The Bobby Clark Story

Sean Graham from the AFC FP Association spoke to Bobby a few years ago about his life at Pittodrie and about his coaching career in the US.

 

Bobby, you came to the Dons from Queen’s Park in 1965. Did it help that it was your former manager who brought you to the club?

Eddie Turnbull was my sole reason for coming to Aberdeen. He had come to Queen’s Park in the close season of my second season in the first team. He was revolutionary. Gone were the days of running round the track and up and down the terraces. Every player had a ball and everything was game related. He was a fantastic coach and was my main reason for coming to Pittodrie. He was way ahead of his time!

You certainly made your mark on everyone at the club even at a young age, but how did you feel signing for the Dons?

I still had two years remaining in my P.E. teaching degree at Jordanhill College and Eddie assured me that I would be allowed to complete this. He also said that I would be able to teach afternoons once I completed my course. Teaching and coaching was always important to me and Aberdeen was a great fit. We had a great coach, a group of good young players and a club that had great potential. I was very excited about the package.

It was clear from your early days at Pittodrie that you were going to be a star performer and as early as your second year in charge, you won the Player of the Year award. Did this come as a shock to you?

To be honest, I never really gave Player of the Year awards a lot of thought. Football is a team game and if I looked around our team with Ally Shewan, Chalkie White, Tommy McMillan, Jens Petersen, Frannie Munro, Harry Melrose, Billy Little, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy Wilson to name just a few, I would be crazy to see myself as special in that sort of company.

Things didn’t always go smoothly though. In the ‘68/69 season, you were out of the team but managed to play for the reserves at centre-half. That must have been a strange experience for you?

This was the first time in my life I had ever been dropped. I was with the national team on the bench for a World Cup qualifier against Cyprus on the Wednesday and was deservedly dropped the next weekend. It was a tough lesson but I was able to face up to the fact that I was where I deserved to be and Teddy Scott, our reserve team coach, was fantastic with me. We had some great young players and that year was the making of me as a player and as a person. I grew up.

You bounced back though and played a vital part in the famous cup run in 1970, ending in the 3-1 victory over Celtic in the final. What do you remember about the game and indeed the occasion at Hampden?

I made my first team comeback in an earlier cup-tie against Clydebank at Pittodrie. It was a cold, frosty night and the pitch was flint hard with frost. It was not a pretty game but we won 2-1. I remember Eddie Turnbull having a wry chuckle at the end of the game saying that the win kept some people in a job. The final was fun. We were confident as we had beaten Celtic 10 days before at Parkhead in a league game and there was a terrific team spirit within our squad. Martin Buchan and Tommy McMillan had a great understanding and Henning Boel and George Murray were strong full-backs. We also had Joe Harper and I always felt if we did not concede goals Wee Joe would always score one. Mind you it was Derek McKay who carried the day in the final. I suppose he did the same in the quarter final against Falkirk and the semi-final against Kilmarnock. He certainly deserved the name ‘Cup tie McKay’!

What about any untold stories from the celebrations?

Not really. We all had great plans to get up to high jinks but I think we were all emotionally spent and I was in bed by about 11pm. The biggest surprise was the open top bus up a packed Union Street. None of us had anticipated this welcome and I will never forget the scene. It was especially moving as it was Eddie’s birthday and the fans sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him outside the Town Hall.

You had the chance to move to Rangers and Stoke, so why did you stay?

I was born and brought up in Glasgow but never had any feelings for either of the Old Firm teams. I was a Clyde supporter through and through and twice saw them winning the Scottish Cup. I had previously turned down Rangers in 1965 to sign for Aberdeen.

When they came back in 1969, I still had the same reservations about signing for a team I did not like. I visited Stoke and really did not fancy the club. I had heard that Manchester United were interested, and teaming up with Martin Buchan would have been special, so I left for Pittodrie to play Celtic knowing I had to make a decision after the game. At the end of the game, Stoke dropped their bid from £100,000 to £75,000. Dick Donald was prepared to let me go but I reckoned any club who dropped their bid was not somewhere I wanted to play. It was an easy decision and I happily stayed at Pittodrie. The Manchester United bid never materialized since Frank O’Farrell, their manager, was sacked 10 days later.

