A nice surprise

It often surprises people (particularly those who have heard my West Coast accent) to learn I'm an Aberdeen fan. But I've been one since the age of 8; and although this was in '83, my allegiance wasn't down to the Scottish Cup/Cup-Winner's Cup double...at least not directly.

It was down to a bag of prawn crackers.

My babysitter's boyfriend was a Dons fan, and he bought a Chinese to celebrate (she was babysitting us the night of the Scottish Cup final)...and he bought me a bag of prawn crackers.

Becoming an Aberdeen fan was the least I could do...

...and Dad strongly encouraged it. Ayrshire is where Sectarianism gets off the ferry from Northern Ireland and decides to have a march, and he was understandably keen to a avoid us getting caught up in that Rangers/Celtic nonsense.

So I was delighted to find Aberdeen have given the wee fella a full strip, as they did for all the kids at their football lessons. Not only that, but he got two comp tickets for the match versus Hearts, one for him and one for me...a really nice gesture.

(I'm writing this on the 30th, after the match; it was a lot of fun, he lasted 88 minutes, saw Aberdeen win and saw a goal just in front of us...my only worry is this sets his expectations way too high!). Lovely atmosphere in our corner of the "family enclosure", too.