Roy Aitken

This article is about the Scottish footballer. For the film producer, see Roy Aitken (film producer).

Roy Aitken
Aitken in September 1982
Personal information
Full name Robert Sime Aitken[1]
Date of birth (1958-11-24) 24 November 1958 (age 65)
Place of birth Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1973–1975 Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1990 Celtic 484 (40)
1990–1991 Newcastle United 54 (1)
1991–1992 St Mirren 34 (1)
1992–1995 Aberdeen 29 (2)
Total 784 (59)
International career
1976–1984 Scotland U21[3] 16 (2)
1979–1991 Scotland 57 (1)
1990[4] SFA (SFL Centenary) 1 (0)
Managerial career
1995–1997 Aberdeen
2006 Aston Villa (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Sime "Roy" Aitken (born 24 November 1958)[5] is a Scottish former football player and manager. He made over 480 league appearances for Celtic, and later played for Newcastle United, St Mirren and Aberdeen. Aitken also made 57 international appearances for Scotland. His playing position was either in midfield or defence.

Aitken had become assistant manager at Aberdeen towards the end of his playing career, and was appointed their manager in February 1995. He led the Dons to a Scottish League Cup win in 1995–96, but was sacked in November 1997. He has since coached several clubs, including Leeds United and Aston Villa.

  1. ^ "Roy Aitken". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  2. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Roy Aitken (Player)". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Scotland Under-21 player Roy Aitken". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  4. ^ On this day, back in 1990, a Scottish League XI beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park in the SFL Centenary match with the goal coming from then Aberdeen Football Club star Hans Gillhaus, Scottish Professional Football League via Facebook, 18 August 2016
  5. ^ Roy Aitken at the Scottish Football Association