Neil Simpson vividly remembers some of the illustrious personalities who captured his attention as he was growing up in Aberdeenshire. There was Muhammad Ali, the boxer with charisma to burn and a magnetism which seared off the screen; Brazil’s nonpareil Pele, who bewitched, bothered and bewildered opponents with beautiful skill at the 1970 World Cup; and David Wilkie, the swimmer who surged to a world-record-breaking Olympic gold medal in Montreal in 1976. These were the exploits which spurred on Simpson as he advanced into the Aberdeen team, making his first XI debut at 16, and subsequently joining the Gothenburg Greats who defeated Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1983.
Fletcher’s been eating his porridge Unlike most of his confreres from that vintage, the 62-year-old is still working at Pittodrie, a driven, determined director of the club’s youth academy and, although the Dons’ senior squad has suffered a torrid season, the kids have made amends. They won the Scottish youth league, have been involved in several age-group cup finals, and produced success stories such as Fletcher Boyd, the 16-year-old who has attracted headlines with his brace of goals for Aberdeen in the space of two matches. Simpson has been impressed by the emergence of a prodigious crop of teenagers and none of it has happened by accident.
Instead, it’s the culmination of years of work at the grassroots by scouts, coaches and others who rarely seek credit for their labou.
