How Ferguson's 'bonkers' Dons vision convinced McGhee to join

Tue, June 2, 2026 at 11:14 AM UTC

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How Ferguson's 'bonkers' Dons vision convinced McGhee to join

Mark McGhee has revealed he was so blown away by Sir Alex Ferguson's "bonkers" ambitions for Aberdeen he had no hesitation in joining the Dons.

Former striker McGhee switched from Newcastle in 1979 and had a memorable five-year spell at Pittodrie, winning the European Cup Winners' Cup and Uefa Super Cup as well as two league titles and three Scottish Cups.

The 69-year-old told the BBC's Sacked in the Morning podcast about the conversation he had with boss Ferguson that convinced him to make the move to the north east.

"The thing that attracted me to speaking to Aberdeen was I knew when Alex Ferguson was at St Mirren he'd tried to sign me from Morton," McGhee said.

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"So the fact he was coming back in for me again gave me a bit of confidence.

"I met him in a hotel and he explained to me a lot of things about my own career, my own play, but he also told me he wanted to win a European trophy within five years.

"Aberdeen, at that point, hadn't won the league in 25 years, they hadn't won the cup in 12, you've got to win one of them before you qualify for Europe.

"I should have been thinking this guy is bonkers. But the way he presented it and the argument he put, and what he could do to help me, by the time I had finished speaking to him I was totally convinced I should join."

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Source: “AOL Sports”