Roy Aitken

Robert Sime "Roy" Aitken (born 24 November 1958) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He made over 480 league appearances for Celtic, and later played for Newcastle United, St Mirren and Aberdeen. Aitken also made 57 international appearances for Scotland. His playing position was either in midfield or defence.

Aitken had become assistant manager at Aberdeen towards the end of his playing career, and was appointed their manager in February 1995. He led the ''Dons'' to a Scottish League Cup win in 1995–96, but was sacked in November 1997. He has since coached several clubs, including Leeds United and Aston Villa.

Playing career

Born in Irvine, Ayrshire, Aitken grew up in Ardrossan. He signed for Celtic as a youngster at 16 and came through their youth ranks. Aitken was nicknamed ''The Bear'' by their supporters due to his large frame and commanding presence. Aitken broke into the Celtic first team as a teenager, first captaining the team in October 1977. Playing as a centre back or defensive midfielder, Aitken made the third-most appearances in the club's history and was particularly noted for his contributions in the club's double-winning 1987–88 season.

Aitken later went on to play for Newcastle United, joining the club for £500,000 in January 1990. He captained the side in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to gain promotion from the Second Division. Having been signed by Jim Smith (footballer, born 1940), Jim Smith, he was deemed surplus to requirements when Smith was replaced as manager by Ossie Ardiles and returned to Scotland with St Mirren. He did not remain long at St Mirren, signing for Aberdeen for £100,000 to act as player-assistant manager to Willie Miller.

Aitken won 57 caps for the Scotland national football team, scoring once. He featured at both the 1986 FIFA World Cup, 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cup, 1990 World Cups, captaining Scotland at the latter tournament and in 27 of his international appearances.

Management and coaching career

Aitken was appointed manager of Aberdeen in February 1995 after the sacking of Willie Miller. At the time, Aberdeen were struggling to avoid relegation, and Aitken made a bright start by winning 2–0 against Rangers in his first game as manager, but then lost to part-time Stenhousemuir F.C., Stenhousemuir in the Scottish Cup by the same scoreline. Aberdeen finished second bottom of the league, but maintained their top league status by defeating Dunfermline Athletic F.C., Dunfermline Athletic in a two-legged play-off.

The following season saw Aitken invest heavily in the transfer market; signing striker Dean Windass for £750,000 and midfielder Paul Bernard (footballer), Paul Bernard for a club record £1 million. Bernard struggled to justify his expensive transfer fee whilst Windass' time at Pittodrie was hampered by his on-field indiscipline. Nevertheless, Aitken led Aberdeen to silverware when they won the Scottish League Cup on 26 November 1995, beating Dundee F.C., Dundee 2–0 in the final.

On being sacked by Aberdeen in November 1997 (after a 5–0 loss to Dundee United F.C., Dundee United), Aitken turned his attention to coaching. In February 1998 he was appointed head coach of the Maldives national football team but resigned a month later over the poor facilities available to the team. After obtaining his UEFA Pro Licence at the Scottish Football Association's Largs training centre, Aitken went on to become a coach with Leeds United before rejoining former Leeds coach David O'Leary at Aston Villa.

On 20 July 2006, he was named caretaker manager of Aston Villa after O'Leary's departure the previous evening. Aitken managed Villa to three pre-season victories before being replaced by Martin O'Neill.

In January 2007, he was appointed as one of Alex McLeish's assistants with the Scotland national football team. On 28 November 2007, he followed McLeish, newly appointed as manager of Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City, to the club as first-team coach alongside Andy Watson (Scottish footballer), Andy Watson.

In July 2010, Aitken left Birmingham City to join David O'Leary in Dubai with Al-Ahli Dubai, Al-Ahli. Afterwards taking up the role as Director of Football at Al-Ahli.

Statistics

International appearances

Honours

Player

Celtic
*Scottish league titles: 1976–77, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1987–88
*Scottish Cup: 1977, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1989
*Scottish League Cup: 1982–83

Manager

;Aberdeen
*Scottish League Cup: 1995–96

Individual honours

*Scottish FA International Roll of Honour: 1989
*Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductee: 2018

See also

* List of footballers in Scotland by number of league appearances (500+)
* List of Scotland national football team captains

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Roy
1958 births
Living people
Footballers from Irvine, North Ayrshire
Scottish footballers
Scotland international footballers
Association football midfielders
Celtic F.C. players
Newcastle United F.C. players
St Mirren F.C. players
Aberdeen F.C. players
Scottish Football League players
English Football League players
1986 FIFA World Cup players
1990 FIFA World Cup players
Scottish football managers
Aberdeen F.C. managers
Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff
Aston Villa F.C. managers
Birmingham City F.C. non-playing staff
People educated at St Andrew's Academy, Saltcoats
Scotland under-21 international footballers
Scottish Football League managers
People from Ardrossan
Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees