aberdeen fc handbook 1949 50

Amongst the plethora of printed ephemera housed in The Aberdeen Collection, we have this gem of football publishing: The Aberdeen F.C. Handbook 1949-50.

Within the twenty pages of the booklet, which is roughly A5 in size, can be found a history of the Dons up to that point in time along with three rare photographs of match action.  Less than half of the booklet is devoted to Aberdeen, the remainder taking a broad look at the rest of Scottish, including International, football.

Published by a Dundee firm, The Simmath Press, this was one of many that were produced from the 1930s into the 1950s. Clubs of every size were covered during that time providing a great source of research for present day football researchers. Even the eight advertisements in the booklet provide interest.

In the case of Aberdeen, it appears that there were only two booklets produced. In 1948 there was “Through the Years” a club history, followed in 1949 by the Handbook shown here. Copies of the handbook are every few and the chances of collectors finding them are slim but well worth the effort of searching it out.

Simmath Press became a division of Valentines of Dundee, the famed publisher of postcards, but operated as a separate entity until it went out of business in about 1955. Small publishers such as this are deserving of appreciation for the work that the did and the valuable historic legacy they left.