Once the youngest captain in Aberdeen history, Martin Buchan today turns 70. Happy Birthday Martin from everyone at AFC. The Red Matchday team pay tribute to one of the greatest ever players to wear a Dons shirt.

Aberdeen Career

The path to the top for local boy Martin started back in 1965 when he joined the Dons from Bank o’ Dee A on a provisional form.

He was called up by manager Eddie Turnbull at the beginning of the 1966-67 season and so impressed the coaching staff at Pittodrie that within weeks of the season opening, the 17 year old was pitched in at the deep end for a league game against Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park.

Young Martin was slotted in at left half with incumbent Jens Petersen moving over to fill the troublesome right half spot and the cool and collected Buchan did his long term prospects no harm with a near faultless display.

Unfortunately, from Martin’s point of view, Eddie Turnbull was already committed to signing Francis Munro from Dundee United to solve his right half problem and Buchan had to stand down on Munro’s arrival and continue his apprenticeship in reserve football.

During the summer of 1967 Martin travelled with the Dons to participate as a “Washington Whip” in the President’s Cup, and in the USA it quickly emerged that he simply had to be found a place in the side.

His poise, style and general all-round awareness gave him the look of an old head on young shoulders, and he seemed tailor made for the sweeper system that Eddie Turnbull was attempting to install in his Aberdeen side. With Munro, McMillan and Petersen established as the first choice half back line, Turnbull felt obliged to begin the 1967-68 season with Buchan at inside left rather than leave the talented youngster languishing in the reserves any longer.

In Bulgaria on a European trip, young Martin came off the bench to fill the sweeper role against Slavia Sofia, and from that point on he never really looked back.

Not long after the Slavia game, Francis Munro (another future Scotland international) was on his way south to Wolves. Jens Petersen was once again moved to right half and Martin Buchan looked set for along stay as the Dons’ regular No.6.

A close season road accident kept Martin out of the side until mid-November 1969 but a season that had begun badly picked up in dramatic fashion when in February 1970, a month short of his 21st birthday, Buchan was appointed club captain.

Almost incredibly, two months later Martin was climbing the steps at Hampden as the youngest ever skipper to lift the Scottish Cup.

The Dons success was largely down to solid defending by a good tight unit superbly marshalled by Buchan, and that extra bit of flair supplied by the front line.

The following season the Dons came within a whisker of ending Celtic’s stranglehold on the Scottish League title, and then importance of Martin Buchan to that effort was emphasised by the fact that the defence conceded a record low of just 17 goals.

At the end of the 1970-71 campaign, Martin was named as Scottish Player of the Year and then to add to his string of under 23 caps he was finally given his first full cap by Tommy Docherty in that game against Portugal in October 1971.

Martin’s growing reputation made him an obvious target for the then fashionable lure of English football, and sadly for Dons fans he joined Manchester United for £125,000 in February 1972.

AFC Hertige Trust Profile | Martin Buchan | Between 1966 and 1972 he made 188 Aberdeen appearances and scored 11 goals.

Post Aberdeen

Buchan joined the Old Trafford side at perhaps the most difficult time in their history, but he gave United full value for his large fee, and his efforts were rewarded with an FA Cup winners medal in 1977.
Buchan’s United career ended in 1983 not long after a testimonial (for which the Dons provided the opposition) and he then joined Oldham.

He spent two seasons at Boundary Park, then in June 1985, Buchan was appointed manager of Burnley, who had just been relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history – 25 years after being league champions. Buchan lasted less than four months at Turf Moor, resigning on 10 October 1985.

Martin went on to help his fellow professionals through his work with the PFA in Manchester. He also worked with Puma and arranged the deal with Aberdeen to supply their kits for a spell in the 1990s.

Family Connection

The Buchan family have a long connection with the club. Martin’s dad, also called Martin, was at Pittodrie between 1943 and 1945. Unfortunately like so many players at that time, the inside-right’s Aberdeen career was stopped because of the Second World War.

Martin’s brother George was at Aberdeen between 1968 and 1973. He would make 44 appearances and scored three goals before also moving to Old Trafford. Then in the second half of the 1990s Jamie became the third generation of Buchan’s to have played for the club. The midfielder made 63 appearances and also scored three goals between 1995 and 2000.

