Combe (86 o.g.) 6,113 BBC Sport
28 27 February Motherwell H 1–1 Diamond (28) 8,240 BBC Sport
29 1 March Rangers A 1–3 Lovell (28) 50,066 BBC Sport
30 15 March Gretna H 3–0 Maguire (40), Miller (71 pen.), Nicholson (73) 9,025 BBC Sport
31 22 March St Mirren H 1–1 Mair (29) 9,779 BBC Sport
32 29 March Inverness CT A 4–3 Aluko (7), Nicholson (45), Miller (53), Maguire (90) 5,655 BBC Sport
33 7 April Falkirk H 2–1 Maguire (22, 82) 11,484 BBC Sport
34 19 April Celtic A 0–1 55,766 BBC Sport
35 26 April Hibernian H 2–1 Mackie (64), Miller (70 pen.) 8,387 BBC Sport
36 3 May Dundee United H 2–1 Foster (30), Touzani (48) 10,312 BBC Sport
37 10 May Motherwell A 1–2 Aluko (67) 8,574 BBC Sport
38 22 May Rangers H 2–0 Miller (63), Mackie (77) 17,509 BBC Sport

UEFA Cup

Main article: UEFA Cup 2007–08
Round Date Opponent H/A Score[21] Aberdeen Scorer(s)[22] Attendance Report
FR 20 September Ukraine Dnipro H 0–0 15,431 BBC Sport
FR 4 October Ukraine Dnipro A 1–1 Mackie (28) 26,275 BBC Sport
GS 25 October Greece Panathinaikos A 0–3 8,154 BBC Sport
GS 8 November Russia Lokomotiv Moscow H 1–1 Diamond (27) 18,843 BBC Sport
GS 29 November Spain Atlético Madrid A 0–2 30,000 BBC Sport
GS 20 December Denmark Copenhagen H 4–0 Smith (47, 55), Antonsson (71 o.g.), Foster (83) 20,446 BBC Sport
Ro32 13 February Germany Bayern Munich H 2–2 Walker (23), Aluko (40) 20,047 BBC Sport
Ro32 21 February Germany Bayern Munich A 5–1 Lovell (83) 66,000 BBC Sport

Scottish League Cup

Round Date Opponent H/A Score[21] Aberdeen Scorer(s)[22] Attendance Report
R3 26 September Partick Thistle A 2–0 Young (42), Considine (64) 3,337 BBC Sport
QF 31 October Inverness CT H 4–1 Nicholson (10 pen. 21 pen. 78), Miller (45) 7,270 BBC Sport
SF 5 February Dundee United N 1–4 Considine (18) 12,046 BBC Sport

Scottish Cup

Round Date Opponent H/A Score[21] Aberdeen Scorer(s)[22] Attendance Report
R4 12 January Falkirk A 2–2 Smith (4), Lovell (10) 5,798 BBC Sport
R4 (R) 22 January Falkirk H 3–1 Smith (19, 55), de Visscher (43) 8,547 BBC Sport
R5 2 February Hamilton Academical H 1–0 Diamond (62) 6,441 BBC Sport
QF 9 March Celtic H 1–1 de Visscher (78) 10,909 BBC Sport
QF (R) 18 March Celtic A 1–0 Mackie (69) 33,506 BBC Sport
SF 12 April Queen of the South N 3–4 Considine (36, 59), Nicholson (53) 24,008 BBC Sport

