Stuart Armstrong fulfils Aberdeen dream years after rejection as Dons eye Hampden return

Aberdeen midfielder Stuart Armstrong admits it’s great to finally be playing for the club, years after he suffered rejection at Pittodrie.

Armstrong signed for the Dons earlier this month after leaving Sheffield Wednesday, and is looking to help Jimmy Thelin’s side build on last season’s Scottish Cup triumph and deliver more silverware to the club.

As he prepared for Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Motherwell and the opportunity to return to Hampden, he reflected on being back at Aberdeen years after his dreams of wearing the club colours were dashed.

“I think when I was about 13, I had six trial games in total for Aberdeen and never quite made the cut,” Armstrong said.

“So I had to do it the long way around, and finally they let me through the gates.

“It was a dream of mine when I was younger. I grew up here, went to school here, and I used to go and watch the games here.

“Some of the first professional games I watched were Aberdeen with my dad and my brother. When I got older, I used to go with my friends.

“It was a dream of mine and so when I didn’t quite make it I was gutted, to be honest.

“It’s funny being back here and playing in the stadium where I watched all those years ago. It’s a nice feeling for me.”

Armstrong went on to have a stellar career with time at Dundee United, Celtic, Southampton and Vancouver Whitecaps, as well as earning 51 international caps for Scotland, despite the early setback.

“I was very young back then and when something like that happens, you think ‘I’m never going to be a professional football player’,” he said.

“It’s just part and parcel of the game. Things change and you move on and you grow up.

“But to be here, playing for Aberdeen, probably a 13-year-old me wouldn’t have believed it. So it’s nice to be sat here 20 years later.”

Aberdeen have not been able to recapture that cup-winning form so far, though, and pressure is on manager Jimmy Thelin to turn things around.

He says a short-term result, like a win against Motherwell, could help deliver the long-term gains everyone at Pittodrie wants to see.

Thelin said: “You are building two things – the short term and the long term, but you can’t think about this week, tomorrow is the game and we want to go to the semi-final.

“We play against a good Motherwell, so how can we show ourselves with the intensity and the way we want to play tomorrow for our fans and get the result we need to go through?

“Everybody is working so hard to go in the right direction, and sometimes when the results don’t come, it can feel that it is not in the right direction, but maybe it is, but the result hides it.

“You always get what you deserve, we have to do more to deserve better results and we still have a strong belief in what we are doing, but we have to get the results of course.”Armstrong signed for the Dons earlier this month after leaving Sheffield Wednesday, and is looking to help Jimmy Thelin’s side build on last season’s Scottish Cup triumph and deliver more silverware to the club.

As he prepared for Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Motherwell, and the opportunity to return to Hampden, he reflected on being back at Aberdeen years after his dreams of wearing the club colours were dashed.

“I think when I was about 13, I had six trial games in total for Aberdeen and never quite made the cut,” Armstrong said.

“So I had to do it the long way aroun,d and finally they let me through the gates.

“It was a dream of mine when I was younger. I grew up here, went to school here, and I used to go and watch the games here.

“Some of the first professional games I watched were Aberdeen with my dad and my brother. When I got older I used to go with my friends.

“It was a dream of mine, and so when I didn’t quite make it, I was gutted, to be honest.

“It’s funny being back here and playing in the stadium where I watched all those years ago. It’s a nice feeling for me.”

Aberdeen have not been able to recapture that cup-winning form so far, though, and pressure is on manager Jimmy Thelin to turn things around.

He says a short-term result, like a win against Motherwell, could help deliver the long-term gains everyone at Pittodrie wants to see.

Thelin said: “You are building two things – the short term and the long term, but you can’t think about this week, tomorrow is the game and we want to go to the semi-final.

“We play against a good Motherwell so how can we show ourselves with the intensity and the way we want to play tomorrow for our fans and get the result we need to go through?

“Everybody is working so hard to go in the right direction and sometimes when the results don’t come it can feel that it is not in the right direction, but maybe it is but the result hides it.

“You always get what you deserve, we have to do more to deserve better results and we still have a strong belief in what we are doing, but we have to get the results of course.”

Aberdeen midfielder Stuart Armstrong admits it’s great to finally be playing for the club, years after he suffered rejection at Pittodrie.

“I think when I was about 13 I had six trial games in total for Aberdeen and never quite made the cut,” Armstrong said.

“So I had to do it the long way around and finally they let me through the gates.

“It was a dream of mine when I was younger. I grew up here, went to school here and I used to go and watch the games here.

“Some of the first professional games I watched were Aberdeen with my dad and my brother. When I got older I used to go with my friends.

“It was a dream of mine and so when I didn’t quite make it I was gutted, to be honest.

“It’s funny being back here and playing in the stadium where I watched all those years ago. It’s a nice feeling for me.”

Aberdeen have not been able to recapture that cup-winning form so far, though, and pressure is on manager Jimmy Thelin to turn things around.

He says a short-term result, like a win against Motherwell, could halep to deliver the long-term gains everyone at Pittodrie wants to see.

Thelin said: “You are building two things – the short term and the long term, but you can’t think about this week, tomorrow is the game and we want to go to the semi-final.

“We play against a good Motherwell so how can we show ourselves with the intensity and the way we want to play tomorrow for our fans and get the result we need to go through?

“Everybody is working so hard to go in the right direction and sometimes when the results don’t come it can feel that it is not in the right direction, but maybe it is but the result hides it.

“You always get what you deserve, we have to do more to deserve better results and we still have a strong belief in what we are doing, but we have to get the results of course.”