The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Reunion for pupils who netted dream final trip
Agroup of schoolchildren who won the trip of a lifetime to cheer on Aberdeen in Gothenburg in 1983 have been reunited.
The council approved the use of £12,000 from its Common Good Fund to cover the cost of sending 33 pupils from across the city to the match against Real Madrid.
Councillor Charles Devine came up with the idea and was given the green light by the then lord provost Alexander Collie to “take whatever action thought appropriate” to make it happen.
A competition in our sister paper the Evening Express was launched to find youngsters aged 11-14 who regularly attended matches at Pittodrie.
George Wyatt, who was one of the chaperones on the epic trip, came up with the idea of getting the group back together for this week’s 40th anniversary celebrations.
A dozen members were reunited yesterday at Pittodrie, where players from the triumphant Dons side were awarded the freedom of Aberdeen.
They will also be guests at today’s Premiership match between the Dons and Hibernian at Pittodrie.
Mr Wyatt said: “Towards the end of last year I was in the Aberdeen pub McNasty’s and a guy came over to speak to me.
“He said ‘You won’t know me, George, but I’m one of the kids you took to Gothenburg.’
“I spoke to him for a while and when he left I started to think about what happened to the rest of those kids and came up with the idea of trying to get as many of them back together again for the 40th anniversary.”
Former Culter School pupil Brian Taylor, who was 11 at the time, revealed he couldn’t remember much from the match.
He said: “I think I’d only seen one of the others over the years since we went to Gothenburg together.
“It was a once-in-alifetime trip and I felt very lucky to be chosen to go.
“I’m an Aberdeen season ticket holder and I have been on a few European trips to watch the Dons
since then, but nothing will ever match what happened in Gothenburg.”
Stephen Harvey, who was a pupil at Robert Gordon’s and now works as a technician at North East Scotland College, recalled: “I remember going to the deputy headmaster’s office to tell him I needed time off to go to Gothenburg.
“To be honest, whether he said it was fine or not, I was going anyway!
“I remember going to the Town House before we went and met everybody else who was going. We got a bag with scarves and other items in it.
“It was a really early start when we flew over. I still have the itinerary and tickets at home.
“We had a day in Gothenburg and we went to a funfair and to see the Dons training at their hotel before the game which was incredible.
“My parents gave me a camera and I have still got the photos.
“When the winner went in we were all pinching ourselves and thinking ‘This can’t be happening, it’s Real Madrid’.
“When we got back to Aberdeen we were all presented with a medal which was engraved.
“They are great memories and nice to share them again with the people who were there. It was 40 years but it feels like yesterday.
“There weren’t that many people who were able to get to Gothenburg so I consider myself very lucky to have been there.”
Monique Fletcher, an Aberdeen Grammar pupil who now works for the police, was one of four girls on the trip.
She said: “I had never been to Sweden before, nor since, but I remember it was a very early flight.
“It was a buzz of excitement even though none of us really knew each other.
“It was a different time then and more difficult to keep in touch.
“I met up with a couple of the girls at home games but, as life went on, we lost touch.
“If it had been nowadays we would have all been Facebook friends and it would have been much easier to have kept in contact.”