Full name Robert Sime Aitken Years Team Career start 1976 Place of birth Irvine, Scotland Name Roy Aitken Career end 1995 | Playing position Role Footballer Position Defender 1973–1976 Celtic Boys Club Height 1.83 m | |
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Date of birth (1958-11-24) 24 November 1958 (age 57) Similar People Paul McStay, Danny McGrain, Mo Johnston, Willie Miller, Jim Leighton | ||
Celtic 2 dundee 2 the roy aitken show
Robert Sime "Roy" Aitken (born 24 November 1958) is a former footballer who went on to become a coach with clubs including Leeds United and Aston Villa. His position as a player was defence.
Contents
- Celtic 2 dundee 2 the roy aitken show
- Roy Aitken
- Playing career
- Management and coaching career
- Individual
- References
Born in Irvine, Ayrshire, he grew up in Ardrossan. He signed for Celtic as a youngster.
Roy Aitken
Playing career
At Celtic, he was nicknamed 'The Bear' by the supporters due to his large frame and commanding presence. Aitken broke into the Celtic first team as a teenager, first captaining the team in October 1977. Playing as a centre back or defensive midfielder, Aitken made the third-most appearances in the club's history and was particularly noted for his contributions in the club's double-winning 1987-88 season.
He later went on to play for Newcastle United, joining the club for £500,000 in January 1990. He captained the side in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to gain promotion from the Second Division. Having been signed by Jim Smith, he was deemed surplus to requirements when Smith was replaced as manager by Ossie Ardiles and returned to Scotland with St Mirren. He did not remain long at St Mirren, signing for Aberdeen for £100,000 to act as player-assistant manager.
Aitken won 57 caps for the Scotland national football team, scoring once and featured at both the 1986 and 1990 World Cups.
Management and coaching career
Aitken was appointed manager of Aberdeen in February 1995 after the sacking of Willie Miller. At the time, Aberdeen were struggling to avoid relegation, and Aitken made a bright start by winning 2-0 against Rangers in his first game as manager. Aberdeen finished second bottom of the league, but maintained their top league status by defeating Dunfermline Athletic in a two-legged play-off.
The following season saw Aitken invest heavily in the transfer market; signing striker Dean Windass for £750,000 and midfielder Paul Bernard for a club record £1 million. Bernard struggled to justify his expensive transfer fee, whilst Windass' time at Pittodrie was hampered by his on-field indiscipline. Nevertheless, Aitken led Aberdeen to silverware when they won the Scottish League Cup on 26 November 1995, beating Dundee 2-0 in the final.
On being sacked by Aberdeen in 1997, Aitken turned his attention to coaching. In February 1998 he was appointed head coach of the Maldives national football team but resigned a month later over the poor facilities available to the team. After obtaining his UEFA Pro Licence at the Scottish Football Association's Largs training centre, Aitken went on to become a coach with Leeds United before rejoining former Leeds coach David O'Leary at Aston Villa.
On 20 July 2006, he was named caretaker manager of Aston Villa after O'Leary's departure the previous evening. Aitken managed Villa to three pre-season victories before being replaced by Martin O'Neill.
In January 2007, he was appointed as one of Alex McLeish's assistants with the Scotland national football team. On 28 November 2007, he followed McLeish, newly appointed as manager of Birmingham City, to the club as first-team coach alongside Andy Watson.
In July 2010, Aitken left Birmingham City to join David O'Leary in Dubai with Al-Ahli. He remains at Al Ahli today as Director of Football.