Aberdeen FC has 119 years of history, during which time the club has remained permanently in the top tier of Scottish football since it was promoted there in 1905, just two years after it was founded.
No other club has managed to avoid relegation for its entire history, not even Celtic or Rangers.
Over its almost 12 decades of operation, Aberdeen has won four league titles, six league cups, and seven cups. It has also won both the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Super Cup, both in 1983. No other football team in Scotland has managed to bring home two different continental trophies.
Of course, a lot of this success was at the hands of a well-known Scottish manager by the name of Alex Ferguson, though it was won silverware since then.
While Aberdeen continues to push for more success on the pitch, the club has been diversifying its interests. One new way it’s doing this is by venturing into the world of esports.
Aberdeen’s Announcement
On 17th August, Aberdeen FC released a press release announcing a new partnership with “leading gaming organisations” that would see them put on the first-ever esports tournament at the club’s Pittodrie Stadium in mid-September.
Working with GAME, the UK’s biggest video game retailer and Belong, the company behind some of the biggest gaming arenas in the country, the club will host a FIFA22 tournament.
It is, at least for now, a one-off event with 32 spots for competitors. Entry is £5 per player, making it incredibly affordable, while spectators can watch the tournament in person for free.
In addition to seeing the action in person, they’ll also be able to take part in “gaming experiences” offered by GT Omega, Belong, and other commercial partners”.
The prizes for the winner(s) have not been announced but the club has said they’ll include cash, signed Aberdeen FC merchandise, and what it describes as “money-can’t-buy experiences”.
A First For Scottish Football
Aberdeen FC’s Business Development Manager commented on the announcement by saying that he hoped they could tap into the “large gaming community” within north-eastern Scotland.
He also alluded to the fact that this is a trial event to help the club and its partners gauge interest to see if they can viably put together other esports competitions and events in the future.
He added that the tournament at Aberdeen FC is the first of its kind in Scottish football.
A Growing Trend
While that may be true, it is certainly not a first in the wider footballing community. In fact, Aberdeen is actually quite late to the party as its English and European counterparts have already become well established in the esports world.
The list of clubs that have been throwing their weight behind competitive video gaming is huge and includes many big names in the English Premier League and top-flight competitions from across the Channel.
Some prominent examples include the German Bundesliga’s RB Leipzig, the Premier League’s Manchester City, and the Swiss Super League’s FC Basel.
They all compete in the FIFAe competitions that use EA Sports’ officially-licensed video game with separate events for PlayStation and Xbox versions.
Reflective of the City
Aberdeen is Scotland’s third biggest city and is best known for its large oil and gas industries, though it’s also an important player in the renewable energy market too.
It also has a top-rated university that attracts students from across Scotland, the UK, and the world to study a wide range of subjects including those in the arts and technology. This helps Aberdeen to have a relatively young population, with adults aged 25-29 as its most populous demographic, closely followed by 20-24-year-olds at 9.2% and 30-34-year-olds at 8.8%.
With cutting-edge technologies at the heart of the city and a young population, Aberdeen is likely to make a good place for esports competitions to be trialled in Scotland. And with plenty of precedent to follow, it’s bound to be a success.