Staying at Pittodrie proved to be the right move as you gained international caps for Scotland and became number one for three years, you must have been proud of?

Without question, remaining at Pittodrie was special. Aberdeen was my club and I had a great life playing, teaching, and finally coaching. Aberdeen was, and always will be very special for me, and I was fortunate that I never moved when the opportunities presented themselves. 1972 was an unsettling period as Eddie had left, Martin and Joe followed and basically it was the breakup of a very good team. The 1971 team that lost the league on the final Saturday of the season was a very, very good squad. If the stand had not burned down that year I am sure we would have won the league.

Domestic honours would again be on the cards and in 1976, you even overcame a thumb injury to help the Dons win the League Cup, again beating Celtic in a domestic final. This must have been the stuff that dreams are made of – in fact, you did dream it didn’t you?

The League Cup was a great memory. We had to beat both Rangers and Celtic to win it, although the hardest tie was Stirling Albion who took us to a third game at neutral Dens Park. The semi-final was all about Jocky Scott. He was superb that evening when we beat Rangers 5-1. The final was Willie Miller coming of age, as he reminded me of Martin Buchan in the ’70 Cup final. Willie, like Martin, was just 21 but he played like he was 31. I certainly did tell Davie Robb that he would come on and score the winner.

Davie had been my roommate for the final and I really had good vibes for Davie. You mentioned my thumb. The previous Saturday against Dundee United I injured my thumb and went to the hospital for an X-ray. The doctor said that I had broken a bone at the base of my thumb and they would need to put it in plaster. I said, “Wait a minute! I have a Cup Final next week and we need to look at alternatives.” To cut a long story short, I did not play in the Tuesday league game against Motherwell and I simply had Ronnie Coutts, our physiotherapist, put a very heavy strapping on my hand, which allowed me to play.

If only all dreams ended that way! What was Ally McLeod like to play under?

Ally was the super salesman. He had a huge personality and loved to be sensational. The newspapers loved him as he always had a story to tell. He was more of a motivator than a coach. I judged all my managers up until that point by Eddie Turnbull. Eddie was my yardstick and he was a dour, tough soccer person who did not say much. Ally was the opposite as he had a ready smile, always had a quick remark and was more about what he said than what he did on the practice field.

Having said that, he got his teams to play and the team that won the League Cup did so playing some great football.

You experienced both sides of the coin and suffered the pain in more ways than one when you lost against Rangers the League Cup final, that must have been so disappointing?

I lost in four cup finals – Celtic in ’67, Rangers in the Scottish Cup in ’78 and again in the League Cup and another League Cup replay loss to Dundee United in ’79/80. All were very disappointing as I felt we did not play to our potential in any of those games. The League Cup final against Rangers was possibly the most disappointing as we were winning when Derek Johnstone collided with me and dislocated a vertebra in my neck. This sent shooting pains down my left arm. At first I thought I had broken a bone but later found it to be nerve related pain coming from my neck. I had to wear a collar for about 10 days after that to let the nerve settle down.

You lost big Doug Rougvie after a clash with Derek Johnstone, what happened?

If my memory serves me correctly, Doug went up for a ball and Derek fell to the ground. I think Doug was hard done to, but playing in Glasgow was never easy as the large Old Firm following always put the referees under great pressure.

By now you had played under various managers like Eddie Turnbull, Jimmy Bonethrone, Ally McLeod, Billy McNeill and then Alex Ferguson. How did they all compare?