Players

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Scotland GK Jamie Langfield
2 Republic of Ireland DF Alan Maybury (on loan from Leicester City)
3 Republic of Ireland DF Richie Byrne
4 Scotland DF Jackie McNamara
5 Scotland DF Zander Diamond
6 Scotland MF Scott Severin (captain)
7 Scotland MF Jamie Smith
8 Scotland MF Barry Nicholson
9 England FW Steve Lovell
10 Scotland FW Darren Mackie
11 Scotland MF Stuart Duff
14 Scotland MF Richard Foster
15 Netherlands DF Karim Touzani
No. Position Player
16 Scotland FW Lee Miller
17 England DF Dan Smith
18 Scotland DF Lee Mair
19 Scotland MF Derek Young
20 Scotland GK Derek Soutar
21 Scotland DF Andrew Considine
22 Scotland FW Chris Maguire
23 Netherlands DF Dave Bus
24 Netherlands MF Jeffrey de Visscher
25 England FW Jonathan Smith
26 England FW Sone Aluko (on loan from Birmingham City)
27 England MF Josh Walker (on loan from Middlesbrough)
30 Scotland GK Greg Kelly

Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
–– Scotland FW Michael Paton (at Brechin City)
–– Scotland MF Stuart Smith (at Peterhead)
No. Position Player
–– Scotland DF Neil McVitie (at Peterhead)

Goalscorers

Name SPL Cups Total
Scotland Lee Miller 12 1 13
Scotland Barry Nicholson 5 4 9
Scotland Jamie Smith 3 5 8
Scotland Zander Diamond 4 1 5
England Steve Lovell 3 2 5
Nigeria Sone Aluko 3 1 4
Scotland Andrew Considine 4 4
Scotland Darren Mackie 2 2 4
Scotland Chris Maguire 4 4
Scotland Craig Brewster 3 3
Netherlands Jeffrey de Visscher 1 2 3
Scotland Scott Severin 3 3
Scotland Derek Young 2 1 3
Scotland Richard Foster 1 1 2
Scotland Chris Clark 1 1
Scotland Lee Mair 1 1
Netherlands Karim Touzani 1 1
England Josh Walker 1 1
own goals 2 1 3

Source: BBC Sport
Ordered by: Total, SPL, Cups then Name
Name: Players's Name, flag next to name indicates player's nationality. SPL: No. of goals scored in the Scottish Premier League. Cups: No. of goals scored in the Scottish League Cup, Scottish Cup and Uefa Cup. Total: Total No. of competitive goals scored.

Discipline

Name Total
Scotland Lee Miller 1 9 11
Scotland Zander Diamond 7 7
Scotland Richard Foster 6 6
Scotland Derek Young 6 6
Scotland Andrew Considine 5 5
Scotland Darren Mackie 5 5
Scotland Barry Nicholson 5 5
Scotland Scott Severin 5 5
Netherlands Karim Touzani 4 4
England Josh Walker 4 4
Scotland Michael Hart 3 3
Netherlands Jeffrey de Visscher 3 3
Republic of Ireland Alan Maybury 3 3
Scotland Chris Clark 2 2
Scotland Lee Mair 2 2
Nigeria Sone Aluko 1 1
Republic of Ireland Richie Byrne 1 1
Scotland Jamie Langfield 1 1
Scotland Chris Maguire 2 2
Scotland Jamie Smith 2 2
Scotland Jackie McNamara 1 1

Source: BBC Sport
Ordered by: , , then Name
Name: Players's Name, flag next to name indicates player's nationality. : No. of sending offs by direct red card. : No. of sending offs by second yellow card. : No. of bookings.

Competitions

Overall

Competition Started round Final
position / round		 First match Last match
Scottish Premier League —4 4 August 2007 22 May 2008
UEFA Cup First RoundRound of 32 20 September 2007 22 February 2008
Scottish League Cup Third RoundSemi Finals 26 September 2007 5 February 2008
Scottish Cup Fourth roundSemi Finals 12 January 2008 12 April 2008

Source: Competitions

SPL

Classification

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
2 Rangers 38 27 5 6 84 33+51 86 2008–09 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3 Motherwell 38 18 6 14 50 46+4 60 2008–09 UEFA Cup Second qualifying round
4 Aberdeen 38 15 8 15 50 58−8 53
5 Dundee United 38 14 10 14 53 47+6 52
6 Hibernian 38 14 10 14 49 45+4 52 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup Second round

