In the summer of 2007, several things came together to make this photostream possible.

 

Ever since 1999 I had been a season ticket holder at Aberdeen. I was born in the city, went to school there and had supported the club since I was a kid, even though I have now lived in Edinburgh for most of my adult life. As usual, I renewed my season ticket in summer 2007 after a successful SPL campaign that saw Aberdeen clinch third place and a berth in the UEFA Cup.

 

Also that summer, I got a new mobile phone – a Sony Ericsson K810i – which happened to have a 3.2 megapixel camera on the back. Since it was in my pocket every time I left my flat, in theory I would always have a digital camera available wherever I went.

 

Finally, I had discovered Flickr in 2007 and thought it might be fun to run a photostream.

 

The result? Take a few snaps at each Aberdeen game I attended and post a couple of them here. Then I realised I wouldn’t attend each and every game so decided to take a couple of snaps of wherever I was at the time anyway and add those, creating a log of exactly where I was when Aberdeen were playing competitive football – home, away, at the ground or not. Geeky? Hell yes, but I thought it might be fun.

 

Two full seasons later – I’m writing this on 25 May 2009 – and how do things look? Aberdeen have managed 99 competitive games between August 2007 and May 2009. With two pictures posted for each (198 in total), I’m pushed very close to the free Flickr limit of 200, so a good time to stop. Yesterday Aberdeen once again secured a high enough SPL position to qualify for Europe which adds a nice symmetry to the photostream – since that’s where they were two years ago – but they also parted company with manager Jimmy Calderwood after months of grumbling among the support. Given that he secured top six football every season, qualified for Europe twice and came as close as goal difference on a third occasion, you could say he’s the most consistent manager in Scotland outside the Old Firm in the last five years. Is he a success or a failure then?

 

Although there have been highlights in the last two seasons – decent performances against teams like Copenhagen or Bayern Munich, home wins against Celtic and Rangers – there have also been entire deserts of disappointment. In domestic cup competition Aberdeen reached the semi of the League Cup in February 2008, playing Dundee United at Tynecastle. At half time it was 1-1. Nearly a quarter of an hour into the second half it was 1-1, then in less than ten minutes Aberdeen collapsed, conceding two goals and having Lee Miller sent off. A final against a poor Rangers side beckoned but that opportunity went to Dundee United.

 

Just over two months later, Aberdeen made it through to the Scottish Cup semi at Hampden to play Queen of the South from the First Division. Again, at half time it was 1-1, QOS taking a shock lead, Aberdeen pegging them back. Into the second half, the game just went nuts with Aberdeen losing all defensive discipline. QOS scored three times in 11 minutes and although Aberdeen managed to run up the other end and score twice while all this was happening, the game settled at 4-3 to QOS with half an hour to go and that’s the way it stayed. Again, a cup final appearance against a poor Rangers team went begging.

 

Perhaps even worse, the Dons had gone through a disastrous league spell in January, February and early March 2008, picking up just 5 points from a possible 24 in eight games. They sneaked into the top six by the skin of their teeth and although they managed to win three of their last four games, finishing fourth, it was well off a UEFA Cup place and it owed a great deal to how woeful Dundee United and Hibs had been over the season. More consistent league form would have seen them easily finish third.

 

On the one hand, you could say the manager was unlucky from summer 2007 onwards. He lost Russell Anderson at that point (to Sunderland) then Chris Clark and Michael Hart in January 2008 (to Plymouth and Preston respectively) – three key players that contributed a great deal to the club’s successful 2006/07 season. Then in summer 2008 Barry Nicholson, another important player in the 2006/07 side, left – also for Preston. Critics however focused on the poor results and dull, patchy football. Good enough for the top six, but not good.

 

When the new season started in August 2008 there seemed to be a hangover of the ennui surrounding the club earlier in the year. In the first five home games in the SPL the record was dreadful – four defeats and one draw to take 1 point from a possible 15. Also Kilmarnock dumped the Dons out of the League Cup.

