1989–90 Aberdeen F.C. season
# 1989–90 Aberdeen F.C. season

Aberdeen F.C. competed in the Scottish Premier Division, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and UEFA Cup in the 1989–90 season.

## Overview

In October 1989, Aberdeen reached the Scottish League Cup final for the third successive season and faced Rangers for the third successive year. Aberdeen won 2–1 thanks to two goals from Englishman Paul Mason and a superb display from Dutch goalkeeper Theo Snelders.

November saw a new signing from PSV Eindhoven, striker Hans Gillhaus, join for a record transfer fee of £650,000. The Dutchman made an immediate impact by scoring twice on his debut against Dunfermline Athletic. In May 1990, Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup for the seventh time after a penalty shoot-out victory over Celtic following a 0–0 draw.

Two Aberdeen players won player-of-the-year awards: Alex McLeish won the Scottish Football Writers' Player of the Year award and Jim Bett was voted Scottish Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year.

## Results

### Scottish Premier Division

| Match Day | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Aberdeen Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 12 August | Hibernian | H | 1–0 | Mason | 16,000 |
| 2 | 19 August | Motherwell | A | 0–0 | | 6,491 |
| 3 | 26 August | Dundee | H | 1–0 | Jess | 12,500 |
| 4 | 9 September | Rangers | A | 0–1 | | 40,283 |
| 5 | 16 September | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 2–1 | C. Robertson, Mason | 13,000 |
| 6 | 23 September | St Mirren | A | 2–0 | Grant, Mason | 5,872 |
| 7 | 30 September | Celtic | H | 1–1 | McLeish | 21,374 |
| 8 | 4 October | Dundee United | A | 0–2 | | 11,879 |
| 9 | 14 October | Heart of Midlothian | H | 1–3 | van der Ark | 15,000 |
| 10 | 25 October | Hibernian | A | 3–0 | C. Robertson, van der Ark, Mason | 12,000 |
| 11 | 28 October | Motherwell | H | 1–0 | Bett | 13,500 |
| 12 | 4 November | Dundee | A | 1–1 | Connor | 7,041 |
| 13 | 18 November | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 3–0 | D. Robertson, Gillhaus (2) | 11,882 |
| 14 | 22 November | Rangers | H | 1–0 | Gillhaus | 23,000 |
| 15 | 25 November | St Mirren | H | 5–0 | McLeish, Nicholas (3), Mason | 13,500 |
| 16 | 2 December | Celtic | A | 0–1 | | 38,300 |
| 17 | 9 December | Dundee United | H | 2–0 | Nicholas, Mason | 15,500 |
| 18 | 20 December | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–1 | Grant | 11,370 |
| 19 | 26 December | Hibernian | H | 1–2 | Grant | 16,500 |
| 20 | 30 December | Motherwell | A | 2–2 | van der Ark | 7,267 |
| 21 | 2 January | Dundee | H | 5–2 | Grant, Nicholas, Bett, van der Ark (2) | 16,054 |
| 22 | 6 January | Rangers | A | 0–2 | | 41,351 |
| 23 | 13 January | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 4–1 | Grant, Nicholas, Bett, Mason | 14,000 |
| 24 | 27 January | St Mirren | A | 0–1 | | 7,855 |
| 25 | 3 February | Heart of Midlothian | H | 2–2 | Nicholas (2) | 15,000 |
| 26 | 10 February | Dundee United | A | 1–1 | Mason | 10,533 |
| 27 | 17 February | Celtic | H | 1–1 | Nicholas | 22,100 |
| 28 | 3 March | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 4–2 | Nicholas, Mason, Gillhaus (2) | 8,228 |
| 29 | 10 March | Hibernian | A | 2–3 | van der Ark, Own goal | 9,550 |
| 30 | 24 March | Motherwell | H | 2–0 | Gillhaus (2) | 10,000 |
| 31 | 31 March | Dundee | A | 1–1 | Gillhaus | 8,071 |
| 32 | 8 April | Rangers | H | 0–0 | | 23,000 |
| 33 | 18 April | Dundee United | H | 1–0 | Grant | 10,000 |
| 34 | 21 April | Heart of Midlothian | A | 0–1 | | 11,616 |
| 35 | 28 April | St Mirren | H | 2–0 | Irvine, Nicholas | 7,977 |
| 36 | 2 May | Celtic | A | 3–1 | Graham Watson, Jess (2) | 20,154 |

**Final standings**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 36 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 48 | 19 | +29 | 51 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Aberdeen | 36 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 56 | 33 | +23 | 44 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 54 | 35 | +19 | 44 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Dundee United | 36 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 36 | 39 | −3 | 35 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Celtic | 36 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 34 | |

### Scottish League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Aberdeen Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R2 | 16 August | Albion Rovers | A | 2–0 | D. Robertson, van der Ark | 2,384 |
| R3 | 23 August | Airdrieonians | H | 4–0 | Bett, Mason (2), Cameron | 10,000 |
| QF | 30 August | St Mirren | H | 3–1 | Bett, Mason, Winnie | 11,500 |
| SF | 20 September | Celtic | N | 1–0 | Cameron | 45,367 |
| F | 22 October | Rangers | N | 2–1 | Mason (2) | 61,190 |

### Scottish Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Aberdeen Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R3 | 20 January | Partick Thistle | A | 6–2 | Grant, Mason, van der Ark (3), Kerr | 11,875 |
| R4 | 24 February | Morton | H | 2–1 | Nicholas, Gillhaus | 14,500 |
| QF | 17 March | Heart of Midlothian | H | 4–1 | Nicholas, Gillhaus, Irvine, Bett | 22,500 |
| SF | 14 April | Dundee United | N | 4–0 | Irvine, Paatelainen, van der Hoorn, Gillhaus | 16,581 |
| F | 12 May | Celtic | N | 0–0 (9–8 on penalties) | | 60,493 |

### UEFA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Aberdeen Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R1 L1 | 13 September | Rapid Vienna | H | 2–1 | C. Robertson, Grant | 16,800 |
| R1 L2 | 27 September | Rapid Vienna | A | 0–1 | | 19,000 |

## Squad

### Appearances & Goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier Division | Premier Division | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Europe | Europe |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | MF | SCO | Jim Bett | 41 | 6 | 30 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Scott Booth | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ian Cameron | 17 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Bobby Connor | 45 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Davie Dodds | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | NED | Hans Gillhaus | 24 | 11 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Brian Grant | 43 | 8 | 31 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| | DF | SCO | Scott Harvie | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Brian Irvine | 40 | 3 | 31 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Eoin Jess | 16 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Paul Mason | 46 | 15 | 34 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Stewart McKimmie | 45 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Alex McLeish | 43 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Willie Miller (c) | 22 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Bobby Mimms | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Charlie Nicholas | 45 | 13 | 33 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Craig Robertson | 27 | 3 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| | DF | SCO | David Robertson | 27 | 2 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Ian Robertson | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Neil Simpson | 12 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | GK | NED | Theo Snelders | 32 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | NED | Willem van der Ark | 35 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Graham Watson | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Gregg Watson | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | Michael Watt | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Stephen Wright | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
