Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Considine reflects on Aberdeen debut as Paterson bossed final game

John Stewart and Considine put on pressure.
John Stewart and Considine put on pressure.

Andy Considine will probably soak up every second of his milestone appearance for Aberdeen if, as expected, he makes his 500th Dons appearance at St Johnstone on Sunday.

But don’t ask Considine, now 32, to remember his first appearance in a red shirt. The events after that game in May 2004 are much more significant than the match itself.

Considine was a fresh-faced 17-year-old when he was given his debut by manager Steve Paterson – known as Pele – on the final day of the 2003-04 season.

For Considine, it was a day to savour. For Paterson, it was his final game in charge.

Considine said: “I can always remember my debut against Dundee out here under Steve.

“That was definitely one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life and the game was a complete blur, if I am being honest.

“I do remember that I was playing alongside Markus Heikkinen that day and we were up against Steve Lovell and Nacho Novo so it was a serious test of my pace.

“Steve Lovell was such a good player and when he came to Aberdeen he scored some important goals. I thought he had the ability to kick on and go to a higher level.

Steve Paterson and his players applaud the fans.

“A lot of the fans will remember the goals he scored against Rangers. He was a nice guy as well, I did not sit too far away from him in the changing room. A good lad.”

In Considine’s debut game, Lovell scorred a last-minute winner for the Dark Blues in a 2-1 victory after Richard Foster’s first goal for Aberdeen had been cancelled out by Steven Milne’s equaliser for the visitors.

It was a depressing end to what had been a difficult season for the Dons – although Considine can console himself with the fact he was among friends for his first appearance in an injury-ravaged side.

He said: “I remember it was a bit of a mixed up team with a lot of young boys who I played with in the reserves.

“It was good for me playing with these guys in a sense because I knew them. I was very quiet at the time and these guys helped me come out of my shell because they were so loud and in-your-face type of characters.

“There were some good players in among that group. For such a big guy, Stephen Tarditi, he was very good with the ball at his feet.

Considine jumps for a header.

“He scored a tremendous amount of goals in the youth teams and the reserves. He and John Stewart had a lot of ability and I always thought they would go on and play football at the highest level.

“Ryan O’Leary did not play in that game but he was there, as well as Craig Higgins and Grant Fraser. Good memories.

“There was some experience in the side that day. A lot of boys ask me about Paul Sheerin and I tell them that he was a very good technical player back in the day. Maybe did not move much but was a very good player.”