Sport in Aberdeen,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

is a major affair with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

being home to three

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

swimmers and

Aberdeen Football Club Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...

Football

Aberdeen's largest football club is

, but there are also other senior teams, notably Cove Rangers. There was also a historic senior team Bon Accord who no longer play. Local junior teams include Banks O' Dee, Culter, Stoneywood, Glentanar and

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...

. Aberdeen also hosts the Aberdeen International Football Festival as part of the

Aberdeen International Youth Festival Aberdeen International Youth Festival was a festival of performing arts and one of Scotland's major international cultural events, which ran from 1981 to 2017. Each year the festival brought over 1000 young people in performing arts companies ...

at Seaton Park with the finals held at the Chris Anderson Stadium.

Aberdeen Football Club

Football Club was founded in 1903. Its major success was winning the

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourna ...

in 1983 and three

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

Championships between 1980 and 1986, under the former

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

manager

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

. The club's stadium is

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they wer ...

which was Britain's first all-seater stadium. Aberdeen holds the distinction of being the last team to have won the

Championship outside the

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

and is the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies adding to their European Cup Winners Cup success by winning the

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

, also in 1983. Well known footballers who have played for the club include

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

and club legend

Willie Miller William Ferguson Miller MBE (born 2 May 1955) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, who made a club record 560 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in th ...

Denis Law Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...

, the joint top scorer for the Scotland national team was also born in the city, but spent his professional career playing for English and Italian clubs. Aberdeen PittodrieStadium

Golf

Public

Aberdeen has a number of public golf courses including: *Auchmill *Balnagask *Hazlehead *King's Links

Hazlehead Park Hazlehead Park is a public park in the Hazlehead area of Aberdeen, Scotland. 180 hectares in size, it was opened to the public in 1920, having formerly been the estate of Hazlehead House, home of William Rose, shipbuilder. It is heavily wooded a ...

is public-owned and has two 18-hole and pitch and putt golf courses. The No. 1 course was designed by Alistair MacKenzie, better known for designing the

Augusta National Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does no ...

Private Courses

Aberdeen and the immediate areas of

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

has the following private courses: * Cruden Bay * Deeside Gold Club * Murcar Links * Mewmachar * Royal Aberdeen

Royal Aberdeen Golf Club Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Aberdeen, Scotland, was founded in 1780 and claims to be the sixth oldest golf club in the world. It was founded as the Society of Golfers at Aberdeen, and became the Aberdeen Golf Club in 1815 subsequently receiving r ...

was founded in 1780 and used to play on the Queen's Links before moving to a new links at Balgownie, north of the River Don, in 1888. The club hosted the

Senior British Open The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open) is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is run by The R&A, the same body that organises The Open Championship. Pr ...

in 2005. The club also has a second course.

Swimming

Aberdeen swimming team is based at Northfield Pool, the ''City of Aberdeen Swim Team'' (COAST) have been running since 1996. The team comprises several smaller swimming clubs, and has enjoyed success on all levels from North District to international. Three of the team's swimmers have qualified for the

Rugby Union

Aberdeen hosted

Caledonia Reds Caledonia Reds were a Scottish rugby union professional district team who participated in the Scottish Inter-District Championship and in two seasons of the Heineken Cup. They evolved from one of the traditional four amateur districts of Scotland ...

, a Scottish rugby team, before they merged with the

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

in 1998. The city is also home to the

Scottish Premiership Division One The Scottish Premiership is the highest level club division in Scotland's national rugby union league divisions, and therefore part of the Scottish League Championship. It contains many of the country's highest profile clubs. However it is not th ...

rugby club

Aberdeen GSFP RFC Aberdeen Grammar School FP RFC, also known as Aberdeen Grammar, are an amateur rugby union club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They currently compete in the . The club plays its home games at Rubislaw in the city's west end. Honours *Scottish N ...

who play at

Rubislaw Playing Fields Rubislaw Playing Fields in Aberdeen, Scotland is an sports field for Aberdeen Grammar School and for the Scottish Premiership rugby union team Aberdeen GSFP RFC. Of course other sports are played here such as Hockey – at National league Level ...

