Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack on why European football is critical for the Dons.

Dons chairman discusses why frequent participation in European football is critical for his team. Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack believes that European football has become vital for the club. The Dons hope to return to European football next season after a 12-month sabbatical. They will do so as Scottish Cup champions, with Aberdeen securing group stage football for the second time in three seasons. Cormack believes that the financial incentives offered on the European stage have altered the game for his club and transformed it domestically. The Dons chairman stated, “Europe is vital for us, and we aim to play in Europe every year. We’ve had a stop-start run with that.

“The reason it’s so crucial is straightforward. “There is more money to be made by a Scottish team in Europe than is distributed in prize money across all of Scottish football. “That fact has changed the game.”

Dons will be chasing a £9m European jackpot

The financial appeal of regular European football is well known, and it is becoming more profitable with each passing season. As cup winners, the Dons will enter the Europa League in the play-off round, with the two-legged tie set to be drawn on August 4.

“There’s a big disparity. “European football, the beautiful game here, was created by over 1,000 clubs from 50 countries, but despite the collaborative effort to build European football, a few clubs have said, ‘Well, we want to own it all.'” “We need to lobby for that being addressed, but that’s a topic for another day.”

‘I owe a lot of credit to Stewart Milne’

Cormack has witnessed firsthand how Scottish clubs have battled financially to compete in European football since the Scottish Premier League was established in 1999. Aberdeen also felt the strain, finding itself saddled with enormous debt for more than a decade. Stewart Milne, the chairman’s predecessor, steered the club back into the black before turning over the reins to Cormack, who believes his team is now better able to compete in Europe on a regular basis. He stated, “We need to recall, not just in Aberdeen, but across the country, in the late 1990s, that many teams speculated to accumulate. “They did so under the assumption that the television money, broadcasting income, would be pro-rata, as England does, but that did not happen.

“Some clubs failed, but at Aberdeen, we accepted responsibility. “A large amount of debt had been accumulated. And it took until 2014-15 to pay off the debt. “That was before I returned to the board, and I owe a lot of credit to Stewart Milne and the board for following through and getting it done.

Chairman excited at prospect of more European trips

More money implies more investment, and if Cormack gets his way, Aberdeen will get stronger. But for Dons fans, Europe means excitedly anticipating the chance to organise autumn visits to the continent. The 2023-24 campaign included excursions to Gothenburg, Frankfurt, Thessaloniki, and Helsinki, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

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