The 2017–18 Aberdeen F.C. season was Aberdeen's 105th season in the top flight of Scottish football and the fifth in the Scottish Premiership. Aberdeen also competed in the League Cup and the Scottish Cup.
Aberdeen also competed in qualifying for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.
Summary
June
In the pre-season, Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes was the subject of press speculation regarding a potential move to English Premier League team Sunderland. After weeks of speculation, McInnes rejected an eventual approach by Sunderland on 15 June and committed his future to the Dons until 2019. Subsequently, only a few days later, he and assistant Tony Docherty, signed a one-year contract extension, keeping them with the club until the summer of 2020.
On 17 June, Jonny Hayes signed for Celtic for £1.3 million plus a season-long loan for Ryan Christie. Christie had been on loan at the club for the second half of last season.
On 26 June, after being linked with Sunderland with manager McInnes, 'keeper Joe Lewis signed a new deal to keep him at the club until 2020.
July
On 11 July, Shay Logan signed a contract extension until 2020.
On 12 July, Gary Mackay-Steven signed from Celtic for £150,000 on a two-year deal.
On 14 July, former player and Iceland international Kári Árnason re-signed for the club from Omonia on a free, signing a one-year deal. He had originally played for the club in the 2011–12 season.
On 19 July, at least 2 supporters were injured after an attack by Bosnians in the city of Mostar, the night before they were due to play Bosnia and Herzegovina side Široki Brijeg in their Europa League qualifier.
August
On 3 August, Aberdeen were again knocked out of the Europa League at the third qualifying round stage for the 4th year in a row, this time at the hands of Apollon Limassol. There was yet more trouble for Dons fans, this time during the match and after the final whistle. The club looked into this incident, in which later both clubs were fined by UEFA.
On 10 August, after spending months trying to sign him, Stevie May signed for the Dons for £400,000. Miles Storey the next day joined Partick Thistle for an undisclosed fee.
On 26 August, Aberdeen beat Partick Thistle 4–3 at Firhill, meaning they were the only club in the league to win their first 4 matches of the season.
September
On 5 September, defender Mark Reynolds signed a contract extension until 2019.
On 21 September, Aberdeen were knocked out of the League Cup at the quarter-final stage, being comfortably beaten 3–0 by Motherwell.
On 30 September, Adam Rooney scored his eighth hat-trick for the Dons in a 3–0 win at home against St Johnstone.
October
On 16 October, winger Scott Wright signed a contract extension until 2021.
On 19 October, defender Scott McKenna signed a contract extension until 2021.
On 24 October, it was announced that midfielder Kenny McLean would not be renewing his contract at the end of the season.
Subsequently, on 25 October, the Dons suffered their first defeat of the season, being comfortably beaten 3–0 at home to Celtic.
On 30 October, Graeme Shinnie, Kenny McLean and on-loan Celtic player Ryan Christie were called up for Scotland to play the Netherlands for a friendly due to take place on 9 November at Pittodrie.
Also on 30 October, the Dons signed forward and Finland under-18 international Miko Virtanen to the Development squad.
November
Before, during, and after the early November International break, manager Derek McInnes was continually linked with the vacant Rangers job and he dismissed this in the press to say, "My job is the Aberdeen manager and I'm here to talk about Aberdeen and our upcoming game against Motherwell, its only speculation."
After the club put continual plans of building the new stadium at Kingsford on hold Tom Crotty, an American businessman, invested £775,000 into the project.
December
On 3 December, speaking after the back-to-back defeats to Rangers, manager Derek McInnes admitted speculation linking him with the vacant Rangers job could be affecting the players after only picking up 7 points from the seven previous matches since Pedro Caixinha was sacked in October.
On 7 December, Derek McInnes rejected an approach from Rangers to stay with the Dons after "weighing up" and "having a lot to consider", embarrassing them in the process. The next day, in an interview, McInnes said "he wasn't prepared to walk away" from the Dons and also saying he was "really happy and didn't want to tarnish relationships."
On 16 December, Gary Mackay-Steven scored his first senior hat-trick in a 4–1 win against Hibernian.
On 28 December, the Dons re-signed Niall McGinn on a three-and-a-half-year contract after he terminated his contract with Gwangju. He will officially rejoin the club on 1 January 2018.
January
On 9 January, Greg Tansey was loaned out to Ross County. This freed space in the squad to make a signing the following day, Chidi Nwakali, joining on loan from Manchester City.
During the Scottish Football winter break, and as in the previous year, the Dons headed off to Dubai for a week of winter training and played against Uzbekistan side Lokomotiv Tashkent in a friendly in which they lost 2–0.
Before the Scottish Cup match against St Mirren, Craig Storie was released and Frank Ross signed a new deal until 2019 and then immediately loaned to Greenock Morton until the end of the season.
Shortly after the 4–1 Scottish Cup win against St Mirren,bbc.co.uk BBC Report it was confirmed that Kenny McLean had signed for Norwich City for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £200,000, but would stay at the Dons until the end of the season.
February
On 8 February, Gary Mackay-Steven won the Scottish Cup Goal of the fourth round award for his sensational strike in the previous month's 4–1 win against St Mirren.
On 11 February, Aberdeen qualified for the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Cup by, in the end, convincingly beating Dundee United 4–2.
After regaining second place in the League, Aberdeen lost 2–0 at Hibernian and then lost at home to Celtic by the same scoreline. This was the tenth time in a row that Aberdeen had lost to Celtic under Brendan Rodgers.
On 28 February, after overnight snow and the storm "Beast from the East", Aberdeen's match at Motherwell's Fir Park was postponed.
March
After signing a new deal in October, on 7 March, defender Scott McKenna signed another contract extension until 2023.
