2009–10 Aberdeen F.C. season

The 2009–10 season was Aberdeen's 97th season in the top flight of Scottish football. Aberdeen competed in the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and UEFA Europa League during the 2009–10 season.

Aberdeen

2009–10 season
Chairman	Stewart Milne
Manager	Mark McGhee
Stadium	Pittodrie Stadium
Scottish Premier League	9th
Scottish Cup	Fifth Round
League Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: Steve MacLean (5) All: Four players (5)
Highest home attendance	16,803 v Celtic (9 August)
Lowest home attendance	6,097 v Kilmarnock (5 May)
Average home league attendance	11,012
Home colours Away colours
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

Season overview

Aberdeen started the new season under new management. On the last day of the 2008–09 it was announced that Jimmy Calderwood and his management team would leave after five years at the club.^[1] Aberdeen negotiated with fellow SPL club Motherwell for the release of their manager, Mark McGhee. McGhee had a successful spell at the club as a player, when the Dons' won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983. Along with his assistant Scott Leitch the pair would form Aberdeen's new management team.^[2] In the summer, Aberdeen lost their captain, Scott Severin, who left to pursue a career in England with Championship club Watford.^[3] The club also parted ways with four other players; defender Lee Mair joined fellow SPL club St Mirren. Jamie Smith joined MLS side Colorado Rapids, goalkeeper Bertrand Bossu had his contract terminated by the club and he was signed up with English club Crewe Alexandra. The club also parted ways with Faroese youngster Rogvi Holm. With the squad depleting, McGhee sought out to buy new players. McGhee tried to sign Benin international Réda Johnson, but the defender choose to move to English outfit Plymouth Argyle. McGhee did make his first signing, goalkeeper Stuart Nelson from Norwich City. Jerel Ifil, Davide Grassi and Maurice Ross joined from Swindon Town, Espanyol and Kocaelispor respectively. Aberdeen became one of the first clubs to participate in the newly re-branded Europa League. Aberdeen were drawn against Czech opposition in Sigma Olomouc. It soon proved to be a tie to forget, as the Dons were humbled 5–1 at home, and 3–0 away, which resulted in an 8–1 aggregate score. Aberdeen were also knocked out early in the League Cup as well. After falling 2–0 down, goals from Michael Paton ensure that the cup tie against Dundee would go into extra time. Aberdeen lost the game 3–2. Aberdeen started their League campaign with a 3–1 defeat to Celtic, but with wins against Hamilton, St Mirren, St Johnstone and a notable one against rivals Rangers have got Aberdeen's season back on track.

Transfers

Transfers

In Permanent

Player	From	Fee	Contract length
Stuart Nelson[4]	Norwich City	Free	One year
Jerel Ifil[5]	Swindon Town	Free	Two year
Davide Grassi[6][7]	Espanyol	Undisclosed	One year
Maurice Ross	Kocaelispor	Free	One year

Loans in

Player	From	Loan Length
Paul Marshall	Manchester City	End of Season
Steve MacLean	Plymouth Argyle	End of Season
Jim Paterson	Plymouth Argyle	End of Season

Loans out

Player	To	Loan Length
John Bateman[8]	Peterhead	One year
Stuart Duff[9]	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	One month
Chris Maguire[10]	Kilmarnock	End of season

Out Permanent

Player	To	Fee	Note
Lee Mair[11]	St Mirren	Free	End of contract
Scott Severin[12]	Watford	Free	End of contract
Jamie Smith[13]	Colorado Rapids	Free	End of Contract
Bertrand Bossu[14]	Crewe Alexandra	Free	End of Contract
Rogvi Holm[15]		Free	Released
Sammy Stewart[16]		Free	Released
Maurice Ross	Beijing Guoan	Free	End of contract
Tommy Wright	Grimsby Town	Free	Released
Lee Miller[17]	Middlesbrough	£500,000	–

Statistics

Current squad

Updated 22 April 2010 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SCO Jamie Langfield 2 DF  SCO Charlie Mulgrew 3 DF  SCO Ricky Foster 4 MF  SCO Gary McDonald 5 DF  SCO Zander Diamond (vice-captain) 6 DF  SCO Andrew Considine 8 MF  SCO Mark Kerr (captain) 9 FW  SCO Steve MacLean (on loan from Plymouth Argyle) 10 FW  SCO Darren Mackie 11 MF  NGA Sone Aluko 14 MF  SCO Derek Young 15 DF  SCO Jim Paterson (on loan from Plymouth Argyle)

