Rangers vs Aberdeen
A modern feud: the Dons' rise under Ferguson.
Unlike the Old Firm, the rivalry between Rangers and Aberdeen is a modern one. For most of their history the clubs, 150 miles apart, were not comparable, and they had met in only two finals before the 1970s: the 1947 League Cup final, won 4-0 by Rangers, and the 1953 Scottish Cup final, won by Rangers after a replay in front of 113,700. The feud grew from the late 1970s as Aberdeen became contenders under Ally MacLeod, Billy McNeill and above all Alex Ferguson, peaked in the 1980s and early 1990s, and has flared on the pitch and in the stands ever since.
Quick Facts
- Nature
- Modern rivalry, from the late 1970s
- Peak
- 1980s and early 1990s
- Early finals
- 1947 League Cup (Rangers 4-0), 1953 Scottish Cup (Rangers, after a replay)
- Key figures
- Alex Ferguson
- Doug Rougvie
- Derek Johnstone
- Neil Simpson
- Ian Durrant
- Recent
- 2020-21: four Rangers wins in an unbeaten title season
Reader's Guide
Aberdeen beat Rangers 5-1 in the 1976-77 League Cup semi-final on the way to winning the trophy, and a league match at Pittodrie on 24 December 1977, won 4-0 by Aberdeen, set the hostile tone. Ferguson, a Govan-born Rangers fan who had been dropped after the 1969 Scottish Cup final, arrived in 1978; after Rangers won the 1978-79 League Cup final in the last minute with Aberdeen down to ten men following Doug Rougvie's dismissal for a clash with Derek Johnstone, he built a siege mentality around it. Aberdeen won the 1979-80 title, the 1983 Cup Winners' Cup and the league and cup finals of the mid-1980s, and the 1988-89 season, when Rangers finished ahead of Aberdeen in second, brought Neil Simpson's tackle that nearly ended Ian Durrant's career.
The intensity faded from the late 1990s as Rangers pulled away. During Rangers' four seasons outside the top division from 2012 Aberdeen were Celtic's main challengers, and after Rangers returned in 2016 the fixtures again shaped both clubs' seasons; in 2020-21 Rangers won the title unbeaten with four wins over Aberdeen, who finished fourth.
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