Sir Alex Ferguson described the most astonishing victory of his managerial tenure as “nothing short of a miracle” It occurred against Real Madrid, but never during his 26-year tenure with Manchester United. On Thursday, it will have been forty years since Real last lost in the final of a major European competition, against Aberdeen in the Cup Winners’ Cup.
This 2-1 extra-time victory was accomplished by a group of youthful players who were precursors to Ferguson’s “Class of ’92” at Manchester United, which included Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, and the Neville brothers. These were Fergie’s first progeny, and if not for injury and misfortune, their careers could have reached even greater heights.
The 1983 Aberdeen players faced a more fearsome Ferguson than the one who left Old Trafford. Eric Black, the striker who scored Aberdeen’s first goal against Real at the age of 19, remarked, “He had likely mellowed to a typhoon by that time.”
“At that time, he was a ferocious leader because he was attempting to establish his reputation. He demanded 100% from everyone and established a semi-confrontational atmosphere to instill a winning attitude.”
Since their loss to Aberdeen in Gothenburg, Real has competed in ten European competition finals:
Eight in the Champions League/European Cup and two in the Uefa Cup. The maturity of Ferguson’s team makes their accomplishment even more impressive. Every Aberdeen participant in the championship game was under the age of 28. Four youthful Scottish players, however, stand out: goal scorers Black and John Hewitt, both 20 years old, and starting midfielders Neale Cooper, 19, and Neil Simpson, the quartet’s relative veteran at age 21.
On occasion, each would experience Fergie’s wrath in its entirety. Ferguson’s first signing for Aberdeen in 1979 was super-sub Hewitt, whose diving header doomed Real Madrid on a rainy night. He made his debut at age 16, but this did not grant him any special privileges.
“During one winter training session, the weather was poor and there was snow on the ground, so we trained indoors,” Hewitt explains. We were returning to Pittodrie stadium, I had a car full of players, and Sir Alex was in front of us doing approximately 10 mph in his Mercedes. If he had gone any slower, I could have gotten out of the car and walked passed him.
“The boys urged me to pass him, but as we did, they rolled down the windows and waved, which infuriated him somewhat.” When we returned to the locker room, he burst in and yelled, “You bloody maniac, Hewitt!” What are you doing, exactly? You could have lost control! The roads are treacherous, and you’re driving that way with talent worth millions of pounds in your car?’ He continued on and on.”
Hewitt received a £20 sanction deducted from his weekly wage, but it could have been much worse.
He recalls the individualized punishments devised by the superintendent and Archie Knox, a “bad cop, worse cop” duo. They included a participant cleaning one of the couple’s vehicles or babysitting for the Fergusons.
Even victory was not always enough to satisfy Ferguson. Aberdeen played Rangers in the Scottish Cup final 10 days after playing 120 minutes against Real Madrid and, predictably, struggled. Black, a specialist in cup finals, scored the lone goal in extra time to ensure their victory.
Unbeknownst to the players celebrating their second trophy of the month in the Hampden locker room, Ferguson, with a visage like thunder, was tearing most of them to shreds in a television interview. “A disgrace of a performance,” he railed, sparing only his two central defenders. “[Willie] Miller and [Alex] McLeish played Rangers on their own… cup victories are irrelevant. Our standards were established a long time ago, and I will not tolerate that from any Aberdeen team.”
“Suddenly, the door burst open with a scream, and it was as if the sheriff had entered a saloon in the Wild West,” recalls Black of the jubilant scenes in the changing room. The door was creaking on its hinges, and he went insane towards us. That placed a damper on the entire situation.”
At least one player, Gordon Strachan, departed the celebration meal at Gleneagles in protest of the manager’s response. This was one of the few times Ferguson realized he had gone too far and retreated. “He did apologize to some extent,” chuckles Black. “I believe Archie Knox spoke with him and convinced him to apologize for perhaps going a little too far.” To be honest, I’m not convinced it was that genuine.”
However, despite the harsh love, Ferguson inspired loyalty bordering on reverence from his players.