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  SCO Stuart Duff 18 DF  ITA Davide Grassi 19 MF  SCO Peter Pawlett 20 MF  ENG Paul Marshall (on loan from Manchester City) 21 GK  ENG Stuart Nelson 22 DF  ENG Jerel Ifil 24 FW  SCO Michael Paton 25 DF  SCO Jonathan Crawford 27 DF  SCO Stirling Smith 30 GK  SCO Jon Bateman 32 DF  SCO Scott Ross 34 MF  SCO Fraser Fyvie

Player statistics

Appearances for competitive matches only

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		Scottish Cup		League Cup		Europe
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	SCO	Jamie Langfield	40	0	34	0	3	0	1	0	2	0
2	DF	SCO	Charlie Mulgrew	41	5	36	4	2	0	1	0	2	1
3	DF	SCO	Ricky Foster	41	0	36	0	2	0	1	0	2	0
4	MF	SCO	Gary McDonald	28	4	23	3	2	1	1	0	2	0
5	DF	SCO	Zander Diamond	18	3	16	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
6	DF	SCO	Andrew Considine	19	1	16	1	0	0	1	0	2	0
7	FW	SCO	Chris Maguire	21	1	17	1	1	0	1	0	2	0
7	DF	SCO	Jim Paterson	9	0	7	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF	SCO	Mark Kerr	42	0	36	0	3	0	1	0	2	0
9	FW	SCO	Lee Miller	22	4	18	3	1	1	1	0	2	0
9	FW	SCO	Steven MacLean	17	5	15	5	2	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW	SCO	Darren Mackie	37	5	31	4	3	1	1	0	2	0
11	MF	NGA	Sone Aluko	26	3	22	3	2	0	0	0	2	0
14	MF	SCO	Derek Young	24	3	20	3	3	0	0	0	1	0
15	MF	ENG	Tommy Wright	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF	SCO	Stuart Duff	18	0	16	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
17	DF	SCO	Maurice Ross	7	0	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
18	DF	ITA	Davide Grassi	23	0	22	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
19	MF	SCO	Peter Pawlett	17	0	14	0	2	0	1	0	0	0
20	MF	ENG	Paul Marshall	10	0	9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
21	GK	ENG	Stuart Nelson	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	DF	ENG	Jerel Ifil	30	0	26	0	3	0	1	0	0	0
24	FW	SCO	Michael Paton	38	5	34	3	2	0	1	2	1	0
25	DF	SCO	Jonathan Crawford	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
31	FW	SCO	Mitchel Megginson	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
34	MF	SCO	Fraser Fyvie	26	1	25	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
35	MF	SCO	Nicky Low	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
42	DF	SCO	Clark Robertson	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
45	FW	SCO	Dominico Gibson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
52	MF	SCO	Jack Grimmer	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

As of game played 1 May 2010

Most appearances

Rank	Player	SPL	SC	LC	EL	Total
1.	Mark Kerr	36	3	1	2	42
2.	Richard Foster	36	2	1	2	41
3.	Charlie Mulgrew	36	2	1	2	41
4.	Jamie Langfield	34	3	1	2	40
5.	Michael Paton	34	2	1	1	38

Source: above appearances and goals table

Top scorers

Rank	Player	SPL	SC	LC	EL	Total
1.	Steve MacLean	5	0	0	0	5
2.	Charlie Mulgrew	4	0	0	1	5
3.	Darren Mackie	4	1	0	0	5
4.	Michael Paton	3	0	2	0	5
5.	Lee Miller	3	1	0	0	4
6.	Gary McDonald	3	1	0	0	4
7.	Zander Diamond	3	0	0	0	3
8.	Derek Young	3	0	0	0	3
9.	Sone Aluko	2	0	0	0	2
10.	Andrew Considine	1	0	0	0	1
11.	Chris Maguire	1	0	0	0	1
12.	Fraser Fyvie	1	0	0	0	1
13.	Mark Kerr	1	0	0	0	1

Awards

Clydesdale Bank Awards

Main article: Scottish Premier League monthly awards

Month	Recipient	Award	Report
November	Peter Pawlett	Young Player of the Month
January	Fraser Fyvie	Young Player of the Month	AFC

Results and fixtures

Pre-season friendlies

Date	Opponent	H/A	Score[lower-alpha 1]	Aberdeen Scorer(s)[lower-alpha 2]	Attendance	Report
18 July 2009	1860 Munich	A	0–1		1,000	AFC
22 July 2009	Peterhead	A	3–2	Miller (30 pen.), Aluko (53), Paton (63)	1,954	AFC
25 July 2009	Dundee	A	1–1	Aluko (1)	3,613	AFC
9 August 2009	Hull City	A	1–0	Gardner (o.g.)	8,272	AFC