All were good soccer people and all contributed greatly in my development as a coach and a person. Eddie was a fantastic coach who ran wonderful practices. Anyone who ever played for him would agree that he had a great soccer mind and made you just love coming to training every day. Jimmy was an absolute gentleman. He and Eddie were a fantastic partnership, perfect foils for one another. I was very sad when Eddie left for Hibs and split up the team. Billy was a true leader. He really was ‘Caesar’ and strode into Pittodrie and in one year almost won the double. We lost the league in the last week of the season and then lost to Rangers in the Scottish Cup final a week later.

Alex was possibly the person I got closest to, since Lenny and I ran the youth program and Alex was always around, as was Teddy Scott. I was very lucky as he would often share scouting reports and I got some great insight into his mind. The thing that really impressed was how focused and hard working he was. Looking back, I was very, very lucky to have played under so many great men.

Sir Alex managed the Dons to their first title since 1955 in 1980. That must have been a fantastic time for you as an experienced pro completing the full set of medals and going down in history?

I am indebted to Alex for many things but winning the League was special. The league is the real test of a team and the run in that year was a very emotional time. I lost my father-in-law, my father, and my brother lost his father-in-law within a two week period between March 15th and 31st. It was a crazy time but the 5-0 win at Easter Road was a fantastic experience and, although I did not know it at the time, the final game at Firhill was my last game for Aberdeen.

You had a young pretender to the throne in Jim Leighton fighting for the gloves. How did you and Jim get on?

Jim and I got one very well. He was a terrific prospect, great reflexes, very hard working and brave as a lion. Jim and John Gardner were the young guns and during my playing time, I saw them as youngsters to coach and help along, not really rivals. I missed one league game in the 1979/80 season with a back injury and Jim played. This injury recurred in the off season when digging my garden and I never really recovered. I needed surgery and by the time I was getting back to fitness two years later, I was 37, and Jim was then established and young Bryan Gunn was also there. You could say that I was past my sell by date!

There was a fantastic youth system at Aberdeen under Teddy Scott and Lenny Taylor and many great young talents came through such as Neil Simpson, John Hewitt, Neale Cooper, Brian Mitchell, Andy Dornan and Willie Falconer. It must have been great being close up with Teddy and Lenny and seeing all this talent come through?

Working with Lenny and Teddy was a great experience. I was very busy as I would train in the morning, drive up to Harlaw Academy playing fields at Hazlehead to teach a P.E. games afternoon, and then drive back to Pittodrie to coach a youth session with Lennie. Simmie was the first person that came through but then there was a procession who all went on to carve out good careers for themselves. I loved teaching and coaching and it laid great foundations for my career as a college coach in the US system. I currently have 13 players playing in the MLS, have had two play in the English Premier League, have had four play in Scandinavia Concluding with our interview with legendary Aberdeen and Scotland goalkeeper Bobby Clark, which began in our Celtic issue, Bobby discusses the final days of his Pittodrie career and where life has taken him since he left the club. and still have one with Preston North End. Four of my former players are now head college coaches and one is currently a head coach in the MLS.

After 595 games for the Dons you moved on. Did you have a lump in the throat as you walked out the door for the last time?

To be honest, I don’t remember walking out for the last time, but I can say that I often think back to my time there and I have nothing but happy memories.

In 1983 you went on your coaching travels when you went to Zimbabwe to coach Highlanders. What was this like?

Zimbabwe was an experience like no other. Roy Small, my lecturer at Jordanhill College, was a FIFA Coach and he called me and suggested I might be interested in becoming the Director of Coaching of Highlanders FC in Bulawayo. We played in front of 20,000 fans every home game. I coached all their teams – 16s, 18s, and the first and reserve team. At 3.30pm, I would work with one of the youth teams and at 6pm I took the first team. I did it all and loved it. It was also great for my family. Betty, my wife, taught in a school, and my three children all had a terrific year without having a TV. It made such an impression on my oldest son Tommy who spends a lot of his time in southern Africa. He is a doctor and is the CEO of Grassroot Soccer, a HIV testing and educational organization www.grassrootsoccer.org

What about the standard of football there?

