I'm a Glasgow based Aberdeen fan, our squad is better than Rangers and Celtic can make title race mistakes
Jimmy Thelin’s side earned a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park and remain joint top of the Scottish Premiership - they face Rangers later this month.
Celtic and Rangers supporters groups in towns and cities across Scotland may be fairly ordinary but fan organisations of other clubs in Glasgow are a bit less common.
‘Glasgow Dons’ are one such group who will be loving life at the moment as their team remain unbeaten this season after earning a 2-2 draw with champions Celtic at the weekend. The Aberdeen supporter’s group currently have around 40 registered members and a bustling WhatsApp community of over 160 people.
At the forefront of that group is Alan Lamont, who has been a Dons fans his whole life and lived in Scotland’s largest city for the past two years. Unlike supporters groups based in their club’s hometown or city who run busses to away games, the Glasgow Dons chief is charged with organising busses for his team’s home matches.
Lamont, who says he is very proud of what the group has been able to achieve recently, is understandably delighted at the performance of Jimmy Thelin’s men so far. Despite the fact the North East club haven’t always had the best record in Glasgow, Lamont says their members love the banter with Celtic and Rangers fans and always look forward to matches at Celtic Park or Ibrox - when they can get tickets!
Speaking to GlasgowWorld, he said: “Being an Aberdeen supporter in Glasgow is brilliant, it’s always a good conversation starter and this season there’s a lot of interest about the club from supporters of other teams. And there’s boatloads of us down here.
“Most Glasgow-based supporters would be happy to go to every away fixture in Glasgow. The issue is the difficulty in getting tickets - it’s highly competitive and a lot of these fixtures sell out very quickly. But there’s certainly no nervousness about going to Ibrox or Parkhead.”
After Saturday’s match with Celtic that ended 2-2, with Aberdeen coming back from 2-0 down, Lamont and his fellow Glasgow Dons are brimming with confidence. They face New Firm rivals Dundee United this weekend before welcoming Rangers to Pittodrie later this month.
“There should be no doubt at this point that we can finish in the top two,” said Lamont. “Rangers have their weakest team in years. Celtic seem to be coasting but have shown that they can make mistakes. As far as title challenges go, I would just say that the manager has made it very clear the team is taking it one match at a time and that we need to remain humble.
“That’s the approach I’m trying to emulate. We’ve got crucial fixtures coming in the next couple of weeks and we need to be winning them, once we’ve done that maybe we can reassess the league table, but just now we’ve got something special that we need to fight for every game.
“Drawing with Celtic was a huge statement for the club. I woke up on holiday in Las Vegas on Saturday morning and was over the moon when I found out, and I had 70 unread messages in the club and WhatsApp. The nature of the fight back made it feel like a real scalp.
“Looking ahead to Rangers visit to Pittodrie, I don’t think you’ll find any Aberdeen supporter who doesn’t think we’ll win. The league table shows the reality at the moment - we are a better squad than Rangers. But before that we’ve got to beat Dundee United, which will be just as much of a test as Rangers. Every season we throw away points against non-Glasgow clubs and I’m glad to see we’re treating every game like a big fixture.”
It’s not the first time that Aberdeen have dreamt about a possible title challenge since the last time they lifted the trophy 1985. In the 2015/16 season the Dons also got off to a flying start but would eventually finish 15 points behind Ronny Deila’s men.
Rangers were not in the top flight that season but when they did return the Granite City men were still able to finish above them in their first two season back. Since then the two Glasgow clubs have re-established their duopoly on the division, so what makes this current Aberdeen team different from recent years?
“That’s the million dollar question,” said Lamont. “The manager is undoubtedly a huge part of it. His calm demeanor and fearlessness seems to have trickled down to the team. We have a big squad and you’ve got players competing for places, working hard in training and hoping for big-money moves like we’ve seen from other players in recent seasons. Plus we’ve got home-grown players making an impact and the club seems to have a plan for the future. What more could you want?
“I will say that the squad isn’t perfect, and that’s okay. We’re winning games like the one at Dens where we’re not playing at our best. The Old Firm has been doing that for years, and with the fine margins in Scottish football it makes a huge difference.”
It’s not just the league where Aberdeen have fallen short of the Glasgow clubs in recent seasons. They lost to Rangers in the League Cup final last season and have not beaten Celtic at Hampden since 1992.
They fill face Brendan Rodgers’ side in the semi-finals of the Premier Sports cup on November 2nd as they look to make it back-to-back finals in that competition. There, no doubt in fine voice, will be the Glasgow Dons.
“We’ve got a hundred Glasgow Dons descending on Hampden next month and there’s a lot of excitement,” said Lamont. “When you consider the commitment it takes for our members to get to and from Aberdeen (plus away fixtures) all season, it’s always nice when we’re able to get together in Glasgow.
“You have a good chance in every cup semi-final, but make no mistake these players and fans expect silverware. If we beat Celtic to go into the final, brilliant. But for me it’s much more important that our performance this season isn’t a one-off.”