Jimmy Thelin reveals family sacrifice to lead Aberdeen to Scottish Cup glory

Press and Journal

26-05-2025

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin says Scottish Cup glory is payback for the 'difficult' ongoing sacrifice he makes in being apart from his family.
Thelin's wife and two children still live in Sweden which means Zoom calls every evening after training to talk with them.
He admits he has to make the most of international breaks to return to Sweden to get quality time with his family.
The 47-year-old says he is proud of his family for making that sacrifice for his footballing career.
That was rewarded when Thelin led the Dons to their first Scottish Cup since 1990 when triumphing 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out against Celtic.
His wife, kids, parents and in-laws watched the dramatic final win live in their home in Boras, Sweden.
Thelin's brother Tommy, who previously played for him at Jönköpings Södra IF, attended the final.
For Thelin ending 35 years of Scottish Cup agony was also reward for the club's supporters.
On his family, he said: 'Of course we had to make a decision together and we know what we are doing.
'But still it's your family and it's always difficult.
'No one has forced me to do this, we are aligned in this process, but of course it's your kids and your wife.
'But it's been quite good to find opportunities in the breaks from school or international breaks to get some time together.
'And of course have these nice chats.
'A lot of Zoom, all the time, every evening.
'I have quite a lot of emotions now and I am so proud of my family back in Sweden, my wife and kids.
'They have allowed me to do this journey and have been so supportive all the time.'
Aberdeen moved to appoint Thelin in April last year from Swedish top flight club Elfsborg.
He led them to two Allsvenskan runners-up finishes during his time at the club.
He remained at Elfsborg until they entered their mid-season shutdown before starting at Pittodrie in June.
In his first season at Pittodrie, Thelin has now become only the fifth Aberdeen manager to lead the club to the Scottish Cup.
The others are Alex Smith, Sir Alex Ferguson, Eddie Turnbull and Dave Halliday.
Thelin had a video call with his family from Hampden in the immediate aftermath of lifting the trophy.
Does lifting silverware make the sacrifice of being apart from his loved ones worth it?
Thelin said: 'Yeah, everybody was together watching it.
'My wife, the kids, my wife's parents were there, my parents were there.
'It was so nice to have a chance to see them after the game and celebrate together.
'I'm so happy that my brother was at the final so we could celebrate together.
'We have some plans to travel when I'm coming back to Sweden to vacation.'
In emotional scenes at Hampden, Thelin raised the trophy to the 20,000 Dons fans and gestured that it was for them.
It was in acknowledgement of the tireless support from the Red Army during his time as manager.
Aberdeen have sold out Pittodrie on multiple times this season.
The Red Army also regularly snap up all their allocation for away tickets for both Premiership and cup games.
All 20,000 of Aberdeen's tickets for the final were sold out in the first day of going on sale.
Thelin said: 'If you think about what the supporters are doing, they are working hard, they have families.
'Yet they are travelling around the country to follow the team everywhere.
'They show so much passion.
'There were people over from Australia to see us in the final and it says so much how you need everyone to create success..
'They show so much passion.
'And even in the tough times they are there to push us'
'It's not about a manager or a team, you need everyone to become a strong club.
'We try to create a team spirit to take us forward and that includes everyone.'