Sir Alex Ferguson breaks the domination of the Glasgow Giants

Shortly after his dismissal from St Mirren Alex Ferguson, was approached by Aberdeen, who were looking for a new manager after Billy McNeil had left to take up the reigns at Celtic.

In his first season at Pittodrie the club finished fourth in the League but were beaten in both the League Cup final and Scottish Cup semi-final. So his golden touch - which has been evident during his career at Manchester United - had deserted Alex Feguson in his early days on the East coast of Scotland. In fact things would get slightly worse before they would get better because in December 1979 his Aberdeen side were defeated in the Scottish League Cup once more, this time 3-0 by Dundee United after a replay.

However, this unlucky run would not last because that season - after a number of excellent results - Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen side were crowned champions of Scotland for the first time in 35 years and it was the first time in a decade and a half that a team other than Rangers and Celtic had won the League title.

After the championship win Ferguson was able to commence his love affair with the European Cup, which he has very much continued to this day with Manchester United. In the first round Aberdeen had to overcome a tricky tie against Austria Vienna, which they did 1-0 on aggregate. However, in the second round his side were drawn against Liverpool and unfortunately lost 5-0 on aggregate.

The following season Aberdeen could not hold on to their Scottish League title as Celtic pipped them to it by just two points, however, all was not lost for Ferguson's side as they managed to pick up the Scottish F.A. Cup with an emphatic 4-1 extra-time victory over Glasgow Rangers.

The 1982-83 season saw more European adventures for Alex Ferguson as his Aberdeen side qualified for the - now defunct - European Cup-Winners Cup. But first his side had to qualify for the first round proper by overcoming Swiss Cup winners FC Sion, which they bid in style winning 7-0 in Scotland and 4-1 in Switzerland. After that victory the people of Aberdeen, the players and indeed Alex Ferguson began to believe that they could do something special on the European scene. In the follwing rounds they disposed of KS Dinamo Tirana (1-0) and Lech Poznari (3-0).

Aberdeen were now in the quarter-final of the competition, where they faced German giants, Bayern Munich. After a tense goalless draw at Pittodrie the writing looked to be on the wall for the Scottish Cup winners, but as all Manchester United fans can vouch for, when his back is against 'the wall 'Alex Ferguson and his players are at their most dangerous. When the game kicked off few people had given Aberdeen a prayer, however the doubters were proved wrong with The Dons running out 3-2 winners.

In the semi-final of the European Cup-Winners Cup Aberdeen had to overcome the conqueror of Paris Saint-Germain, Genk of Belgium if they were to create history and book their place in their first European final. The Aberdeen fans needn't have worried as their team trounced the Belgian Cup winners 5-1 in the fist leg at Pittodrie and secured a final spot with a 1-1 draw in the second leg.

Alex Ferguson's and Aberdeen's first European final would take place in Gothenburg, Sweden against the all conquering Real Madrid. In a tightly contested match Eric Black gave Ferguson's men an early lead, unfortunately for Aberdeen seven minutes later Real were awarded a penalty which Juanito cooly converted. There were no more goals after 90 minutes so the game went into extra-time. As the match looked like going to the dreaded penalties twenty year old, Abereen born John Hewitt came off the bench (as he did against Bayern Munich) to net the winning goal. Against all odds Alex Ferguson and his indomitable Dons had won the European Cup-Winners Cup.

The following season (1983-84) Aberdeen contested the European Cup-Winners cup once again. They made a good fist of defending the title they had won in Gothenburg but were beaten 2-0 on aggregate by Portuguese glamour club FC Porto in the semi-final. The pain of losing their Cup-Winners cup crown was somewhat tempered by yet another Scottish League championship, which they won at canter, finishing seven points ahead of Celtic and a massive 15 points ahead of Rangers in fourth and considering this was the era of the 2 points for a win this was a fantastic accomplishment, especially for a team that had now tripled their league title wins in the space of three seasons. Not only did they furnish their trophy cabinet with league crown they added the Scottish Cup too, beating Celtic 2-1 in the final with goals by Mark McGhee and Eric Black.

With his second Scottish League title in the bag Alex Ferguson could now pit his wits against Europe's big boys once more, as Aberdeen represented Scotland in the European Cup. Unfortunately for Ferguson and his men they were defeated in the first round by East German champions BFC Dynamo Berlin 5-4 on penalties after the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate.

Although Alex Ferguson and his Aberdeen team were finding life difficult on the European scene the same couldn't be said domestically as they won their 3rd League title in five seasons, again finishing seven points ahead of Celtic and massive 21 points ahead of fourth placed Glasgow Rangers.

The experience Aberdeen had gained from their two other forays into the European Cup showed as they brushed aside Icelandic champions Akranes 7-2 in the first round, followed by a narrow 1-0 win over Swiss outfit Servette in the second. The two victories meant that Alex Ferguson's men were now in their first ever European Cup quarter-final where they faced Swedish league title holders Gothenburg. In the first leg at Pittodrie the match finished 2-2, but the two goals conceded by The Dons would prove crucial after a goalless second leg, this would mean that Alex Ferguson's boys would be knocked out on the dreaded away goals ruling.

Their cruel defeat to Gothenburg seemed to effect their league form too as they slumped to a fourth place finish, behind eventual champions Celtic, runners-up Hearts and 3rd placed Dundee United. Although they couldn't hold on to their league title they did make sure that they were playing European football the following season by picking up both the Scottish Cup (their fourth in five seasons) and League Cup trophies.

The 1985-86 season would prove to be Alex Ferguson's last full season in charge at Pittodrie as England's top clubs began to sit up and take note of Fergie's miracale workings in Aberdeen. After he had rejected offers from North London giants Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal an attempt by Manchester United to lure Alex Ferguson to Old Trafford surfaced. The canny Scot's head was turned and the prospect of replacing Ron Atkinson at biggest club in the world would prove to be too big of a draw for Alex Ferguson to back away from.