Chairman Stewart Milne Stadium Pittodrie Stadium Scottish Cup Semi-finals | Manager Jimmy Calderwood Scottish Premier League 4th League Cup Semi-finals | |
Aberdeen competed in the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and UEFA Cup in season 2007–08. It was the club's first season in European competition since 2002–03.
Contents
- Summer transfers
- Winter transfers
- Summer clearout
- Squad
- Players out on loan
- Overall
- Classification
- Results summary
- Results by round
- Group stage B
- References
Qualification for the group stages of the UEFA Cup was secured with an away-goals qualifying victory over FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Aberdeen were drawn in Group B along with Panathinaikos, Lokomotiv Moscow, Atlético Madrid and Copenhagen. Aberdeen qualified for the round of 32 following a 4–0 victory over F.C. Copenhagen. They were drawn against Bayern Munich and lost 7–3 on aggregate, but did manage a 2–2 home draw with the German club.
Summer transfers
Aberdeen had already announced that the contracts of Jamie Winter and David Donald were not to be renewed. Gary Dempsey rejected a new two-year deal to sign for Yeovil Town, and Dyron Daal left to join St Johnstone.
Aberdeen had secured the signatures of defenders Lee Mair from Dundee United, and youngster Jonathan Kurrant, who would join after he had finished his A-Levels. Both agreed pre-contracts. Wolves experienced defender Jackie McNamara and De Graafschap winger Jeffrey de Visscher both signed on free transfers. Former player Derek Young returned to the club on a free transfer after spells at Dunfermline and Partick Thistle. Sone Aluko was signed on a free loan deal from Birmingham.
Jamie Langfield
On 8 June 2007 it had been reported that Aberdeen's first-choice goalkeeper Jamie Langfield had been demoted after falling out with manager Jimmy Calderwood. The fall-out was believed to have been related to Calderwood's decision to reject a £70,000 offer from Rangers. The club later confirmed that they had made Langfield available for transfer, with an asking price of £100,000. Langfield was recalled to the starting line-up for the UEFA Cup game against Dnipro at Pittodrie on 20 September. The day after Aberdeen's UEFA cup victory over FC Copenhagen on 20 December 2007, Langfield signed a new three-year contract with Aberdeen.
Russell Anderson
On 27 June 2007 club captain Russell Anderson moved to Premiership side Sunderland. He signed a 3-year contract with the club, but also donated his signing-on fee to the youth development scheme at Pittodrie.
Winter transfers
Chris Clark was the first player to leave Aberdeen in the January window after signing a three-and-a-half-year deal with Plymouth Argyle. The clubs agreed a fee of £200,000 for the midfielder who had played at Aberdeen for seven years. Michael Paton extended his loan deal with Brechin City until the end of the season. Striker Stuart Smith and defender Neil McVitie both went on loan to Peterhead until the end of the season.
Stuart Duff was Aberdeen's first signing of the January transfer window. They signed the midfielder from Dundee United on a free transfer. Sone Aluko agreed to extend his loan from Birmingham City until the end of the season. Defender Dave Bus was signed from De Graafschap until the end of the season. Aberdeen signed Middlesbrough midfielder and England under-18 captain Josh Walker on a loan deal until the end of the season. The Republic of Ireland international Alan Maybury was signed from Leicester on a loan deal until the end of the season.
Michael Hart
After Michael Hart rejected a new deal with Aberdeen, a fee thought to be in the region of £200,000 was agreed between Aberdeen and Preston North End for his transfer. However, Preston reduced their offer after carrying out medical tests on an injury due to keep him out for weeks. Aberdeen refused to release the player unless Preston pay the agreed fee. He eventually moved to Preston for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of £100,000.
Summer clearout
It was announced on 15 April that seven contracted players would be leaving at the end of the season, Barry Nicholson decided to leave, rejecting a new deal. The other six players were all not offered new deals, these were; Goalkeepers Derek Soutar (who had replaced Jamie Langfield for a large part of the season) and Greg Kelly, defenders Richie Byrne and Dave Bus and strikers Jonathan Smith and Steve Lovell. Loan signings Sone Aluko and Josh Walker returned to their clubs at the end of their loan periods.
On 21 April defender Jackie McNamara was released from his contract by the club.
Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Players out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Overall
Source: Competitions
Classification
Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Results summary
Source: BBC Sport
Results by round
Source: BBC Sport
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.
Group stage (B)
The draw for the group stage took place on 9 October 2007. Aberdeen were drawn against Panathinaikos, Atlético Madrid, Lokomotiv Moscow and Copenhagen. Aberdeen gained just 1 point from their first 3 games, they needed both Lokomotiv Moscow and Copenhagen to lose to ensure they would go through to the next round with a win over Copenhagen in their final game. Aberdeen qualified for the last 32 following a 4–0 win over Copenhagen.