Dons' record-breaker takes bus to big time

FRASER FYVIE played in the SPL just two months after leaving school and has been told by Joe Harper he can be one of Aberdeen's all-time greats.

But if ever the 16-year-old needs any reminding that he has a long way to go, he gets it every day after training.

As the rest of the Dons stars climb into a fleet of top-of-the-range cars to make their way home, Fyvie simply heads to the nearest bus stop and looks out his fare.

Still two months too young to learn to drive and 14 months before he can legally drink, Fyvie's bus tickets and unopened man-of-the-match champagne bottles are constant reminders that he's still a boy playing a man's game.

Given his eye-catching displays since becoming the youngest ever Dons player after debuting at Hamilton in August, Fyvie is at least guaranteed that the banter on the journey home is good natured.

Now, after scooping the Clydesdale Bank Premier League Young Player of the Month for January, the most exciting prospect to emerge from the Granite City in many a long year might just get a few more pats on the back from his growing fan base in the weeks ahead.

He said: "I only left school in the summer. My pals are delighted for me, but they were when I wasn't even full time. I still keep in touch with all of them. A few of them are doing apprenticeships, and some of them are still in school. Some are in electrical engineering, stuff like that.

"I was an Aberdeen fan when I was growing up so it's great to play for them now. I came to the games when I could, but I was playing a lot of games when I was younger, for my school and for Aberdeen's youth teams.

"There were a few players I admired, guys like Russell Anderson and Robbie Winters. I still stay at home which is great as I don't need to cook or anything like that.

"I'm too young to drive so usually my mum takes me in the morning and I'll just get the bus home. Or sometimes one of the lads will give me a lift home.

"I've been mobbed a few times, but I just sit away and speak to them."

Players around Anderson's age were always burdened by the trophy-winning years they lived through as young boys.

That's not such a concern for Fyvie as his tender years mean he was just two when Aberdeen last lifted a trophy - the 1995 League Cup.

That might make depressing reading for Dons fans but it also serves as a reminder as to how remarkably well Fyvie's done to claim a central spot in Mark McGhee's plans so young.

He said: "After the games I feel tired. It takes me a few days to recover, probably more than everyone else. I just rest, after training and after games. A lot of the coaches I have had have helped me with my confidence, to go and get the ball and not hide. Get the ball and make sure I'm comfortable on it.

"My biggest career influence was the coach I was with when I was younger, Raymond Yule. He coached me with Aberdeen youth team for six years and he helped me a lot.

"I was a little shocked when I heard I'd be making my debut at Hamilton. It was just the day of the game that the manager told me.

"He named the team at a meeting. He said my name and I got a bit of a shock, but I was delighted my name came up.

"I was nervous before the game, then when it got to the game I settled quite easily, because the players helped me.

"The boys in the dressing room, if you're getting too big-headed they tear you right back down. I have my family around me as well, to keep my feet on the ground.

"My dad played Highland League for Keith and Cove Rangers. He was a winger, but I didn't see him play."

That August day at New Douglas Park will have been the first time most Dons fans would have seen Fyvie - yet he could already have claimed to have played in front of a capacity crowd at Pittodrie.

Two years ago, as part of the 25th anniversary of Gothenburg celebrations, Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United came to town. As part of the half-time entertainment a little flame-haired midfielder walked out on to the Pittodrie pitch for the first time.

Fyvie said: "It was a Paul Lawrie select against the Gothenburg Greats and the Gothenburg Greats had a few players out, so Neil Simpson asked me to play with them and I was like, 'yeah, I'll do that'. I was 14."

Mark McGhee was at Motherwell at the time but Fyvie had already made an impression.

Now in the Dons hotseat, McGhee feels Fyvie has the ability to go as far in the game as any of the greats he played with that night.

McGhee said: "He compares with any of the Gothenburg guys. You've got to look at what he's achieving now and think what he'll be like when he's played 200 games and by that time he'll only be 20.

"When I joined Willie Miller said there were a couple of young players he believed to be outstanding prospects - not just good players that might or might not benefit me in the first team but players he believed could go to the top.

"I wasn't sure but Willie's not been far wrong."

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