This coming Tuesday, the 1st November, will mark 30 years since Alex Ferguson took charge of the Dons for the very last time.

That day in 1986, Ferguson’s side travelled to Dens Park to play a Dundee side that had not beaten the Dons on their own patch for going on a decade. Exactly one week later, Fergie took his seat in the away team dugout at Oxford United as the new boss of Manchester United. The temptation this time was too much for Fergie who, during his eight years in the Pittodrie hotseat, had previously turned down offers to manager Rangers, Tottenham and Wolves. In recent years, Ferguson had gone on record saying there were only three clubs in world football he would leave Aberdeen for – United just so happened to be top of that list!

Former club captain Willie Miller recently told me that there was an air of acceptance from the playing squad that Fergie was actually leaving. He went on to say that when Spurs came calling they all felt confident he wouldn’t take the job, but when United made the call, that was that. Coming into this game that crisp November day, the Dons had only lost three games all season including an opening day defeat at Tannadice and disappointing results away at Tynecastle and Ibrox. New signings Davie Dodds and Robert Connor, who cost around half a million pounds combined, had bedded in well and the squad was looking healthy and strong.

An hour before kick-off Ferguson named his side which included Connor, who returned to Dens Park for the first time since his close season transfer. Jim Leighton took his usual place between the sticks with Alex McLeish, Willie Miller, Brian Mitchell and David Robertson making up the back four. In midfield, Jim Bett, John Hewitt and Connor took their usual places but Fergie took the unusual step of playing normal right-back Stewart McKimmie alongside Jim Bett in the heart of midfield which, not for the first time, proved to be a master-stroke as the Dons bossed the game from beginning to end. The unlikely front partnership of Ian Porteous and Davie Dodds paid dividends as both scored the all-important goals in a very comfortable 2-0 victory.

The game itself will remember for a dominant Dons display. Only 13 minutes had passed before Davie Dodds headed home a John Hewitt cross for his second goal in six games. Jim Leighton kept the Dons in the match with a magnificent diving save from an Albert Kidd header just before the break which proved to be the only meaningful chance Dundee created over the piece.

According to Alastair Guthrie’s report in the now defunct “Green Final” (local sports newspaper) the Dons turned on the style in the second period playing andI quote, their “sweetest football of the season” The traveling support believed their side doubled the lead not long after the restart but Brian Mitchell’s shot hit the base of the post after a goal-mouth scramble, ran along the line and somehow went out for a goal-kick. Not long after, in an astonishing moment Jim Bett hit the bar not once but TWICE with a ferocious shot. His initial effort cannoned off the woodwork only for it to strike the bar again on the way down! With the Dons so dominant, it was no surprise that the second goal came just after the half hour mark.

Second-half substitute Billy Stark, who replaced the steady Brian Mitchell, saw his effort superbly saved by Bobby Geddes in the Dundee goal only for the ball to fall kindly to the feet of Ian Porteous who smashed the ball home from 12 yards for his first goal of the season. The game finished 2-0 but could have been more but for the resilience of the Dundee defence and the brilliance of Geddes in the dark blues goal. It was the perfect send off for Ferguson who heaped praise on his team in his normal post-match interviews.

Afterwards, Willie Miller told me there were plenty of handshakes and big smiles as Ferguson and his band of merry men went their separate ways and that the players felt proud that they had played their part in Fergie’s move down south. From a personal point of view, I remember the day like yesterday. I clearly recall feeling slightly agitated that he was actually leaving. With the innocence of youth, my thoughts were clearly clouded but it felt almost surreal. I feared for the future as did many others but now as an adult, I do nothing but look back on those days with a huge amount of fondness and find myself quite blessed that I, as a fan, played my own role in the Alex Ferguson years.