It was very good. The players were very technical, had wonderful skills but were tactically very naïve. I think the explosion of African players in Europe since that time demonstrates their ability, but no African team has really emerged as a true challenger for the World Cup. I think this will happen in time but, at the moment, they tend to produce great individuals rather than teams.

Eventually you moved on to America where you have become a respected coach in the college scene, winning trophies with Dartmouth, Stanford and Notre Dame. You must enjoy it?

This has been a great fit for me. On returning from Zimbabwe I had the offer to return for a further three years but I had a couple of offers to consider in Scotland and I was not sure what to do. However, the very day I returned home from Africa, I got a phone call from the States asking if I would be interested in coaching at Princeton University. I had never thought about this but I was encouraged to send in a resume. They took me across for an interview and I spent three days in New Jersey, where I met the players, saw the facilities, and got a feel for the job. I did not get the job, but knew immediately this was what I wanted to do. I decided to give myself a year to see if I could land a college job and I was lucky that Dartmouth came along and I got my dream job.

What do you think needs to be done to improve the game in Scotland? Is grassroots football over looked?

I feel I am now too far removed from the Scottish game to offer remedies. When I think of Africa, it was not the coaching that made the kids great players, it was the fact that the kids played a lot of soccer in their formative years. They did not have fancy equipment, often playing in bare feet with a rag ball, but they just played a lot. In first world countries, our youngsters have TV, computers, iPhones, etc. and they don’t play as much as in yesteryear. Scotland possibly produced its best crop of players after the war when there was little offered in the realm of entertainment outside playing football in the playground with a tennis ball. It wasn’t coaching that produced Denis Law, Jim Baxter, Joe Harper. It was the fact that they played a lot in their early years. Coaching is important but that should come later, after the youngsters have mastered the skills produced from playing with the ball in small sided games.

You must think a lot of Lenny Taylor as you took him over to America with you. What qualities does he have as a coach?

Lenny has got a great love for the game. He is a teacher by profession and coaching is just another name for teaching. He knows how to handle young men and this, combined with his soccer knowledge, makes him an ideal person to develop young footballers. He communicates very well and uses a nice combination of serious and fun elements. Throw in that he is a very, very hard worker and I can say that Aberdeen have been very lucky to have him around for all these years.

Did you ever fancy coaching again in the UK?

I never really saw this as something that made sense for me. I was contacted on numerous occasions when I was working at Stanford to coach in the MLS but never felt tempted. I find my current role as a coach at one of the top academic and athletic universities in the US a much more rewarding job. I am working with top athletes, in fantastic facilities and I get to share coaching ideas with all the other sports coaches on a daily basis. It is a fantastic sporting environment to be in and I feel I learn something new every day. I have three assistant coaches, an operations person, a physiotherapist, a strength coach who I share with two other sports, two sports nutrition specialists who work with all our teams, a sports psychologist that works with our teams – it really is a very professional set up. Our players practice or play six days per week from early August through until the end of April.

Combine that with scouting for players in the off season, running camps and you can see I am kept very busy. There is also the academic side and this is where I feel very satisfied as all my players will leave Notre Dame with a top degree regardless of whether they were a starter or the 30th player on the roster.

They will all feel they have been a success regardless of football. We have had a 100% graduation rate and I must give much praise to our Academic Advisor who works closely with all our players, and to our staff, to make sure that all our student-athletes are keeping on top of their studies.

Any favourite memories of your time at Pittodrie?

Far too many to list here.

Obviously winning the three major trophies were all very special but at the end of the day, it was the people who made it special. I have already mentioned the managers who helped form my personality and philosophy but I was very fortunate to play in some great teams and alongside some wonderful players. Answering these questions has brought back so many great memories, and I feel I should write a book. Not for other people to read, but more for my own gratification as I would write and remember all about Harry Melrose, Ian Taylor, Steve Murray, Chic McLelland, Jim Hermiston, Andy Geoghegan, Ernie McGarr, Jinky Smith. The list could go on and on. The trophies were great, but it was the people that I really remember.