Forty years on, Bobby Clark reflects on Aberdeen's title win

“I have more chance of remembering what happened back then than what I had for breakfast yesterday,” he says, chuckling. Clark is one of the most-vaunted names in US collegiate soccer coaching history following his exploits with Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish programme, Ivy League school Dartmouth and the equally prestigious Stanford University. In all, he won 369 competitive matches during a 31-year-spell and the national championship in 2013. Here in Scotland, to where he returned last year, he is heralded as an Aberdeen legend, a member of the club’s hall of fame and almost ever-present goalkeeper in the championship winning side of 40 years ago.

Aberdeen trailed Celtic by 10 points at one point that season before Billy McNeill’s side capitulated during a frenetic eight-game run in April when they won just four matches, losing to their title rivals twice and both Dundee teams to blow the race wide open. That allowed Alex Ferguson’s young upstarts, who progressed through that spring undefeated, in through the back door. During that decisive April, they beat Celtic and Kilmarnock twice; St Mirren and Dundee were also accounted for while there were draws against Dundee United (away) and Hibernian (home).

In the first of those wins over Celtic, this son of Glasgow had been the hero, saving a penalty – which he had conceded – from Bobby Lennox, as Aberdeen reduced the lead to five points and served notice of what was to come.

Clark remembers that part of the season as a “bit of a blur for me”. In the space of a fortnight, he lost his father and his father-in-law in the aftermath of matches.

“I had quite a hard time around then. We played Dundee United at home and after the game the secretary told me my father-in-law had died. I think we played Rangers a couple of weeks later at Ibrox, we drew 2-2 and I came off the park and my own father had died.

“Alec and [assistant] Pat Stanton came to the funeral down in Glasgow. It was a strange run-in and maybe it took a little bit of pressure away from me because I realised there were things that were more important.”

The idea of fixture congestion was a future concept back in 1980. By the time Aberdeen travelled to Kilmarnock and Celtic Park for the second time in little more than a fortnight, they were playing games every three days. These were defining games. On April 23, as Kilmarnock were being dispatched with ease by Aberdeen at Rugby Park following goals by Mark McGhee, Gordon Strachan and Steve Archibald, Dundee were sticking five past Celtic. On Saturday 26, the title rivals met and again the Dons prevailed with McGhee, Strachan and Archibald repeating the dose from a couple of days earlier.

“When we won the second Kilmarnock game and Celtic lost to Dundee; that put us into first place. We thought if we could beat Celtic, we should win [the title].”

He laughs at the memory but his caution was understandable – in 1971 he had been part of the Aberdeen side that had led the table for the entire season only to lose it on the final day following defeat at Falkirk; seven years later he had been part of McNeill’s Aberdeen side that fell at the final hurdle in both the league and Scottish Cup campaigns.

Clark says it was actually a result in the December that had galvanised the squad in the face of adversity. They had enjoyed a successful run to the League Cup final only to lose in a replay to Dundee United. It seemed history might be repeating itself but what happened next sticks with Clark – who had won a Scottish Cup in 1970 and a League Cup in 1976 – as a defining moment for a side that had acquired a tag as perennial underachievers.

“If I think back, we had a great League Cup that year. We beat both Rangers and Celtic home and away. To go to Parkhead four times in a season and win four times, I mean . . . We should have won the final at Hampden but United were good. The replay was at Dens Park, it was a muddy park and we couldn’t get going. I remember we were very sad afterwards and the manager was very disappointed. But the next morning when we came into Pittodrie, he was up and ready. I think consciously he made a point of welcoming everyone in, as if to say ‘come on, let’s get this going again’. Normally, he would have been in the wee bootroom with Teddy [Scott] and [Pat] Stanton, who was there at the time. He was out, visibly, in the corridor, making a point, ‘the season’s not over, sort of thing, we’ve plenty to do’ sort of thing. We played St Mirren on the Saturday and, of course, that was a big game for him because that’s where he had come from.”

St Mirren, who themselves might have had a say in the title race that season with Doug Somner banging in the goals that would lead to him finishing just behind Strachan in the player of the year vote, left Pittodrie empty-handed following goals by Alex McLeish and Derek Hamilton.

“I think that was one of the defining moments, for sure; him getting us back on track right away,” says Clark.

“We were a very good team with Willie Miller and Alex McLeish. My goodness they were very strong. We had Willie Garner who would come in if anyone was injured. Alec played Drew Jarvie [a striker] in the midfield a lot. Drew told me recently that he scored as many league goals as Stevie Archibald that year and that was a great thing. Gordon Strachan was also scoring a lot of goals. Gordon played in what they call the half-space these days. No one really knew how to pick him up. We felt we could go anywhere and play against any team. We played Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Cup first round that year. Frankfurt went on and won it and I remember reading that they said the hardest game they had was against us – we lost 2-1 on aggregate.”

Having witnessed so many near misses and in his 35th year, Clark knew this was his last chance, especially since he had been playing for most of the season with an injury.

“I had hurt my back when we played Celtic at Parkhead in the second League Cup game. I was up for a high ball when I was undercut by big Shuggy Evaldsson. The final game of that season against Partick Thistle was my last. I never played again in the first team. My last game was winning the league. Pre-season I really struggled, it came back when I was digging the garden one day and I had to get surgery. Jim Leighton and Bryan Gunn came in and were great. They didn’t really need someone who was past his sell-by date.”

The penultimate game of the season came at Easter Road, a place where Aberdeen had failed to win on their previous nine occasions dating back to the days of the old first division.

“The field at Hibs was really bumpy. It looked as if it hadn’t been cut very well and I don’t know whether they had left and I remember thinking ‘this might not be good for us’ but it didn’t turn out that way at all.”

Hibs, already relegated, were swept aside thanks to goals from McGhee, Archibald’s 22nd of the season, Andy Watson and an Ian Scanlon double. It all but confirmed Aberdeen as the first champions outwith Celtic and Rangers since Kilmarnock’s win in 1965 before a 1-1 draw at Partick Thistle four days later confirmed their coronation.

In the aftermath, Chris Anderson the Aberdeen vice-chairman, told the press: “I’m sure that breaking the Old Firm stranglehold will encourage other teams to emulate us. If some of the other clubs can, it will be good for Scottish football in general.”

It took another three years for Dundee United to do so before Aberdeen won a further two. Since then no provincial club has picked up the baton and is unlikely to do so for some time to come.

“Winning the league had to happen then and it was pretty special that it did in my final game. It was a special time in all our lives,” says Clark. “I’m eternally grateful to Alec for that.”