Editing Alex Ferguson (section)

====Late 1970s====
Ferguson joined Aberdeen as manager in June 1978, replacing Billy McNeill who had only managed the club for one season before he was offered the chance to manage Celtic. Although Aberdeen were one of Scotland's major clubs they had won the league only once, in [[1954–55 in Scottish football|1955]] under [[Dave Halliday]]. The team had been playing well, however, and had not lost a league match since the previous December, having finished second in the league the previous season.<ref name="boss159">Crick, p. 159</ref> Ferguson had now been a manager for four years, but was still not much older than some of the players and had trouble winning the respect of some of the older ones such as [[Joe Harper]].<ref name="boss171">Crick, p. 171</ref> The season did not go especially well, with Aberdeen reaching the semi-final of the [[Scottish Cup]] and the [[1979 Scottish League Cup Final (March)|Scottish League Cup Final]], but losing both matches and [[1978–79 Scottish Premier Division|finishing fourth in the league]].

Aberdeen lost the [[1979 Scottish League Cup Final (December)|1979–80 Scottish League Cup Final]], this time to [[Dundee United F.C.|Dundee United]] after a replay. Ferguson took the blame for the defeat, saying he should have made changes to the team for the replay.<ref name="boss174">Crick, p. 174</ref>