Aberdeen F.C.–Rangers F.C. rivalry

Unlike Rangers' Old Firm rivalry with Glasgow neighbours Celtic dating back to the 1900s, the feud with Aberdeen is a comparatively modern phenomenon which developed from the 1970s on a competitive sporting basis but escalated into hostility on the pitch and in the stands, with the animosity continuing into the 21st century.

[24][25] The established situation changed somewhat in the late 1970s when Aberdeen began to offer a major challenge to the Old Firm[26] under managers Ally MacLeod, Billy McNeill and then most significantly Alex Ferguson.

[26][38] In addition to the increasing competitive rivalry between the teams, The animosity between supporters was amplified, setting the tone for the years to come, at a particularly troubled league match on 24 December 1977 at Pittodrie, which Aberdeen won 4–0 to close to within three points of leaders Rangers.

[39] With the score at 3–0, a large proportion of the Rangers fans attempted to invade the pitch several times to force an abandonment; under a hail of bottles and cans, police officers contained the situation within the ground.

[41] McNeill's replacement, Alex Ferguson, was a boyhood Rangers fan from Govan[28] who had played for the club for two years in the 1960s before being shown the door abruptly after a poor performance in the 1969 Scottish Cup final.

[52] Ferguson felt a sense of injustice at the outcome in what was his first major final as a manager, and from that point on he instilled a siege mentality in his players,[53][28] many of whom were from the Glasgow area including defensive stalwarts Willie Miller[54] and Alex McLeish.

[43][28] Aberdeen eliminated Rangers from the next edition of the League Cup (although they lost the final to another emerging power, Dundee United)[58][59] and went on to become champions of the 1979–80 Scottish Premier Division[60][61] after Ferguson took the decision to drop the club's top scorer Joe Harper from the team.

He also admitted that his main reason for wanting his team to beat Rangers more comprehensively was his sense of vengeance for the treatment he received at Ibrox over his marriage to his Catholic wife, Cathy, regarding the final as a chance to "put the knife in them.".

[45][71][72] By contrast, Rangers were struggling financially[73] and endured one of the worst runs in their history under managers John Greig and the returning Jock Wallace (having tried unsuccessfully to tempt Ferguson back to Ibrox).

Additionally, the rise of hooliganism in that era involved clashes between Rangers' Inter City Firm and Aberdeen's Soccer Casuals[76] with both mobs ready to travel across the country in their hundreds, intent on causing trouble in the other's territory.

On-field events increased the tensions, such as Rangers' Willie Johnston's stamp on John McMaster's neck in 1980 requiring mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,[77][78][52][79][80] a particularly violent match at Ibrox in 1985[66][81] which also involved fans invading the pitch, and various other clashes featuring multiple red cards.

[74][82] Rangers finally regained the league championship – clinching the 1986–87 title with a draw at Pittodrie, followed by a pitch invasion by their celebrating fans[80][83][84] – while Aberdeen failed to win a cup or finish in the top two places for the first time in eight years.

Relations between the clubs reached a new low in 1988 following Neil Simpson's brutal challenge on Ian Durrant (at the time regarded as one of Scotland's biggest emerging talents) which almost ended his career, caused him to miss almost three years of football and forced him to adjust his playing style to compensate for his damaged knee ligaments.

[90][91][92][93][9] Some Aberdeen fans took to singing distasteful songs about Durrant's injury (as well as the 1971 Ibrox disaster) which in turn led to insulting comments from Rangers players in books and in the club's match programme, promoting an official apology.

[82][100][93] In five out of six title-winning seasons for Graeme Souness and Walter Smith's sides between 1989 and 1994,[18] Aberdeen finished runners-up, with the closest finish occurring in 1990–91 when Mark Hateley scored twice in a winner-takes-all clash at Ibrox Stadium on the final day to win the title by two points – as well as a missed opportunity for Aberdeen at the time, in retrospect it was something of a pivotal event for Scottish football as the Gers became increasingly dominant in the following years, while no teams outwith Rangers and Celtic have come as close to winning the title since.

Outwith the matches themselves, an Aberdeen supporter disgraced himself in April 1999 when he ran from the away fans' section at Ibrox to assault comedian Andy Cameron who was performing a routine on the pitch prior to kick-off – he was banned by the club and fined at court.

[119][120][121][122][123] Two specific incidents of note were Fernando Ricksen's ban on video evidence after a kung-fu kick on Darren Young was missed by the referee during a 2000–01 fixture,[124][125][126][88] and riot police being deployed at Pittodrie in January 2002 with home fans having run onto the pitch to confront away supporters who had thrown coins at Winters.

The build-up was dominated by administrative disputes surrounding the scheduling and venue (that fixture and the other semi-final between Celtic and Heart of Midlothian were initially both planned for the same stadium on the same day)[154][155] and then ratios of tickets available to each club.

[160] Rangers won 4–2 at Pittodrie in February 2019, Gerrard's first win over McInnes at the fourth attempt; Alfredo Morelos scored twice but was then shown a red card (as he had been in the two previous league clashes that season) along with Scott McKenna, scorer of Aberdeen's winner in Glasgow.

While Gerrard had proven his coaching abilities, McInnes was dismissed a day later, a decision not directly relating to Rangers' win but a gradual decline from the standards his team had set a few years earlier.

[79] Rangers fans' main focus of enmity has always been Celtic, and they often seek to downplay the significance of the Aberdeen games by dismissing them as an irrelevant opponent, but many supporters maintain a distrust of the Dons due to the incidents of the past and are only too willing to reciprocate any animosity shown towards them.

[190][191] The struggle for Rangers to regain their dominant position in the Scottish game following their financial collapse, with Aberdeen having become the most credible challenger to Celtic in their absence (finishing second for the two prior seasons),[83] added a renewed competitive edge to the encounters upon the return of the Glasgow club to the top division.

[201] The animosity between the supporters, particularly by Aberdeen's towards Rangers, was still evident in 2023: a fixture at Pittodrie with little direct importance (more than 20 points separated the teams in the league table) was marked by offensive chanting, missiles being thrown at opposing fans and windows of coaches being smashed; 18 arrests were made in the subsequent investigation.

[203] In 2011, based on his own experiences two decades earlier, David Robertson advised Sone Aluko to expect a hostile reaction from fans when he signed for Rangers a short time after leaving Aberdeen.

[205] In summer 2017, Aberdeen captain Ryan Jack allowed his contract to expire and left on a free transfer, signing for Rangers a few days later; he was immediately targeted for abuse online by supporters of his former club.

His connection with his previous club led him being linked to a move to Ibrox whenever a change in leadership would occur,[208][209][210] but the Pittodrie chairman Stewart Milne expressed his reluctance to allow any approach.

[214] In early December 2017, the two clubs played in the league twice in four days, with Rangers (led by caretaker manager Graeme Murty) winning home and away to close a six-point deficit and overtake Aberdeen in the standings.

McInnes did not make excuses that the ongoing speculation impacted Aberdeen's preparation for those important fixtures, or that it was behind their general form (which had suffered a downturn after Rangers dismissed Pedro Caixinha), but he did express his irritation that the matter had dragged on for so long.