North-East derby

For the Newcastle United v Sunderland derby match in North East England, see Tyne-Wear derby. For the Newcastle United v Middlesbrough derby match in North East England, see Tyne-Tees derby.

The North-East Derby is a term used to describe the matches played between Scottish football clubs Aberdeen and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.^[1] The clubs first met in a Scottish League Cup tie played on 8 August 1998. Inverness first entered the Scottish Football League in 1994 alongside fellow Highland side Ross County, forming the Highland derby. However, Inverness progressed over the next 10 years to form a rivalry with Aberdeen, after winning promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2004.

The match is considered to be a derby despite the fact that the two cities are over 100 miles apart. Aberdeen have no immediate rival geographically, although they have longstanding rivalries with both Rangers and Dundee United, who have frequently competed with them for Scottish major trophies.

With Ross County remaining in the lower reaches of the Scottish league, the lack of an alternative derby opponent for both clubs has led to the development of the rivalry. Due to the redevelopment of the Caledonian Stadium to meet SPL standard, Inverness had to share Pittodrie Stadium with Aberdeen during the first half of the 2004–05 league season.

The match has also been given an edge by Aberdeen enjoying a long unbeaten record against Inverness, partly thanks to a remarkable number of very late goals. This record was finally ended on the opening day of the 2008–09 league season when Inverness won 2–0 at Pittodrie. Other notable matches between the two clubs include a Scottish Cup tie in 2000. Aberdeen beat Inverness after a replay in the round after Inverness had caused a great shock by beating Celtic.

Matches played

Season	Date	Venue	Competition	Score[2]	Home Scorer(s)	Away Scorer(s)	Attendance	Report
1998-99	08.08.1998	Caledonian Stadium	League Cup	0–3		Dodds (1, 66, 70)	5,164	Sunday Mirror
1999-2000	20.02.2000	Caledonian Stadium	Scottish Cup	1–1	Mann (50)	Guntveit (81)	6,290	BBC Sport
	29.02.2000	Pittodrie	Scottish Cup	1–0	Stavrum (75)		18,451	Sporting Life
2004-05	16.10.2004	Pittodrie[3]	SPL	1–3	McBain (36)	Adams (28, 64 pen.), Mackie (90 pen.)	9,530	BBC Sport
	27.12.2004	Pittodrie	SPL	0–0			18,250	BBC Sport
	05.02.2005	Pittodrie	Scottish Cup	2–1	Mackie (15, 34)	Brewster (24)	10,595	BBC Sport
	02.04.2005	Caledonian Stadium	SPL	0–1		Whelan (38)	7,026	BBC Sport
2005-06	15.10.2005	Caledonian Stadium	SPL	1–1	Bayne (73)	J. Smith (55)	6,809	BBC Sport
	31.12.2005	Pittodrie	SPL	0–0			12,266	BBC Sport
	01.04.2006	Caledonian Stadium	SPL	0–1		Lovell (83)	7,368	BBC Sport
2006-07	05.08.2006	Pittodrie	SPL	1–1	Crawford (29)	Wilson (89)	11,955	BBC Sport
	06.11.2006	Caledonian Stadium	SPL	1–1	Bayne (78)	Lovell (90)	5,744	BBC Sport
	13.01.2007	Pittodrie	SPL	1–1	Lovell (90+3)	Rankin (86)	10,300	BBC Sport
2007-08	21.10.2007	Caledonian Stadium	SPL	1–2	Wyness (58)	Young (8), Tokely (68 o.g.)	6,023	BBC Sport
	31.10.2007	Pittodrie	League Cup	4–1	Nicholson (10 pen. 21 pen. 78), Miller (45)	Bayne (68)	7,270	BBC Sport
	02.01.2008	Pittodrie	SPL	1–0	Nicholson (83 pen.)		13,372	BBC Sport
	29.03.2008	Caledonian Stadium	SPL	3–4	Bus (21 o.g.), Duncan (40), McBain (57)	Aluko (7), Nicholson (45), Miller (53), Maguire (90+3)	5,655	BBC Sport
2008-09	29.08.2008	Pittodrie	SPL	0–2		Barrowman (27), McBain (90)	12,659	BBC Sport
	20.12.2008	Caledonian Stadium	SPL	0–3		Mulgrew (6), McDonald (51), Mackie (56)	5,862	BBC Sport
	11.04.2009	Pittodrie	SPL	1–0	McDonald (79)		11,114	BBC Sport
2010-11	02.10.2010	Caledonian Stadium	SPL	2–0	Hayes (19), Rooney (61)		6,144	BBC Sport
	09.11.2010	Pittodrie	SPL	1–2	Velicka (49)	Rooney (34 pen.), Munro (81)	5,917	BBC Sport
	26.01.2011	Caledonian Stadium	SPL	0–2		Jack (44), Blackman (49)	4,468	BBC Sport
	30.04.2011	Pittodrie	SPL	1–0	Pawlett (75)		6,280	BBC Sport

Head to head results

Competition	Aberdeen wins	Draws	Inverness CT wins	Aberdeen goals	Inverness CT goals
SPL	10	6	3	23	16
Scottish Cup	2	1	0	4	2
Scottish League Cup	2	0	0	7	1
Overall	14	8	3	36	19

Notes

1. ^ Etherson, Brian. Inverness match is derby for Calderwood, Setanta Sports, 8 August 2008.^{[dead link]}
2. ^ The home team's score is shown first.
3. ^ Inverness played a "home" game against Aberdeen at Pittodrie because the Caledonian Stadium was being redeveloped to meet SPL standards.