Scotland Career

On the international front, Martin was named in Tommy Docherty’s first pool for a meaningless European Championships game at Hampden on October 13, 1971 against Portugal, and it looked as if he might play from the start following injuries to both Wolves’ Frank Munro and Eddie Colquhoun of Sheffield United. The latter passed a late fitness test, however, and Martin had to be content with a run as a substitute for the last nine minutes of a 2-1 win.

Scotland’s next outing was an extremely rare visit to Pittodrie for the national side, and it was no surprise that Martin was named to start alongside club team mates Bobby Clark and Steve Murray against visitors Belgium. On a memorable evening for the North East, Buchan proved himself at full international level as the Scots won another meaningless European Championship game 1-0.

Unfortunately, for Dons fans those were the only two caps that Martin won as an Aberdeen player as his exposure at the highest level inevitably led to a transfer south.
Martin went on to win a further 32 caps at Old Trafford, but a disagreement with Scotland manager

Willie Ormond limited his appearances in the mid-1970s.

He did though play in the 1974 World Cup finals and 1978 World Cup finals and captained Scotland twice: in 1975 against Romania and in 1977 against Argentina.

Red Matchday Interview

Martin spoke at length a few years back with programme historian Kevin Stirling:

Martin’s first taste of Pittodrie came long before he had signed for the Dons.

“My first impressions of Pittodrie were playing for Cummings Park primary school when they always played the final of the Craigmyle Cup at Pittodrie. It was a huge game, the biggest of my life, my first experience was fantastic, we grew up with that and to play at Pittodrie was a huge experience. For an Aberdeen schoolboy it did not get any bigger than that.”

His affinity with Aberdeen stretches back to the days before substitutes were allowed in Scotland, joining Aberdeen from Banks O’ Dee in 1966. “I was training with the part timers at Aberdeen from the age of 12, players like Ian Burns, Dave Bennett and Doug Coutts. The club would get the most promising youngsters along to train in the car park outside the Main Stand at Pittodrie on a Monday and Thursday night. That was when I first came across Teddy Scott who was a real early influence. I was involved with Banks O’ Dee which was almost an unofficial nursery for Aberdeen. Although there were others from Sunnybank and King Street ‘A’, there were a number of lads like Ian Taylor and Ian Cumming that came from the Dee.

That was my first involvement and Tommy Pearson first signed me as probationary schoolboy. I was about 15 and I got £1 per week. I was at Gordon’s College at the time and in my fifth year I was playing for Aberdeen reserves. In the summer of 1966 I had managed to get enough Highers at school to go to university and I was going to go back to do a sixth year, taking extra subjects but I was offered the chance to sign for Aberdeen after training with the club for pre-season.”

Martin faced his first career decision on the eve of the new season. “Eddie Turnbull offered me professional terms. My parents had sacrificed a lot to put me through the Gordon’s school after I had won a bursary after sitting my 11 plus exam. My fees were paid but my parents had to help with the rest of the costs. I did not want to give up my education after all that they had done to help me so it was a time to decide. I thought that it best to try the football and if it did not work out before I was 21, then I could return to go to university.”

A first team debut followed and Martin was given a specific role by Turnbull. “I made my debut later that year against Dunfermline. I played four times in that first season and I was given a man-for-man marking job. Against Dunfermline I was told to watch Alex Edwards. Later that season Pat Quinn, Dave Sneddon and Jim Mclean at Dundee came under my close attentions. Eddie had identified them as skilful inside forwards who could cause us some bother and it was my job to stop them playing. It was a disciplined job but I did enjoy that side of the game.

I never really saw that as a long term task but that was just the way things were developing in football at that time and Eddie was always looking at the opposition and trying to take out the better opponents. I did relish the task.” Martin settled into his new surroundings well and two Aberdeen players in particular made an impression on him; “Jimmy ‘Jinky’ Smith was a great talent, but my hero was Jens Petersen. I liked the way he took the ball out of defence and linked up with the side. I learned from that and tried to build my own game in that way. It was a different approach that was coming more and more into the game and I was keen to follow that lead.” Buchan played for the Dons in their first ever European tie against Reykjavik in 1967. “They were not up too much, amateurs in the true sense. We gave them a going over down here (10-0) and the return game in Iceland was quite an easy game as well.”

