On Monday, Aberdeen jetted off for a winter camp at Atlanta United’s training base – making it the perfect time to explore the Dons’ partnerships with clubs across the globe in our Aberlanta and Beyond series.
For the past few weeks, we’ve been talking to key figures at Aberdeen and elsewhere to establish the benefits the Pittodrie outfit see in working with their roster of current partners – Major League Soccer (MLS) side Atlanta, California grassroots side Allstars United SC and KR Reykjavik.
We’ve also asked whether we could we see more of these partnerships in future.
In part three of Aberlanta and Beyond, business development manager at Aberdeen, Robbie Hedderman, discusses the work being done with Allstars United and KR Reykjavik.
Dons bid to grow the AFC brand
Aberdeen are in the United States this week as they look to strengthen their relationship with MLS big boys Atlanta United – but Dons business development manager Robbie Hedderman has been charged with the task of helping establish the links with the two other partners in the club’s portfolio, Allstars United SC in San Jose, California, and Icelandic club KR Reykjavik.
Youth-focused club Allstars have immersed themselves in their link with the Scottish Premiership club so much that the sight of youngsters wearing Aberdeen merchandise has become commonplace in California.
It has been a small step towards developing the Dons’ brand on the US west coast.
Hedderman said: “Some of the branding and the presence is already happening, particularly out in California.
“Early on Allstars made the decision they wanted their kids to play in the Aberdeen strip.
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“It was purely their choice and not something we’d discussed prior to the partnership agreement.
“But we now have a couple of hundred kids running about San Jose in Aberdeen jerseys. From a brand perspective it’s great, so it’s been a great start.
“California is a real area of affluence, but it takes time to anchor yourselves down and we’re under no illusions.
“For us to grow the commercial offering out in these areas takes time, building relationships and networks.
“Over time what’s important is that these relationships are sustainable for both partners and have a big of longevity to it.
“These things will evolve over time but, with the positive start we’ve had, it will hopefully be beneficial to both of us.”
Covid helped Dons forge closer links with partners in bid to spread youth development knowledge
Growing Aberdeen’s pulling power in the US is only part of the motivation for the Dons’ partnership with Allstars.
The Reds sharing best practices in terms of youth coaching and development is another.
The early days of the Allstars partnership were difficult with the Covid pandemic pausing the relationship within weeks of its launch.
But Hedderman insists the shared challenge of navigating a pandemic has been a useful experience for all concerned.
He said: “It’s going pretty well. For a partnership that is something totally new, we’ve had a good run at it.
“Since launching the Allstars partnership in January 2020, it hasn’t been without its challenges – we were only new into that partnership with Covid.
“Covid brought us closer together as both clubs were going through a difficult time.
“There were a lot of calls about how we were coping with the pandemic, but over the course of the Allstars partnership we’ve had a lot of learnings, benefits from it and challenges, too.
“Over there we’ve been able to learn a lot about the environment they develop their players. That’s helped us support their player and coach development.
“We sent a coach over this summer to them and it was a really productive visit for one of our academy coaches to go over.
“He did a lot of player development workshops, coach development workshops and parent workshops while he was over there, which gave them a lot of insight into how we do things with our academy.”
Reykjavik partnership still being developed after successful camp
Tentative steps have also been taken in Aberdeen’s most recent partnership with KR Reykjavik.
A talent exchange also took place last month with Reykjavik and Hedderman anticipates the representatives of the Icelandic club making a visit to Cormack Park and Pittodrie in the near future.
He said: “In terms of KR Reykjavik, it’s still in the early days and we’re only a couple of months into that relationship, but so far, so good and we’re happy with the way things are going.
“We’ve made good progress.
“Last month Liam McGarry and Stuart Duff from our academy went over and ran a training camp for three days.
“There were 110 kids taking part which was a hugely successful weekend.
“When they were out there they did a lot of educational workshops and knowledge sharing with their coaches, staff, even their directors were involved, and it was a huge success.
“It’s things like this which will help nurture that relationship.
“They’ve just finished their season so hopefully in the next couple of weeks there might be an opportunity for their guys to come here and have a look at our guys coaching on the pitch and for them to meet other senior officials at the club for knowledge sharing.”
Diversity of partners important for Aberdeen
Hedderman is under no doubt strong relationships are pivotal for Aberdeen as they look to grow on and off the field.
With three clubs currently in the partnership portfolio, he believes they offer a diverse range of opportunities for the club.
He has not ruled out increasing the number of partnership clubs in the future, but for now it is clear that strengthening the relationship with the three existing partners is the priority.
Hedderman said: “It’s a cliche, but football is a global game. It’s huge and you are often looking to grow your network and build relationships.
“Our local fanbase is huge, but commercially we have to look at opportunities of how we can grow the presence of the club, the brand outwith Aberdeen and we need to look at different ways of anchoring ourselves down with so many ex-pats all over the world and how they support Aberdeen.
“We’re well positioned at the moment.
“We have a top MLS club in Atlanta United, a really well run club out in San Jose and the KR Reykjavik partnership has started well. They are such an iconic club in Iceland.
“We’ll be looking at other opportunities and other ways we can really bring value to key partners, whether it is more in America, out in Dubai or other areas in the world.
“But we have to be careful not to over-extend ourselves.
“We have to take our time and build this properly because what we’re looking for is quality partnerships rather than quantity.”
TOMORROW – KR Reykjavik chairman Pall Kristjansson on his club’s link-up with Aberdeen and how they can help the Dons scout players in Iceland
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