A new sightseeing tour has been launched in Aberdeen this weekend, taking in all the city’s tourist attractions, from Duthie Park and Fittie to His Majesty’s Theatre and, yes, Pittodrie Stadium.
The surprise is that it has taken them so long, although it might be argued that there hasn’t been much demand in recent years for open-top bus tours stopping by the football ground.
After all, there have been hardly any trophies to showcase, never mind parade on top of a double-decker. In nearly three decades, the club have lifted just one — the 2014 League Cup. It is 35 years since they last won the Scottish Cup.
Since Brian Irvine’s shootout penalty won them the Scottish Cup in 1990, that trophy has been lifted by Celtic (13 times), Rangers (10), Hearts (3), Dundee United (2), St Johnstone (2), Motherwell, Kilmarnock, Inverness and Hibernian.
The absence of Aberdeen from that rich and varied list amounts to something of an embarrassment for all at Pittodrie, who know it isn’t good enough for a club of their stature.
Jimmy Thelin is hoping he can guide Aberdeen to the silverware that has too often eluded them
Hearts boss Neil Critchley needs to convince supporters that he is still the man for the job
It perhaps explains the excitement earlier this season when new manager Jimmy Thelin finally seemed to be tapping into their age-old potential, winning all of their first 13 games. That fuelled talk of a title challenge, never mind a trophy.
Then came the reality check: 14 league games without a win and the realisation that they are not all they were cracked up to be.
They have picked up again recently, but, all in all, nobody knows quite what to make of Aberdeen’s season and whether it will be deemed a success.
Which takes us nicely to Hampden tomorrow, where they will play Hearts in a Scottish Cup semi-final that has a season-defining quality for both clubs.
The task for each of them is to show that, in the grand scheme of things, they are heading in the right direction.
For Hearts, it is the only thing left to play for, consigned as they are to the bottom six of the Premiership and a summer of calls for Neil Critchley to be removed from his position.
For Aberdeen, it is a chance to regain more of their lost momentum and show that, as their season reaches a crossroads, they have taken the right turn.
They are on a six-game unbeaten run, but the loss of a two-goal lead against Rangers’ 10-man reserve team last Sunday means that they have slipped into fifth place, their lowest position since the opening weekend. They are on the same points as fourth-placed Dundee United and three behind third-placed Hibs.
Alexander Jensen is one of several January signings who have stabilised Aberdeen’s defence
Thelin has stabilised them lately, thanks in part to the signings in January of defenders Alexander Jensen, Mats Knoester, Kristers Tobers and Alfie Dorrington, but they will need more than that to match the flair of Hibs, who seem to be improving by the week.
If the Premiership table were to remain as it is, Aberdeen would finish only two places higher than they did last season, when they parted company with two managers and flirted with relegation.
The least Aberdeen want from a season that promised so much is a place in Europe, preferably one that takes them straight into group-stage football. While that can come with finishing third in the league, the safest way to do it is by winning the Scottish Cup.
Which brings us back to that trophy they have lived without for so long. If winning it is too much to ask — it often is when Celtic are still involved — Thelin can at least make a statement by reaching the final. After all, Aberdeen have won just two of their 10 Scottish Cup semi-finals since the turn of the century.
In November, they lost 6-0 to Celtic in the League Cup semi-final, but this time they face struggling Hearts, their longstanding rivals in the quest to be ‘best of the rest’.
Moving forward, Aberdeen want to reclaim that status and, in so doing, give themselves the most regular chance of winning trophies.
If Thelin is to be successful, he needs more days like these, more finals, more top-three finishes that take them into Europe.
But, more importantly, he needs silverware to show for it, otherwise he will be just another Aberdeen manager whose journey came up short. And heaven knows, they have had enough of missing the bus.
