Match Play

The match occurred on 12 September 1885. Arbroath was 15–0 up by half time and scored another 21 goals in the second half. The Scottish Athletic Journal wrote that the leather was landed between the posts 41 times, but five of those were disallowed; other reports claim only four goals were chalked off. Referee Dave Stormont later claimed that had he taken a harder line with the Aberdeen team, Arbroath could have won 43–0. The 35–0 score wired to the Scottish Football Association belongs to the concurrent Dundee Harp match, not this fixture.