To all the supporters of Aberdeen F.C,

It would be remiss of me to not acknowledge the amazing reception you afforded me and my wife last weekend. To be honest it was quite humbling, and I really found it difficult to take it all in. But now, on reflection, I can say it was a fantastic occasion that brought back some wonderful memories of a golden period in all our lives.

I loved my time at Aberdeen, a fantastic club from the Chairman Dick Donald, the directors Chris Anderson and Ian Donald along with a great staff in my wonderful P.A. Barbara Cook and our secretary Ian Taggart, through to the chefs Bella and Peggy and the pensioners who kept Pittodrie immaculate.

On the football side, Teddy Scott was an amazing man who sacrificed his whole life to the club. My assistant manager when I first arrived was Pat Stanton, a brilliant right-hand man when we won my first league title in 1980. Pat was followed by the irrepressible Archie Knox, a man driven to succeed in everything I could possibly ask of him. The position was also held by Willie Garner, who did a fine job, and it was a pleasure to work with two fine professionals in Doctor Catto and our physiotherapist Roland Arnott.

Our two youth coaches, Bobby Clark and Lenny Taylor, whose contribution ensured that Aberdeen developed a list of local players that will probably never be matched. A group of exceptional young men that included Cooper, Simpson, Hewitt, Black, Gunn, Watson, Mitchell, Falconer and Robertson. I must pay special praise to Bobby who is one of the finest men I have come across and a massive figure in the history of the football club. We also had two excellent scouts in Bobby Calder and Jim Carswell who gave long service to the club and delivered a lot of fine players to the club.

Lastly, the players! It was great to see my captain Willie Miller, one of the best penalty box defenders of all time, to hear Gordon Strachan and Neil Simpson speak, and seeing Stuart Kennedy holding court with the players was something to behold! I loved meeting up with them all again.

Everything I spoke about on the day gave us a foundation which made it easy for me to do my job. But, at the end of the day, that platform needed a support, and it would have been impossible for us to achieve what we did without your support. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you.

Well done!

Sir Alex Ferguson