On 12 March, midfielders Kenny McLean and Ryan Christie, and for the first-time defender Scott McKenna, were called up to the Scotland squad for friendlies against Costa Rica and Hungary. McKenna earned his first cap by starting the match against Costa Rica and played the full 90 minutes.
On 13 March, winger Scott Wright was called up for the Scotland under-21s.
April
Without suspended trio captain Graeme Shinnie, previously ever-present Kenny McLean and right back Shay Logan, Aberdeen lost to Motherwell 3–0 in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup at Hampden Park. After the match, manager Derek McInnes criticised his own recruitment this season.
On 24 April, after the plans had been put on hold, Aberdeen were granted official planning permission to start on the new stadium at Kingsford.
On 25 April, defender Scott McKenna was nominated for Scottish Young Player of the Year.
On 26 April, Aberdeen youth lost the Scottish Youth Cup final to Hibernian youth 3–1 at Hampden Park.
May
On 5 May, the Dons announced Hamilton Academical youth Lewis Ferguson would be joining the club on 1 July 2018, paying a development fee.
On 6 May, it was announced that former two-time European Cup winning Manager Sir Alex Ferguson underwent an emergency surgery after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
After drawing at home to Rangers and the following day Hearts beating Hibernian, Aberdeen sealed European qualification for the fifth season in a row.
On 10 May, at the Aberdeen FC awards event, Scott McKenna won the player, young player, and goal of the season awards.
On 13 May, on the final day of the season, the Dons won at Celtic Park for the first time in the league since 2004 and also kept a clean sheet there for the first time since 1994, securing the runners-up spot in the process with a 1–0 win thanks to a goal from Andrew Considine.
On 14 May, defender Scott McKenna, midfielders Graeme Shinnie, Kenny McLean and Ryan Christie were called up to the Scotland squad for friendlies against Peru and Mexico.
On the squad for next season, goalie Danny Rogers signed a new 2-year deal, the club announced the loaned players returned to their clubs respectively, and that Nicky Maynard, Kári Árnason, and Daniel Harvie had left the club after their contracts had expired.
Results and fixtures
Pre-season
Scottish Premiership
UEFA Europa League
Aberdeen qualified for the second preliminary round of the UEFA Europa League by finishing second in the 2016-17 Scottish Premiership.
Qualifying phase
Scottish League Cup
Scottish Cup
Squad statistics
Appearances
|colspan="17"|Players who left the club or left on loan during the season
Goalscorers As of 13 May 2018 RankingNationNumberNameScottish PremiershipEuropa LeagueLeague CupScottish CupTotal17Kenny McLean801211=9Adam Rooney900211311Gary Mackay-Steven51039422Ryan Christie42028583Stevie May5000563Graeme Shinnie21014=4Andrew Considine40004=8Greg Stewart31004914Kári Árnason30003=19Scott McKenna30003112Shay Logan20002=5Anthony O'Connor20002=17Niall McGinn20002146Mark Reynolds10001=15Scott Wright10001=25Frank Ross10001=39Miles Storey10001Own Goal10001TOTALS56511072
Disciplinary record As of 13 May 2018 NumberNationPositionNamePremiershipEuropa LeagueLeague CupScottish CupTotal 2DF Shay Logan71000020913DF Graeme Shinnie1501000201804DF Andrew Considine60100020905DF Anthony O'Connor50101010807MF Kenny McLean800000201008FW Greg Stewart10000010209 FW Adam Rooney000000101010FW Nicky Maynard100000001011MF Gary Mackay-Steven200000002014DF Kári Árnason300000003015MF Scott Wright100000001016MF Greg Tansey100000001017FW Jayden Stockley001000001018DF Dominic Ball100000001019DF Scott McKenna700000108022MF Ryan Christie412010108123MF Chidi Nwakali200000002027FW Sam Cosgrove110000001183DF Stevie May3000000030 TOTALS6736020130883
Team statistics League table
Results by round
Transfers
Players in DatesPosNatPlayerFromFee 9 June 2017 MF Greg Tansey Inverness Caledonian Thistle Free 6 July 2017 FW Nicky Maynard MK Dons Free 12 July 2017 MF Gary Mackay-Steven Celtic £150,000 14 July 2017 DF Kári Árnason Omonia Free 10 August 2017 FW Stevie May Preston North End £400,000 28 December 2017 FW Niall McGinn Gwangju Free 26 January 2018 DF Michael Devlin Hamilton Academical £80,000 31 January 2018 FW Sam Cosgrove Carlisle United £40,000
Players out DatesPosNatPlayerToFee 5 May 2017 MF Dylan Thomas Released 22 May 2017 MF Cammy Smith St Mirren Free 31 May 2017 MF Jamie Henry Arbroath Free 31 May 2017 MF Peter Pawlett MK Dons Free 17 June 2017 MF Jonny Hayes Celtic £1,300,000 + Christie 30 June 2017 GK Aaron Lennox Raith Rovers Free 1 July 2017 MF Ryan Jack Rangers Free 4 July 2017 FW Niall McGinn Gwangju Free 5 July 2017 DF Ash Taylor Northampton Town Free 7 July 2017 GK Neil Alexander Livingston Free 10 July 2017 GK Robbie Mutch Falkirk Free 22 July 2017 FW Joe Nuttall Blackburn Rovers Free 11 August 2017 FW Miles Storey Partick Thistle Undisclosed 31 August 2017 FW Jayden Stockley Exeter City £100,000 8 September 2017 FW Lawrence Shankland Ayr United Free 15 November 2017 MF Aaron Norris Peterhead Free 22 January 2017 MF Kenny McLean Norwich City £200,000 22 February 2018 MF Craig Storie Brechin City Free
Loans in