Granite wills earned
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. Preseason 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 vicechairman, 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.”