The Stewart Milne Group Fundadon Challenge Match took place on Sunday 26th November at Cove Rangers Ground, Allan Park. Kick-off was 1pm and whistler for the day was grade 2 referee Steven Duff.
It turned out to be a perfect day for the match and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. A slightly depleted Legends team lost 5-2 to a plucky Fans select.
The match was a real end to end encounter and turned out to be an action packed 90 minutes.
Scorer for the Legends XI was Davie Roberston with 2 (1 pen) while scorers for the Fans XI were Keith Hunt (2), Andy Cordiner, Derek Miller and Iain Jolly.
Local company AVC Media Enterprises filmed the match and have produced a highlights package for us which you can view in Media Player or download from within Media Player via File Save As option from the following location.
Fundadon Challenge Match Highlights
The match was sponsored by the Stewart Milne Group and the Dons Legends XI team was sponsored by Aberdeen based company Survival Craft. The Fans XI was sponsored by DF Communications.
Hugh Little of Aberdeen Asset Management kindly sponsored the match ball.
We'd like to thank all sponsors including Mearns Trophy Centre, Stonehaven for providing the match trophy and Cove Rangers for allowing us to play the match at their ground.
We had 16 places up for grabs to play for the Fans XI who pitted their skills against ex-stars including Andy Gibson, Willie Garner, Duncan Shearer, Davie Roberston, Robert McRobb, Brian Mitchell, John Gardiner, Jim Bett and Alan Lyons. Several other top names had hoped to play, including Assistant manager Jimmy Nichol, Doug Rougvie, John Hewitt, Doug Bell and Jamie Buchan. However, they had to pull out due to work commitments and injuries
We were delighted that Willie Miller was on hand on the day. He presented the trophy and medals to the teams.
Spectators paid £5 charge on the gate and there was a half-time penalty shoot-out. Fans paid £1 at the gate to enter the pen tournament and took on guest star John "The Cat" McRuvie between the sticks!!
There was a post match buffet for players and organisers which was enjoyed by all. It was a nice chance to mingle with the former greats and relax in the bar with a few well earned beverages!!
The strips on the day were provided by Aberdeen FC.
The Fans Select wore a Dons Home Kit while the Legends team wore an away kit.
Although the crowd was smaller than hoped and therefore match programme sales were also lower than planned we still managed to make a decent amount towards the Fundadon total which is now sitting at nearly £7,300. This money is currently being transferred to the club so that it can be used in the January transfer window if required.