Day Dutch Dons gave David a bit of a doing
David Nicholls will speak from experience when he tells Peterhead’s young players the memories they make against Aberdeen today could last a lifetime.
The Blue Toon’s assistant boss made his professional debut against the Dons back in 1991, as a teenage full-back with Hibs.
It was a tough afternoon for the Scot, who was on the wrong end of a 4-2 defeat. Yet he still remembers it as being a hugely- important moment of his career.
“You could say it was a real case of welcome to big boys’ football!” said Nicholls, chuckling at the recollection.
“Aberdeen had the two Dutch strikers, Willem Van Der Ark and Hans Gillhaus in their side that day, and they each gave me a doing, albeit in different ways.
“Van Der Ark was a huge guy, and he used his strength to batter me about the place from early on.
“In particular he caught me a good one under the eye with his elbow, and I had to get five stitches put in my face at half-time.
“I could have gone off then but it was my debut so, as you would imagine, I was desperate to keep going.
“While I did manage to hit the bar, I also got a bit of a runaround from Gillhaus all afternoon.
“He was a great player, to be fair, and that afternoon he was near unstoppable.
“Of course, no one wants
their debut to end in defeat. But in terms of learning experiences, it was right up there.
“It showed me exactly what was needed to play in the senior game and, hopefully, it will be the same for our young lads.”
As Nicholls explained, it has been a difficult summer for Peterhead – and manager Jim Mcinally – who have had to scramble to assemble a squad in time for the new campaign.
With 13 players having departed for new clubs, even with what would otherwise
have been an impressive haul of eight signings, they are still light on numbers.
“It has been tough, especially for Jim. There is no getting around that,” said Nicholls.
“For one reason or another, the market has been quiet, which is not great when you are having to battle to get boys in.
“That process is still ongoing, so we will just have to deal with the early stage of the season as best we can.
“We have been here before. We have been working very hard to use the contacts we have built up in the game to get
some good players in.
“There is plenty to be positive about, and the visit of Aberdeen is a big occasion for everyone at Peterhead Football Club.
“They are a club everyone up here knows very well, and there will be a great crowd in which both sets of supporters will be well represented.
“It is a cup game, and we are up against a team from the Premiership.
“So it is chance for all the boys to show what they can do – just as it was for me all those years ago.”