, and Aberdeenshire RFC which was founded in 1875 and runs Junior, Senior Men's, Senior Ladies and Touch sections from the Woodside Sports Complex and also Aberdeen Wanderers RFC. Former Wanderers' player Jason White was captain of the

Scotland national rugby union team The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, ...

. Aberdeenshire Rugby Football Club is based in the North of the city at Woodside Sports Complex near the Great North Road on the banks of the river Don. They currently play in the

Scottish League Championship The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...

B (East), the 3rd tier of club rugby. In 2005 the President of the

SRU SRU may refer to: Organizations * Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island, US * Scottish Rugby Union * Shri Rawatpura Sarkar University, Chhattisgarh, India * Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, US * Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai ...

said it was hoped eventually to establish a professional team in Aberdeen. In November 2008 the city hosted a rugby international at

between

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, with Scotland winning 41–0. In November 2010 the city once again hosted a rugby international at

between

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, with Scotland winning 19–16.

Floorball

Aberdeen Oilers Floorball Club The Aberdeen Oilers are a floorball club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They were founded in 2007 and currently play in the Scottish Floorball League. They won the Northern League Championship in 2008/09, Scottish Floorball League in 2012/13 an ...

was founded in 2007. The club initially attracted a range of experienced Scandinavian and other European players who were studying in Aberdeen. Since their formation, Aberdeen Oilers have played in the British Floorball Northern League and went on to win the league in the 2008–09 season. The club played a major role in setting up a ladies league in Scotland. The Oilers' ladies team ended up second in the first ladies league season (2008–09).

Rugby League

Aberdeen Warriors Aberdeen Warriors were a Scottish rugby league club based in the city of Aberdeen. The club was founded in 2010. They played in the Scottish National League and won the league on four occasions. Home games were played at the Woodside Sports Co ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

team previously played in the Scotland Rugby League Conference Division One, but have since disbanded. The Warriors also ran Under 15's and 17's teams.

Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest grammar school ...

won the Saltire Schools Cup in 2011.

Other sports

The Chris Anderson Stadium (formerly the

Aberdeen Regent Park Greyhound Stadium Aberdeen Regent Park was a greyhound racing stadium in Aberdeen. It is not to be confused with the Holburn Stadium. The stadium opened on 25 June 1932 near School Road in Aberdeen. The first race meeting featured thirty greyhounds in six races ...

in Linksfield), now part of the

Aberdeen Sports Village Aberdeen Sports Village is a sports facility in Aberdeen, Scotland. History The present athletics track is situated on the site of the Aberdeen Regent Park Greyhound Stadium which later became the Linksfield Stadium and subsequently the Chri ...

has a running track and is used for athletics, hockey and football. It also has numerous boxing gyms where the

WBU The World Boxing Union (WBU) was a boxing sanctioning body. The original WBU was founded in January 1995 by IBF European representative, boxing journalist, actor and former holder of the title of Britain's heaviest man Jon W. Robinson. It sa ...

lightweight champion of the world,

Lee McAllister Lee "Aberdeen Assassin" McAllister (born 5 October 1982) is a Scottish professional boxer nicknamed the "Aberdeen Assassin". McAllister held the Commonwealth lightweight and light-welterweight titles, the IBO International light-welterweight ...

trains in the Granite City boxing club. There is also St Mary's Boxing Club, Kincorth Boxing Club and Kingswells Boxing Club. There is also a baseball team in Aberdeen called the Granite City Oilers, founded in 2013, competing in the Scottish National Baseball League. There are two

underwater hockey Underwater hockey (UWH), (also known as Octopush in the United Kingdom) is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling ...

clubs: Aberdeen University and Reef Rats.

Defunct sports

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing was held at two venues in Aberdeen;

Holburn Stadium Holburn Stadium, also known as Aberdeen Greyhound Stadium, was a greyhound racing stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is not to be confused with the Aberdeen Regent Park Greyhound Stadium. History The stadium was located on the south west side ...

(1933 to 1969) and

(1932 to 1936).

Footnotes

{{Aberdeen