
Date: 13 August 2022
Competition: Scottish Premier League
Result: Aberdeen 2 – 3 Motherwell
Tickets: £20 (adult), £12 (kid)
Attendance: 14,714
Game/ Experience Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Game: We found ourselves in Aberdeen as a city aside from a holiday in the Scottish Highlands, so this was the perfect chance to catch a first ever live Scottish Premier League game when Motherwell visited over the weekend. Motherwell have a strange Irish link at the moment: having lost home and away to Sligo Rovers in Europe a few weeks ago, they promptly sacked their manager, and have a new one in charge in time for this trip, for whch they’ve bought only a handful of fans from East of Glasgow.
Aberdeen are sloppy from the off, with Motherwell dominating the early exchanges and unsurprisingly going ahead in the first few minutes after a sustained period of pressure. There seems to be plenty of potential in the Aberdeen squad – I particularly liked Stewart at the back, and Shayden Morris, a rapid wide man recently signed from Fleetwood and, I think, making his debut. It’s disjointed, though, and when Aberdeen take the lead with goals either side of half time, it feels more fortunate than a reflection of the game.
Motherwell hit back, leading 3-2 after 60 minutes and then frustrating the home fans by killing a lot of time (6 minutes of injury time arguably wasn’t enough) to hold on for the win. A nice see-saw game but I understand why Aberdeen fans would be pretty put out by it all given the shoddiness of their side, who resorted to throwing popular goalkeeper Roos up for corners at the end. Both defences poor, I didn’t feel the level of football was notably higher than our regular haunt, the Irish top tier (nor, to be fair, is it notably more expensive), but fiercely entertaining.
The ground: I’m really impressed with Pittodrie. The walk in is one of the most beautiful I’ve come across for a football ground – lots of open space and dune like hills to be strolled over until you come across the ground as you head over a sandy, rabbit-covered peak, the highest stand on one end popping into view and an angle on a scattering of seats in the main stand from outside on offer.