Aberdeen can end a 44-year wait to make it nine league wins in a row again if they beat Dundee on Saturday.
The last Dons team to manage the feat was the side of season 1970-71.
The Dons can move to nine if they beat the Dark Blues on Saturday, but they will have to go some to eclipse the tally set by that team of 71 who managed to win 15 games in a row – with 12 consecutive victories coming without the loss of a goal.
Former Dons goalkeeper Bobby Clark was an ever-present for the team that season and has challenged manager Derek McInnes and his players to go one better than he and his team-mates did by winning the Scottish Premiership title.
Despite their impressive run the Dons lost out to Celtic for the title on the final day of the season in 1971 and Clark had to wait another nine years before getting his hands on the league trophy.
That’s why he would love to see the current team lift the championship.
He said: “I really hope the Dons can repeat what we did in 1980 and go on to win the championship. It would be a great shot in the arm for the game for a non-Old Firm team to win the league again.
“I remember our run in 1971 as being an enjoyable one, and it was fun trying to keep it going.
“It seems to be the same with the current team and the manager certainly seems to be saying the same things as we did.
“It’s clear there is a belief within the squad, just as there was in our team and when you have players who can defend and others who can score you give yourself a chance of winning every game.
“Nothing would give me more pleasure than to see them win it.”
The 69-year-old, who played more than 700 games for the Dons in a 17-year Pittodrie career, has been coach of Notre Dame University’s football team since 2001, but the Dons remain close to his heart.
Clark has been dismayed at the lack of competition in Scottish football following the collapse of Rangers and relegation of Hearts and Hibs, but hopes the emergence of the Dons, who lead the league by four points, and Dundee United, who trail second-placed Celtic by a point. is a sign competitiveness is returning to the game.
He said: “Aberdeen is still the first result I look for every weekend and this season’s league championship is proving to be the best one Scottish football has had since the days when the Dons and Dundee United pushed the Old Firm all the way every season.
“It’s great to see Aberdeen really pushing at the top and throw in the fact Hearts, Hibs and Rangers are scrapping it out in the Championship and you have two really entertaining and competitive leagues.
“The introduction of the play-off spot has really added to the excitement this season and it promises to be a thrilling end to the campaign.
“When I played we had a 10-team league and two were relegated every season which meant every year we were either pushing for Europe or struggling against the drop.
“When the league changed to a 12-team top flight with only one club going down it effectively became a dead duck and it’s no coincidence adding more excitement has increased attendances.
“It’s very important, now more than ever with Rangers out of the picture, for other clubs to take the game to Celtic.
“They’ve had it all their own way since Rangers had to start over again from the bottom.”
Celtic manager Ronny Deila and his players will return to Scotland today following a winter break in Gran Canaria.
Clark can see the logic of Deila wanting his players to recharge the batteries, but with no other club in the top flight taking up the offer from the SPFL to have a break in the new year the former Dons goalkeeper believes the Hoops may live to regret taking a week off.
He said: “I’m sure when Celtic decided to have a winter break they thought they would be comfortably out in front.
“Escaping the beautiful Scottish weather for 10 days is a great idea and maybe the Celtic players will come back refreshed for the second half of the season – but it has turned out to be a gamble on their part.
“In Aberdeen’s case, being able to keep going and chalking up the wins has worked for them and the fact they are now working one weekend to the next will keep them fresh.
“Football habits are hard to break. If you are losing games it can be tough to stop the rot, but if a team is winning it’s great and players give everything to keep it going.
“In contrast Celtic are coming back to a situation where they are trailing in the league, have a backlog of games, are about to play Rangers for the first time in years and also have two big European ties against Inter Milan coming up.
“It’s a lot to juggle and it will be interesting to see if their momentum is disrupted by having a break.”
The table-topping Dons have followed their manager’s lead in playing down suggestions of a title challenge coming from Pittodrie and Clark agrees McInnes and his squad should not get carried away.
It is an ethos he preaches across the Atlantic.
Clark said: “Aberdeen are looking forward to every game with relish but it is very important to take it one at a time.
“That’s what we do at Notre Dame and I’ve made a point in my coaching career of never looking past the next game.
“I don’t tolerate any talk of anything other than the next game in my dressing room and take no opponent for granted.”