1971–72 Aberdeen F.C. season

Aberdeen F.C.

1971–72 season
Chairman	Dick Donald
Manager	Jimmy Bonthrone
Scottish First Division	2nd
Scottish Cup	Quarter-finalists
Scottish League Cup	Group Stage
UEFA Cup	Second Round
Drybrough Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Joe Harper (33) All: Joe Harper (45)
Highest home attendance	33,608 vs. Rangers, 15 January 1972
Lowest home attendance	8,240 vs. Ayr United, 8 April 1972
Average home league attendance	17,068
Home colours
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Results

Scottish First Division

Main article: 1971–72 Scottish First Division

Match Day	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Aberdeen Scorer(s)	Attendance
1.	4 September	Dundee	H	3–0	Willoughby, Robb, Harper	13,188
2.	11 September	St Johnstone	A	1–1	Robb	7,930
3.	18 September	Airdieonians	H	5–0	Harper (2), Robb (2), Graham	14,133
4.	25 September	Rangers	A	2–0	S. Murray, Harper	41,236
5.	2 October	Dunfermline Athletic	H	2–0	Harper, S. Murray	14,855
6.	9 October	Kilmarnock	A	3–0	Harper, S. Murray, Forrest	8,500
7.	16 October	Hibernian	H	2–1	Harper, Young	24,450
8.	23 October	Morton	A	1–0	S. Murray	4,843
9.	30 October	Partick Thistle	H	7–2	Harper (3), Willoughby (2), Forrest, Robb	19,304
10.	6 November	Celtic	A	1–1	McNeill	61,385
11.	13 November	East Fife	H	5–0	Young, Robb, Harper, Taylor, Hermiston	14,298
12.	20 November	Motherwell	A	4–0	S. Murray (2), Forrest, Harper	5,000
13.	27 November	Hearts	H	2–3	Harper, Robb	19,754
14.	4 December	Ayr United	A	5–1	Harper (2), Miller, Robb, S. Murray	7,582
15.	11 December	Clyde	H	4–1	Willoughby, Harper, G. Murray, M. Buchan	12,194
16.	18 December	Dundee United	H	3–0	S. Murray, Willoughby, Harper	13,707
17.	25 December	Falkirk	A	3–0	Harper (2), Miller	6,885
18.	1 January	Dundee	A	1–1	Harper	18,600
19.	3 January	St Johnstone	H	4–2	Graham (2), Harper, S. Murray	24,235
20.	8 January	Airdrieonians	A	2–1	Willoughby, Robb	5,681
21.	15 January	Rangers	H	0–0		33,608
22.	22 January	Dunfermline Athletic	A	0–1		7,243
23.	29 January	Kilmarnock	H	4–2	Harper (2), Graham, S. Murray	12,981
24.	12 February	Hibernian	A	2–2	Harper (2)	21,329
25.	19 February	Morton	H	1–0	Willoughby	14,230
26.	4 March	Partick Thistle	A	0–1		11,340
27.	11 March	Celtic	H	1–1	Harper	32,853
28.	21 March	East Fife	A	2–0	Harper	4,850
29.	25 March	Motherwell	H	4–1	Harper (2), Forrest, Robb	9,351
30.	1 April	Hearts	A	0–1		7,139
31.	8 April	Ayr United	H	7–0	Harper (4), Miller, Taylor, Young	8,240
32.	15 April	Clyde	A	0–0		1,535
33.	22 April	Dundee United	A	0–2	Hermiston, Taylor	4,743
34.	29 April	Falkirk	H	0–0		8,771

Final standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic	34	28	4	2	96	28	+68	60	Champion
2	Aberdeen	34	21	8	5	80	26	+54	50
3	Rangers	34	21	2	11	71	38	+33	44
4	Hibernian	34	19	6	9	62	34	+28	44
5	Dundee	34	14	13	7	59	38	+21	41