 

To be fair, SPL form did pick up but the next disappointment arrived in March 2009. The club drew First Division Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup quarter final with a semi against Falkirk the incentive for the winner. The tie ended 1-1 in Fife so the clubs replayed at Pittodrie – 0-0 after extra time – which meant Aberdeen had played 210 minutes against a First Division side and managed a solitary goal. Inevitably, Dunfermline won the penalty shoot-out. With most Dons fans believing that they would have beaten Falkirk in the semi, to set up a cup final appearance against a beatable Rangers team – yet again – that made three excellent domestic cup opportunities blown in just 13 months.

 

After the Dunfermline disappointment, the season has limped on for just over two months without much enthusiasm among the support. Aberdeen secured top six status, then picked up 5 points in three games against Dundee United, Hearts and yesterday Hibs post-split (but none from the Old Firm) which was just enough to sneak fourth place on goal difference. It’s been an open secret that Scott Severin is heading off this summer – another player who has spent his career to date in the SPL, had reached the watershed of his 30th birthday or thereabouts and fancied pastures new, much like Anderson, Hart, Clark and Nicholson before him.

 

But Calderwood – success or failure? In domestic cup competitions, a failure. Getting beaten away from home by a richer and more talented team is something most Dons fans could stomach. The precipitate second half collapses against Dundee United and QOS were bitterly disappointing while failing to score against Dunfermline at Pittodrie in 120 minutes was simply desperate. Given that the Dons haven’t lifted a trophy since 1995 and not played in a Hampden final since 2000, failing to grasp three excellent opportunities in the space of 13 months was hard to take.

 

In the SPL, Calderwood has done enough. Arguably there was an upswing in Aberdeen’s fortunes between 2004 and 2007 which saw the club improve, consolidate in the top six and qualify for Europe. Once you’ve done that, lost decent players, and have to rebuild a team on a limited budget, staying in the top six and even qualifying for Europe again has to be seen as a success. The problem is that this has been achieved without sparkling football – and in patches with pretty dire football indeed although the entire SPL hardly shines with quality at the moment. Rangers have won the SPL title yesterday by being marginally less bad than Celtic over 38 games; everyone else is miles behind.

 

Sad to say there have been occasions in the last two seasons when I have been simply bored with what I was watching at Pittodrie and elsewhere and this is the major problem. Had I lived in Aberdeen, and taken an afternoon out to see a football match, then it wouldn’t have been such a big deal. The extra outlay that comes from travelling from Edinburgh started to make me wonder though – especially in these credit crunched times.

 

So two seasons and 198 photographs. It started on a sunny August day at Tannadice with a sense of optimism and ended nearly 22 months later at a sunny Pittodrie with a sacked manager on a Sunday in May and a win over Hibs. Over the last couple of months I’ve told myself that I will not get a new season ticket, that I cannot afford a new season ticket and that the general tedium of watching Aberdeen grind out wins over St Mirren or Kilmarnock meant that I didn’t want a new season ticket – but now I’m dithering because with a new man at the helm comes a new optimism? Whoever he is…

 

Edit: a long time has elapsed since I wrote the above. Aberdeen appointed Mark McGhee which seemed like a positive move, he spent the 2009/10 season struggling with Jimmy Calderwood's squad then there was a big turnover of players in summer 2010. Into the next season with optimism? Not really. The Dons' form from August to November 2010 was dismal and after barely 18 months in post, McGhee was sacked in early December 2010 with the team bottom of the SPL (ten points from 16 games). As I write - 16 December 2010 - Craig Brown and Archie Knox have been tasked to take over, although they have not yet been in charge of a game. On the positive side, only five points separate the bottom four sides at the moment, but Brown & Knox have their work cut out. My decision to dump the season ticket in summer 2009 still looks like a good one, not out of disloyalty, more out of sheer financial necessity - also the fact that the football on offer since August 2009 has been pretty awful. Watch this space.