As he did subsequently at Manchester United, he was eager to promote youth at Aberdeen in two ways. First, it was exceedingly affordable. Second, he could cultivate these young players, fostering a siege mentality and an unquenchable desire to succeed. “Sir Alex did not permit anyone to linger on success. Once goals were accomplished, it was on to the next one,” explains Black.
The roster of teams in Aberdeen’s Cup Winners Cup victory stands out for its exceptional quality. The quarterfinals also featured Barcelona, Internazionale, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bayern Munich, the team that Aberdeen defeated to advance to the semifinals. Hewitt states, “Bayern was loaded with West German internationals and was by far the best team we faced in the competition.”
Aberdeen stunned Bayern, who had reached the European Cup final the season before, like Ferguson’s United did. After the first leg ended in a 0-0 tie, Bayern led 1-0 and then 2-1 in Scotland. Aberdeen scored twice with less than 15 minutes remaining, with Hewitt coming off the bench to score the game-winning goal.
Aberdeen won the Super Cup the next season by defeating Hamburg over two legs. Later, it was questioned why this quartet of youthful players, who were instrumental in defeating some of Europe’s elite, lacked the longevity to match their dazzling early success.
Black retired at age 28 due to a chronic back injury. In their late 20s, Hewitt, Simpson, and Cooper also labored severely with injuries, causing their careers to decline.
Only seven caps were obtained by four players who appeared to be the core of a future Scotland team (two for Black and five for midfield dynamo Simpson).
Michael Crick’s 2002 biography The Boss: The Many Sides of Alex Ferguson contends that the manager may have pushed these young footballers too hard and too young in the future. Ferguson is cited as saying, “There were players who were ruined at the age of 25, and you have to ask why.” Perhaps they played too much first-team football, with all the burden that entails.
Cooper, the team’s grinning, a golden-curled holding midfielder who did a spot-on impression of Ferguson, told the Scotsman in 2016: “Fergie acknowledges that we were outplayed. I am exhausted and cannot run even if I wanted to. Recent golf play necessitated the use of a buggy, but I still injured my left knee… Eric’s back is in such excruciating agony. If you were somewhat injured, you played nonetheless to avoid being called a coward.
Cooper passed away in 2018 at age 54. His contemporaries and former teammates agree that Ferguson’s beneficial influence on their life outweighs the negative. Black states, “I honestly don’t believe that being overworked at a tender age contributed to my injury issues. I look back and I wouldn’t change a thing… I surely do not fault anyone. What it was, it was. And I was privileged to be a member of that Aberdeen team.”
Hewitt thinks it was more 1980s than Ferguson-specific.
“When we were younger, you would play for your school on Saturday mornings, with your boys’ club on Saturday afternoons, and again on Sundays,” he explains. “There were three contests in two days. Nowadays, things are so different for youthful athletes. The current focus is on sports science, diet, and recovery.
However, Ferguson’s treatment of young United players progressively evolved. Although the generation of Giggs, Scholes, and Beckham was given responsibility at a young age – especially during the 1995-96 “You’ll never win with kids” season – they were also rigorously protected, both from intense media attention and from themselves, as the manager closely monitored their playing time. This may partially explain their extraordinary longevity in comparison to their Aberdeen counterparts a decade earlier.
In Ferguson’s defense, it was commonly believed that if you were skilled enough, you were old enough. And none of his Aberdeen players look back on that trophy-laden era with regret.
Ferguson brought alcohol to his 1983 meeting with Real Madrid great and manager Alfredo Di Stéfano.
Ferguson, who managed Scotland at the time, handed Di Stéfano a Jock Stein-inspired gift. “Make him feel important,” Stein advised, “as though you are ecstatic to be in the final.” Whether or not Di Stéfano was aware that Ferguson was behaving star-struck while plotting his team’s demise. He was generous after the game. “Aberdeen possesses something that money cannot buy: soul and team spirit,” he said.
Hewitt reflects, “It was so great to be a part of a special group of boys, managed by the best – it’s something I can’t completely describe. In the 1980s, the city was thriving; supporters were attending cup finals each season, traveling throughout Europe, and the oil industry was booming, so everything was flourishing in the city. I was so honored to participate.”
