Aberdeen return to the scene of their most famous triumph this week but Ross McCrorie is focused on creating more history rather than looking back.
The Dons will play BK Hacken on Thursday in Gothenburg, the Swedish city where they beat Real Madrid in the final of the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
One of the ‘Gothenburg Greats’, Neil Simpson, will be on the flight over in his role mentoring the club’s young players and McCrorie is looking forward to hearing the former Dons midfielder’s stories.
But they will drive him on to create his own memories in a red shirt ahead of the Europa Conference League qualifier.
“I have spoken to Simmy a few times and he is buzzing to get back over there,” McCrorie said.
“I’ve had the odd shout over to Simmy about Gothenburg but he’s not quite given us the stories yet. We will maybe hear them on the plane over, we will wait and see.
“When I signed for Aberdeen, I already knew about the history of the club and I knew how big a club it was.
“The aim was to try and win trophies, that’s why I came up here. I want to try and win trophies, not just the one, but a few, and try to make the club as successful as possible.”
McCrorie stressed there was work to do in Sweden despite a 5-1 first-leg win which rekindled memories of the Dons in their 1980s pomp.
The performance was a major lift to a support which had seen its team net just once in a 10-game period from late January into April, but McCrorie fully expected their summer preparations under Stephen Glass to pay dividends.
“I don’t think any of us were surprised in the building,” he said. “We have all worked really hard throughout pre-season, we have worked on different combination plays in the final third and you could see that the other night.
“Our goals were great, either through individual quality or the team through combination play – it was terrific and we got plenty of goals.
“That’s something we missed last season and we are hoping to change that and get a lot more goals. That’s a good start for us.”
Meanwhile, Aberdeen have appointed Darren Mowbray as their head of recruitment.
Mowbray previously worked at Middlesbrough, Leeds and, latterly, Burnley.
Mowbray said: “The club’s data-driven focus to player recruitment, incorporated with targeted live scouting is crucial in modern day football and is strongly aligned with my own background, experiences and skill set.
“The aim is to bring into line recruitment throughout the academy to the first team, which will allow us to continue producing exciting homegrown players, supplemented with talent from other markets.”
