Aberdeen F.C.

Aberdeen F.C.

Aberdeen Football Club (also known as The Dons, The Dandies or The Reds) are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen. They compete in the Scottish Premier League having won four league titles and seven Scottish Cups, including a record three in a row during the 1980s, the only time a team other than Rangers has done this since 1882. They are also the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies, both in the same year, and are, along with Celtic, one of only two Scottish teams that have never been relegated from the Top Division. Despite competing in both the 1999–2000 Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup finals, Aberdeen have not won any silverware since 1995.

Formed in 1903 as a result of the amalgamation of three clubs from Aberdeen, they rarely challenged for honours until the 1950s, when they won each of the major Scottish trophies under manager Dave Halliday. This level of success was surpassed in the 1980s, when, under the management of Alex Ferguson, they won three league titles, four Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup, alongside the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, both in 1983. Aberdeen were the last club outside of the Old Firm to win a league title, in 1984/85, and also the last Scottish team to win a European trophy.

Aberdeen have played at Pittodrie Stadium since their inception. The ground currently has a capacity of 22,199 and was the first all-seated and all-covered stadium in the United Kingdom. Pittodrie was also the first football stadium to feature a dugout, an invention of player and coach Donald Colman. The club's colours have been primarily red and white since 1939; before this, they played in black and gold vertical stripes.

Aberdeen attract support from the city and surrounding areas, as they are the only senior team within a wide area. Aberdeen have no geographically close rivals; their nearest neighbours at the same level are in the city of Dundee.