By 1970 the Aberdeen side had changed beyond all recognition as Turnbull adopted a more methodical approach to the team. Gone were the combined talents of Jimmy Smith and Tommy Craig as the Aberdeen manager wanted more strength. It can be argued that Scottish football was no place for the silky talents of Smith, but the new approach was tailor made for Buchan who was at the heart of the new Turnbull team. In February 1970 the Dons welcomed Clydebank on Scottish Cup duty and Martin Buchan became the youngest captain in the Dons’ history. “The Clydebank game was played on what was like an ice rink.

The conditions were freezing and the pitch did not help us. I was proud to lead Aberdeen as captain but even though we won 2-1 we were jeered off the field at full time! It was not the best start to my career as Aberdeen captain.” Less than two months later the jeers turned to cheers as Aberdeen went on to win the Scottish Cup against Celtic at Hampden. “I remember that we played Celtic at Parkhead two weeks before the final. The game was not that important to us as it did not have any bearing on our league position.

We were gearing everything towards the cup final. Celtic on the other hand were looking to clinch the league title. Eddie noticed the Celtic dressing room was getting stocked up with champagne, before the game. Eddie was furious and he continued to channel that anger into motivating us for the game. It worked well as we went on to beat them 2-1 in a game that we controlled for long spells. It gave us real confidence for the final. In the build up to the final at Hampden, Eddie gave us some more of his Parkhead pep talk and that was all that we needed to hear.”

Ninety minutes later it was 21-year-old Martin Buchan who was leading his Aberdeen side up the stairs at Hampden to receive the old trophy. “It all seemed to pass so quickly. Right from arriving at the ground and to us celebrating on the pitch afterwards. It was a fantastic occasion and to become the youngest ever captain to lift the cup was a real thrill.” A day later the Aberdeen party made their way back to Aberdeen after the team party had celebrated at the Gleneagles Hotel on the Saturday. “I remember we changed to an open-top bus just outside the city. We really did not know what was going to happen, but as we crawled into Aberdeen the crowds just got bigger and the welcome by the time we got to Union Street was incredible, there were people everywhere and it was a real emotional occasion. Aberdeen had not won the cup since 1947 so we appreciated the history of it all.”

While Aberdeen had broken the Old Firm domination by winning the Scottish Cup, the next target was to end Celtic’s unbroken spell in the league. In 1970/71 the Dons came mighty close. “That season we thought that we could take the title.

We knew that Celtic would be the team to catch but we had the measure of them and they did not like the fact they we never feared them where other sides perhaps did. What was important was that Eddie Turnbull had made sure that we had a tough defence first and foremost. If we were difficult to break down then we would be in with a great chance. When we went on that 12-game run without conceding a single goal, it gave us huge belief. Every time we went out to play we were confident that we would give the opposition nothing.

Eventually we did concede, against Hibernian at Easter Road. I remember I was an inch away from getting to the ball; had I made contact, our tremendous run might have continued. It was a record at that time and we were all proud of that.” Looking back at his time in Scotland, Martin declared one team the toughest.

“Celtic were some side back then. Although we really did well against them, they were a real footballing side and you always had to be at your best against them. They were marvellous games to play in as you simply had to be on your guard at every turn. Rangers never really gave us much trouble, they were a more physical side and we could handle that. Hibernian were always a threat as well, they had some great players in their team like Pat Stanton, Alec Cropley and Peter Cormack.”

While Pittodrie was always Martin’s favourite ground he did like to play in the bigger matches.

“Parkhead was always difficult as they really would make a noise down there. Ibrox too was a very intimidating venue. It was always like that but when you won at these places it made the win all the more sweet. I suppose my least favourite ground was Gayfield in Arbroath. No matter what time of year it was, it always seemed to be so windy down there. Being so close to the sea also had an effect. It was just not the best place to play football.”