Source: Soccerbase and League Tables

Drybrough Cup

Main article: Drybrough Cup 1971

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Aberdeen Scorer(s)	Attendance
QF	31 July	East Fife	A	3–0	Buchan, Harper, Graham
SF	4 August	Airdrieonians	A	4–1	Buchan, Harper, Robb, Delaney
F	7 August	Celtic	H	2–1	Robb, Harper	25,000

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 1971–72 Scottish League Cup

Group stage

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Aberdeen Scorer(s)	Attendance
G2	14 August	Dundee	H	1–1	Robb	19,053
G2	18 August	Clyde	A	2–0	Harper (2)	2,027
G2	21 August	Falkirk	H	1–0	Harper	17,339
G2	25 August	Clyde	H	5–0	Graham (3), Harper, Willoughby	15,542
G2	28 August	Dundee	A	1–3	Willoughby	11,875
G2	1 September	Falkirk	A	1–3	Forrest	11,865

Group 2 final table

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Falkirk	6	4	1	1	12	6	+6	9
Dundee	6	3	2	1	10	5	+5	8
Aberdeen	6	3	1	2	11	7	+4	7
Clyde	6	0	0	6	2	17	−15	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Scottish Cup

Main article: Scottish Cup 1971-72

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Aberdeen Scorer(s)	Attendance
R3	5 February	Dundee United	A	4–0	Harper (2), Miller, Young	12,974
R4	26 February	Morton	H	1–0	Willoughby	18,277
QF	18 March	Hibernian	A	0–2		25,936

UEFA Cup

Main article: 1971–72 UEFA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Aberdeen Scorer(s)	Attendance
R1 L1	15 September	Celta Vigo	A	2–0	Harper, Forrest	35,000
R1 L2	29 September	Celta Vigo	H	1–0	Harper	20,000
R2 L1	27 October	Juventus	A	0–2		35,000
R2 L2	17 November	Juventus	H	1–1	Harper	29,000

Squad

Appearances & Goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Division One		Scottish Cup		League Cup		UEFA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	Bobby Clark	32	0	22	0	1	0	6	0	3	0
	GK	ENG	Gordon Marshall	9	0	7	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	SCO	Andy Geoghegan	6	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	GK	??	Gordon Paterson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Jim Hermiston	43	1	33	1	3	0	4	0	3	0
	DF	SCO	Martin Buchan (c)	37	1	25	1	2	0	6	0	4	0
	DF	SCO	Willie Young	34	4	26	3	3	1	1	0	4	0
	DF	DEN	Henning Boel	22	0	14	0	1	0	5	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Tommy McMillan	13	0	8	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Billy Williamson	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Ian Hair	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Chic McLelland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Steve Murray (c)	45	10	32	10	3	0	6	0	4	0
	MF	SCO	Alex Willoughby	42	10	29	7	3	1	6	2	4	0
	MF	SCO	Arthur Graham	41	7	29	4	3	0	6	3	3	0
	MF	SCO	George Murray	33	1	23	1	3	0	3	0	4	0
	MF	SCO	Bertie Miller	25	4	23	3	2	1	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Ian Taylor	18	2	15	2	1	0	0	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	George Buchan	7	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	3	0
	MF	SCO	Ian Purdie	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Jimmy Miller	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Joe Harper	47	42	34	33	3	2	6	4	4	3
	FW	SCO	Dave Robb	46	11	34	10	2	0	6	1	4	0
	FW	SCO	Jim Forrest	31	6	22	4	2	0	3	1	4	1
	FW	SCO	Tommy Wilson	8	0	7	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	John Craig	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Unofficial Appearances & Goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Drybrough Cup
				Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	Bobby Clark	3	0
	DF	DEN	Henning Boel	3	0
	DF	SCO	Martin Buchan (c)	3	0
	DF	SCO	Jim Hermiston	3	0
	DF	SCO	Willie Young	3	0
	MF	SCO	Steve Murray	3	0
	MF	SCO	George Buchan	3	2
	MF	SCO	Alex Willoughby	3	1
	MF	SCO	Arthur Graham	3	1
	FW	SCO	Dave Robb	3	2
	FW	SCO	Joe Harper	3	2
	FW	SCO	Jim Forrest	1	0