Ian turned down Chelsea to become a student Don
Aberdeen have a new manager ready to take charge when they take on Dumbarton in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
Stephen Glass has already recruited Celtic’s Scott Brown for next season and you can be sure there will be other fresh faces arriving over the summer.
The Dons have recruited a fair number of players from England and abroad in recent seasons.
There was a time when they were big on recruiting local lads, although former attacker Ian Gibson admits he was initially keen on going further afield than Pittodrie.
His debut for the Dons came in a 2-0 win over Dumbarton in 1975.
Ian recalled: “I was selected for the Scotland Under-15s schoolboys and then the Under18 youth squad when I was playing for Nairn County.
“I think I was one of the youngest ever to turn out in the Highland League.
“That brought me to the attention of a number of teams, including Manchester United and Chelsea.
“I wanted to join Chelsea but my father wouldn’t let me.
“He was determined that I would stay in education and that led to me joining Aberdeen. “They paid Nairn quite a reasonable fee and I was able to go to combine studying at university with professional football.
“Looking back, it was a strange arrangement and I’m not sure it really suited anyone. It was a bit of a double life for me.
“I went to lectures during the day and then trained on my own in the evening.
“One time I left university and read in the evening newspaper that I was on the bench for a European tie. That was the first I knew of it.
“I played under four managers at Aberdeen – Jimmy Bonthrone, Ally Macleod, Billy Mcneill and Alex Ferguson.
“I got on best with Billy. He had faith in me and I’d sometimes go to Pittodrie in the afternoon where we’d have long chats.
“I respected Alex Ferguson and admired his achievements, but I didn’t like him.
“There were 15 contracts going at the club and he offered me the last one.
“I had scored two goals against his St Mirren side and I think he remembered that.
“But I wanted to start a teaching career and decided to take an offer from Kilmarnock.
“I was happy to leave but I sometimes wonder what might have happened because Aberdeen went on to win a lot of honours.”
Getting regular football at Kilmarnock suited Ian. Jock Stein selected him for the Scottish League side that played the League of Ireland.
He said: “I had supported the club when I lived in Fenwick between the ages of six and 12.
“I was able to start work as a teacher and play football at a good level.
“I didn’t get off to a great start. We went on a pre-season tour of England and I was carried off after doing my cartilage while stretching in the warm-up for the first game.
“Fortunately, things got better and we were promoted to the Premier Division.
“We also won the Tennent Caledonian Cup by beating Brighton and Rangers.
“We started well in the top flight until being part-time caught up, and we just stayed up.”
Ian moved again – this time rather further – when another change of management wasn’t to his liking.
He said: “Jim Clunie took over from Davie Sneddon and he wasn’t my sort of person.
“George Murray, my old coach at Aberdeen, offered me a deal at Canberra City in Australia.
“The money was good, even if some of it came in cash in the dressing room.
“I initially went for a year, but then I came back and life took over. One day you wake up and you’re married with kids.”
Ian, now 64, has been working in education in Australia for 40 years. He works as a consultant for a company that trains students to work in the games and film industry.