Town at Aberdeen in Pre-Season
Tuesday, 17th Jun 2025 11:00

Town will travel to Scotland to face Aberdeen in a pre-season friendly at Pittodrie on Friday 25th July (KO 7.30pm).

The Dons, who are managed by Swede Jimmy Thelin, finished fifth in the Scottish Premiership during 2024/25 and won the Scottish Cup, beating Celtic 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw and qualifying for the Europa League as a result.

Blues wideman Wes Burns spent time on loan with the Dons in the first half of 2016/17, making 10 starts and 11 sub appearances, scoring once. However, the Wales international won’t be over his ACL injury in time to be involved.

Aberdeen recently signed Australia international Kusini Yengi, brother of former Town youngster Tete Yengi, now also playing in Scotland with Livingston.

The teams, who were in talks regarding a friendly last summer, famously met in the UEFA Cup in 1981/82 when Sir Alex Ferguson’s Dons defeated Sir Bobby Robson’s Blues, then the trophy holders, 4-2 on aggregate in a first round tie.

At Portman Road in the first leg, the sides drew 1-1 with Frans Thijssen on target for Town and John Hewitt for the Scots, then in the second at Pittodrie John Wark netted for the Blues in a 3-1 defeat in which Peter Weir bagged a brace and Gordon Strachan scored the other for the home side.

The teams also faced one another on Suffolk soil in George Burley’s testimonial in pre-season ahead of the 1983/84 season when Bobby Ferguson’s Blues won 3-0, Robin Turner netting twice and Mich d’Avray once.

Town most recently played in Scotland in October 2006 when Jim Magilton took his team to Brechin City, then managed by his friend and current Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill, for a friendly during an international break, the match ending 2-2 with Billy Clarke and Matt Richards on target for the visitors.

The Blues last faced Scottish Premiership opposition during a pre-season camp in La Manga in July 2018 when a Joe Garner goal saw the Blues to a 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock in a behind-closed-doors game.

Town won’t have time to host a Portman Road friendly this year with the annual scrape and seed of the pitch being carried out either side of the Ed Sheeran concerts.

The only other first-team friendly announced so far is the game at the end of the Austrian training camp against Blau-Weiß Linz at their Hofmann Personal Stadion on Saturday 19th July with other overseas friendly still to be announced.

A full list of the friendlies announced so far can be found here.

Photo: Raymond Davies/SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

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