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results summary

OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
38 15 8 15 50 58  −8 53 11 5 4 33 21  +12 4 3 11 17 37  −20

Source: BBC Sport

Results by round

Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundAHHAAHAHHAHHAAHHAHAAHAAHHAAHAHHAHAHHAH
Result L D L D W L L W W W D W L L W W L D D W W D L L L L L D L W D W W L W W L W

Source: BBC Sport
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

UEFA Cup

Main article: UEFA Cup 2007-08

First round

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Aberdeen Scotland (a)1 – 1 Ukraine Dnipro 0–0 1–1

Group stage (B)

The draw for the group stage took place on 9 October 2007. Aberdeen were drawn against Panathinaikos, Atlético Madrid, Lokomotiv Moscow and Copenhagen. Aberdeen gained just 1 point from their first 3 games, they needed both Lokomotiv Moscow and Copenhagen to lose to ensure they would go through to the next round with a win over Copenhagen in their final game. Aberdeen qualified for the last 32 following a 4–0 win over Copenhagen.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Spain Atlético Madrid 431094+510
Greece Panathinaikos 430172+59
Scotland Aberdeen 411256−14
Denmark Copenhagen 410317−63
Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 402247−32

Round of 32

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Aberdeen Scotland 3 – 7 Germany Bayern Munich 2–2 1–5

Club

The management

Position Staff
Manager Scotland Jimmy Calderwood
Assistant manager Northern Ireland Jimmy Nicholl
Striker coach Scotland Sandy Clark
Goalkeeping coach Scotland Jim Leighton

Source:

Other information

Chairman Scotland Stewart Milne
Managing Director Scotland Duncan Fraser
Executive Director Scotland Willie Miller
Ground (capacity and dimensions) Pittodrie Stadium (22,199 / 109x72 yards)

Source: afc.co.uk

Team kit

Supplier: Nike
Sponsor(s): Apex Tubulars/Acergy

Home
Away
Third

Source: afc.co.uk

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kurrant's A Don, TotallyJemish.com, 16 May 2007
  2. ↑ Wolves' McNamara joins Aberdeen, BBC Sport, 18 May 2007
  3. ↑ Dons swoop to sign Dutch winger, BBC Sport, 30 May 2007
  4. ↑ Calderwood welcomes Young return, BBC Sport, 25 July 2007
  5. 1 2 3 Dons bring in two young strikers, BBC Sport, 31 August 2007.
  6. ↑ Chesterfield set to sign Winter, BBC Sport, 20 July 2007
  7. ↑ Dempsey to Depart Dons, Aberdeen FC, 26 March 2007
  8. ↑ St Johnstone seal Daal transfer, BBC Sport, 7 June 2007
  9. ↑ Keeper pays for stag night antics, BBC Sport, 8 June 2007
  10. ↑ Langfield nets new Aberdeen deal , BBC Sport, 21 December 2007
  11. ↑ Anderson seals Sunderland switch, BBC Sport, 27 June 2007
  12. ↑ Boro midfielder in Dons loan move, BBC Sport, 29 January 2008.
  13. ↑ Defender Bus makes Aberdeen stop BBC Sport, 24 January 2008.
  14. 1 2 3 Foxes' Maybury joins Dons on loan BBC Sport, 31 January 2008.
  15. 1 2 Plymouth snap up Aberdeen's Clark, BBC Sport, 16 January 2008
  16. ↑ , BBC Sport, 14 January 2008.
  17. ↑ Dons defender agrees Preston move, BBC Sport, 14 January 2008
  18. ↑ Dons reject Preston's Hart offer, BBC Sport, 26 January 2008
  19. ↑ Dons' Hart completes Preston move, BBC Sport, 30 January 2008
  20. ↑ Nicholson joins six leaving Dons , BBC Sport, 15 April 2008
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Aberdeen's score is shown first.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 The number(s) in brackets shows the minute the goal(s) was/were scored.

External links

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