Scottish Premier League

Main article: 2009–10 Scottish Premier League

Match Day	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score[lower-alpha 1]	Aberdeen Scorer(s)[lower-alpha 2]	League Position[lower-alpha 3]	Attendance	Report
1	15 August 2009	Celtic	H	1–3	Aluko (61)	9	16,803	BBC Sport
2	22 August 2009	Hamilton Academical	A	3–0	Mulgrew (23), Considine (29), Maguire (63)	6	3,347	BBC Sport
3	29 August 2009	Motherwell	H	0–0		6	11,320	BBC Sport
4	14 September 2009	Falkirk	A	0–0		6	4,724	BBC Sport
5	19 September 2009	St Mirren	H	1–0	Mulgrew (88)	5	10,103	BBC Sport
6	26 September 2009	Rangers	A	0–0		5	47,968	BBC Sport
7	3 October 2009	Kilmarnock	A	1–1	McDonald (84)	6	4,997	BBC Sport
8	17 October 2009	Heart of Midlothian	H	1–1	Miller (42)	6	11,629	BBC Sport
9	24 October 2009	Dundee United	H	0–2		7	11,766	BBC Sport
10	31 October 2009	Hibernian	A	0–2		7	13,885	BBC Sport
11	7 November 2009	St Johnstone	H	2–1	Aluko (15), Miller (83) (pen.)	6	10,894	BBC Sport
12	21 November 2009	Motherwell	A	1–1	McDonald (67)	6	4,668	BBC Sport
13	28 November 2009	Rangers	H	1–0	Miller (17)	6	16,153	BBC Sport
14	5 December 2009	Celtic	A	0–3		6	56,010	BBC Sport
15	12 December 2009	Hamilton Academical	H	1–2	McDonald (75)	6	9,499	BBC Sport
16	19 December 2009	Hibernian	H	0–2		6	9,096	BBC Sport
17	2 January 2010	Dundee United	A	1–0	Mulgrew (15)	6	10,032	BBC Sport
18	12 January 2010	St Mirren	A	0–1		6	3,867	BBC Sport
19	23 January 2010	Kilmarnock	H	1–0	Young (49)	7	12,150	BBC Sport
20	27 January 2010	Heart of Midlothian	A	3–0	Fyvie (12), Mackie (50), Young (75)	6	14,219	BBC Sport
21	30 January 2010	Motherwell	H	0–3		7	9,555	BBC Sport
22	2 February 2010	Falkirk	H	0–1		7	7,741	BBC Sport
23	10 February 2010	Hibernian	A	2–2	Paton (25), MacLean (34)	6	10,469	BBC Sport
24	13 February 2010	Celtic	H	4–4	Paton (9), Mackie (37), MacLean (75 pen), (88)	7	14,898	BBC Sport
25	20 February 2010	Falkirk	A	1–3	Mulgrew (5)	7	4,643	BBC Sport
26	27 February 2010	Heart of Midlothian	H	0–1		7	8,316	BBC Sport
27	6 March 2010	Hamilton Academical	A	1–1	Diamond (76)	7	2,030	BBC Sport
28	16 March 2010	St Johnstone	A	0–1		8	3,826	BBC Sport
29	20 March 2010	Dundee United	H	2–2	Diamond (32), Paton (45) (pen.)	8	9,316	BBC Sport
30	27 March 2010	St Mirren	H	2–1	Diamond (37), Aluko (56)	8	8,764	BBC Sport
31	4 April 2010	Kilmarnock	A	0–2		8	4,825	BBC Sport
32	7 April 2010	Rangers	A	1–3	Mackie (68)	8	47,061	BBC Sport
33	11 April 2010	St Johnstone	H	1–3	Mackie (17)	9	7,568	BBC Sport
34	17 April 2010	Falkirk	H	1–0	MacLean (11)	9	10,461	BBC Sport
35	24 April 2010	St Johnstone	A	1–1	MacLean (16)	9	3,295	BBC Sport
36	1 May 2010	Hamilton Academical	H	1–3	Young (85)	9	7,099	BBC Sport
37	5 May 2010	Kilmarnock	H	1–2	Kerr (26)	9	6,097	BBC Sport
38	8 May 2010	St Mirren	A	1–0	Mair (27) (o.g.)	9	4,022	BBC Sport

UEFA Europa League

Main article: 2009–10 UEFA Europa League

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score[lower-alpha 1]	Aberdeen Scorer(s)[lower-alpha 2]	Attendance	Report
TQR	30 July 2009	Sigma Olomouc	H	1–5	Mulgrew (23)	13,973	BBC Sport
TQR	6 August 2009	Sigma Olomouc	A	0–3		7,405	BBC Sport

