Bringing “Family Tradition” back to Pittodrie

“Aberdeen have what money can't buy – a soul; a team spirit built in a family tradition.”

The famous words of Alfredo Di Stefano, Real Madrid C.F. manager, speaking after being on the wrong end of Aberdeen Football Club 's most famous victory in Gothenburg back in 1983.

Over the past couple of seasons, a conscious effort has been made to bring that “family tradition” back to Aberdeen, primarily through our designated BUCHAN WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD Family Area in the Richard Donald Stand (RDS) Upper at Pittodrie as part of a wider plan to grow the fan base sustainably.

For this weekend’s match with Dundee Football Club the RDS Upper sold out several weeks before the match thanks to our popular Biggest Dons Day Out group ticketing initiative which will see 44 groups and 3,000 people (well done Ryan Finnie ) coming to Pittodrie with most of those groups set to be seated in the RDS Upper.

I still remember on my first day at AFC I was given a tour of the ground by David Bowman, our Head of IT and Trustee of Aberdeen FC Heritage Trust and the one memory that stands out is the view over the city from the RDS Upper, where our Family Area is now situated.

Constructed in 1993 and named after former Chairman Richard Donald (a man referred to as a colossus by Sir Alex Ferguson no less!) the “Beach End” has acted as the focal point of Pittodrie over the past 30 years, shining brightly on Aberdeen’s biggest occasions with many colourful and memorable pre-match displays.

The excellent Sam North recently paid the stand a visit saying: "It is the best pre-match atmosphere I have ever seen for a Scottish Premiership match."

The granite façade of the Merkland end is arguably the more loved end of the stadium but the RDS, the Beach End, due to its size and stature has always been the part of the ground which has stood out most to me.

Be that from watching highlights and games on TV, or approaching the stadium on matchday’s from any direction, you can’t miss it as a landmark of the Aberdeen skyline!

The stand wouldn’t look out of place in any of Europe’s major leagues and always serves as a great backdrop for iconic Pittodrie moments.

For a young fan attending their first match, being close to the match action can be a special feeling but the experience of watching live football at Pittodrie is elevated (in more ways than one!) when viewing the game from the RDS Upper.

And yet despite that, for much of my time at Aberdeen it seemed like there was an annual debate over whether to open the Upper section of the stand or not due to the limited uptake for most matches and increased costs associated with opening another part of the stadium when there was plenty of space elsewhere in the ground.

That is a debate which will be common for a lot of sports teams around the world and we didn’t really have a clear idea of who that area was for or what we should be doing with it.

That was until ahead of the 22/23 season when we took the decision to try something different by introducing our new Family Area in Block 5 of the stand. The plan was to start small and see how it goes, if it didn't work we could always have our debate about whether to close it or open it again the following year...

Happily since 2022 we haven't had to have that discussion as over the past couple of seasons, thousands of young supporters, accompanied by their friends and families, have embraced the new Family Area and we have seen the average age of our Season Ticket Holders drop significantly as a result which will stand the club in good stead for many years to come.

From day one it has been a project built and backed by the local community, with local graffiti artist Reckless brought in early to get things looking fresh ahead of the 22/23 season following on from similar work at the other end of the stadium in 2021.

Shortly after Robbie Hedderman brought our first partner for the family area in Esson & Aberdein on board to support the plans to get more young fans attending and backing their local club and that provided a strong base to build from.

In the past year things have progressed further with our record-breaking Biggest Kids Tifo where young fans got the opportunity to see their own display through from start to finish, a project spotlighted on BBC Scotland 's A View from the Terrace and orchestrated by our Supporter Experience Manager Stephen McCormick .

This summer we have been fortunate to have a new partner come on board in the shape of Buchan Wealth Management to expand the work done ahead of the 22/23 season with Reckless and allow us to plan longer term to enhance the experience.

This Saturday there will be a sea of red and white in the RDS Upper visible from afar once again, accompanied by lots of noisy and enthusiastic young fans enjoying their Biggest Dons Day Out.

Hopefully for many it will mark the start of a journey supporting Aberdeen and enjoying the highs, the lows, the sense of camaraderie, community and belonging which come with supporting your local team.

Whether you have never attended a match or haven’t been to Pittodrie for a few years, I hope that at least one mum, dad, auntie, uncle, or a grandparent (anyone really!) reads this and decides to introduce someone new to the Dons family, and make many happy memories together by making matchday’s at Pittodrie their own “family tradition”.