In February 1972, Buchan was sold to Manchester United in a record deal for the Dons with £125,000 coming to Pittodrie in a transfer fee. “I had the opportunity to go to Liverpool as well. They were far more successful than United were back then. I knew that if I went to Anfield I would probably end up with some winners’ medals but I would not be a regular in the side. I preferred going to United where I could really make a difference and go on to become a regular with them. They were not enjoying the best of times back then but they were a huge club with great potential. When I went down to Old Trafford for the first time it only struck me then what a huge club United are.

The stadium was massive and everything felt right about the move. Frank O’Farrell who was the manager was a great help and you could always speak to him. When I arrived it took some getting used to with the different surroundings and new team mates. The side back then was a real mixture of experience and playing ability. There were some great players but we also had more than our share of mediocre players which surprised me. If you wanted to compare Aberdeen and Manchester United back then there would be very little between the sides. It was clear that we were struggling to make an impact but there seemed to be a lack of ambition at first. That was soon to change when the new manager came in. Unfortunately success did not follow and we had a new manager months later when Tommy Docherty came to United.

The ‘Doc’ was a great manager and you will remember that he left Old Trafford for personal and not football reasons. I always wondered just how far that team would have gone if

Tommy had been allowed to stay. We had won the FA Cup and we were pushing for the league title in the first season after promotion. They were memorable days as playing for United back then was a happy experience. Playing at Wembley and taking United to FA Cup success was a great time for me. To lift the cup on both sides of the border remains a highlight and a record that I remain proud of.”

Martin’s career with United was coming to a close when his testimonial fixture came around in 1983. There was only ever going to be one choice for Buchan and that was to invite his former Aberdeen side to Old Trafford to celebrate his career. In August 1983 the Dons battled to a 2-2 draw against United. Aberdeen were ECWC holders at the time and they paraded the trophy at half-time. “I was delighted Aberdeen came down to Old Trafford. However I had not even had the luxury of having any pre-season training behind me before that game. In fact I had not been able to play for months and I managed to play in the first half of my testimonial.

After the game I was being released in any case and my Old Trafford career came to a close. I had no regrets; United were a great club to me and I would certainly never have managed 34 caps for Scotland had I not been playing for such a high profile club. Back then playing for Scotland as an ‘Anglo’ was very different than it is now. There always seemed to be a division in the squad. For those of us playing in the English league we were never given the same backing by the support and usually it would have been one of the ‘Anglo’ lads that would be made a scapegoat.

It is very different now with so many foreign players in all leagues, but back then there was no little animosity.”

After leaving Manchester United, Martin moved to Oldham where he finished his playing days and also took the first steps into coaching. “That did not last too long as I had my own ideas about how to do things but there was too much interference from others. I was never one to be so diplomatic so my experience at Oldham was short and I left the club.”

Martin was the second generation of the Buchan family to play for Aberdeen. His father was signed by Aberdeen from St Clements before he went to Dundee Unted and latterly Buckie thistle where he spent 10 seasons as their top scorer. Martin’s brother George was the Dons’ substitute in the 1970 Scottish Cup final and they both played for Aberdeen before George was released by the Dons in 1973. Martin recalled how his brother came to join him at Old Trafford:

“Geordie was released by Aberdeen and he was due to speak to Bury. He was also due a benefit payment from Aberdeen and he was told that he would be paid then put him up for sale or alternatively he would be given a free without the benefit. Bury made the initial approach, but Frank O’Farrell was always helpful and I made my way to Old Trafford to speak to Frank to see what the going rate would be at Bury.

“When I got there I bumped in to Tommy Docherty and I thought I could ask him. After I mentioned that George was available, Doc turned to me and said, “Bring him down here, I will give him a year at United and see if it works out. He has got something about him, I remember watching him in Aberdeen matches when I was with Scotland; he has a bit of pace.”

Doc mentioned that he had brought down Pat McMahon from Celtic on a free when he was manager at Aston Villa, and that he had been a great success. Docherty never really gave George a chance; he came on as a sub on four occasions but he never gave him a chance to start the game. That was a bit disappointing as I was sure that he was better than some of the players that were already there. The end of the season came and Doc sold George to Bury for £11,000.”