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 2009–10 Scottish League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score[lower-alpha 1]	Aberdeen Scorer(s)[lower-alpha 2]	Attendance	Report
Third Round	22 September 2009	Dundee	A	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Paton (63, 88)	6,131	BBC Sport

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2009–10 Scottish Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score[lower-alpha 1]	Aberdeen Scorer(s)[lower-alpha 2]	Attendance	Report
Fourth Round	9 January 2010	Hearts	H	2–0	Mackie (60), Miller (76)	8,226	BBC Sport
Fifth Round	6 February 2010	Raith Rovers	A	1–1	McDonald (90)	7,045	BBC Sport
Fifth Round Replay	16 February 2010	Raith Rovers	H	0–1		8,153	BBC Sport

Competitions

Overall

Competition	Started round	Current position / round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Scottish Premier League	—	—	9th	15 August 2009	8 May 2010
League Cup	3rd Round	—	3rd Round	22 September 2009	22 September 2009
Scottish Cup	4th Round	—	5th Round	9 January 2010	16 February 2010
UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	—	Third qualifying round	30 July 2009	6 August 2009

Source: Competitions

SPL

Main article: 2009–10 Scottish Premier League

Classification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Hamilton Academical	38	13	10	15	39	46	−7	49
8	St Johnstone	38	12	11	15	57	61	−4	47
9	Aberdeen	38	10	11	17	36	52	−16	41
10	St Mirren	38	7	13	18	36	49	−13	34
11	Kilmarnock	38	8	9	21	29	51	−22	33

Source: SPFL Archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	10	11	17	36	52	−16	41	6	4	10	20	31	−11	4	7	7	16	21	−5

Source: BBC Sport

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A
Result	L	W	D	D	W	D	D	D	L	L	W	D	W	L	L	L	W	L	W	W	L	L	D	D	L	L	D	L	D	W	L	L	L	W	D	L	L	W
Position	9	6	6	6	5	5	6	6	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	6	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9

Source: BBC Sport
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

League Positions

Results by opponent

Team	Results[lower-alpha 1]				Points
	1	2	3	4
Celtic	1–3	0–3	4–4		1
Dundee United	0–2	1–0	2–2		4
Falkirk	0–0	0–1	1–3	1–0	4
Hamilton Academical	3–0	1–2	1–1	1–3	4
Heart of Midlothian	1–1	3–0	0–1		4
Hibernian	0–2	0–2	2–2		1
Kilmarnock	1–1	1–0	0–2	1–2	4
Motherwell	0–0	1–1	0–3		2
Rangers	0–0	1–0	1–3		4
St Johnstone	2–1	0–1	1–3	1–1	4
St Mirren	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–0	9

Source: 2009–10 Scottish Premier League article

Club

Management Position Staff Manager Mark McGhee Assistant manager Scott Leitch Source: afc.co.uk

Other information Chairman Stewart Milne Managing Director Duncan Fraser Executive Director Willie Miller Ground (capacity and dimensions) Pittodrie Stadium (22,199 / 109x72 yards) Source: afc.co.uk

See also

• List of Aberdeen F.C. seasons

Notes

1. Aberdeen's score is shown first.
2. The number(s) in brackets shows the minute the goal(s) was/were scored.
3. Shows Aberdeen's position in the table at end of day the match was played on

References

1. "Dons part with manager Calderwood". BBC Sport. 24 May 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
2. "McGhee dedicated to new Dons post". BBC Sport. 12 June 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
3. "Severin agrees switch to Watford". BBC Sport. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
4. "Nelson seals contract at Aberdeen". BBC Sport. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
5. "Aberdeen complete Ifil transfer". BBC Sport. 12 August 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
6. "Grassi delight at Aberdeen deal". BBC Sport. 27 August 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
7. "Davide Grassi signs for Dons". AFC.co.uk. 27 August 2009. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
8. "Michie and Bateman join Blue Toon". BBC Sport. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
9. "Stuart Duff goes out". afc.co.uk. 11 December 2009. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
10. "Killie sign Scott Severin, Chris Maguire, Rob Kiernan". BBC Sport. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
11. "Mair leaves Pittodrie for Buddies". BBC Sport. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
12. "Severin agrees switch to Watford". BBC Sport. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
13. "Smith signs deal with MLS outfit". BBC Sport. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
14. "Bossu cuts short Pittodrie stay". BBC Sport. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
15. "Dons cut ties with Faroes starlet". BBC Sport. 15 October 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
16. "Sammy Stewart". afc.co.uk. 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
17. "Aberdeen striker Lee Miller moves to Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010.

External links

• Aberdeen FC website
• BBC My Club page
• Aberdeen F.C. season 2009–10 at ESPN