THE story of Aberdeen FC’s greatest triumph, their 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup victory, will be retold in a BBC Scotland documentary.

The side led by legendary Scottish manager Sir Alex Ferguson defeated the most successful European club of all time, Real Madrid, to claim the trophy.

Now those involved will relive the day in the hour-long film, Aberdeen ’83: Once in a Lifetime.

David Harron, BBC Scotland executive producer, said: “This was a seminal moment in the history of Scottish club football.

“Sir Alex Ferguson built Aberdeen into a formidable force in the domestic competitions before taking on Europe.

“His reflections on the campaign are among the many highlights in this archive-rich celebration of an unparalleled triumph for the club.”

The documentary features interviews with Sir Alex himself, captain Willie Miller and other members of the team such as Alex McLeish and Gordon Strachan.

The Cup Winners’ Cup is a competition many younger football fans are not familiar with, as it was discontinued following the 1998-99 campaign.

In total it ran for 39 seasons, and in that almost four decades of history, only two Scottish clubs claimed the crown – Rangers in 1972 and Aberdeen in 1983.

As the name suggests, the competition pitted the winners of European nations’ domestic cup winners against each other, for a total of 32 teams.

The winners of the previous competition were also granted entry.

This made the competition a boiling pot for variety, as weaker countries were represented, but the criteria for entry was more exclusive and prestigious than other European competitions.

The tournament was rebranded as the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994.

In the 1983 final, the Dons ran out 2-1 winners against Los Blancos, thanks to forward John Hewitt’s extra-time winner.

This made them only the third Scottish club to win a European honour.

Thanks to his legendary flying header, Hewitt would later go on to be inducted into Aberdeen’s Hall of Fame.

The team made up of entirely Scotsmen would follow through by winning the European Super Cup against Hamburger SV.

With three successive Scottish Cup wins, the club had the opportunity to repeat their triumph, but despite making the semi-finals the next year, they never managed it.

They did, however, win two league titles, back-to-back in 83-84 and 84-85, before Ferguson left to build his empire at Manchester United.

The Ferguson era would go on to be remembered as one of the best in the club’s 119-year history.

James Craggs, the film's director, said: “This has been one of the most satisfying stories we’ve told to date.

“Aberdeen FC achieving what they did under Sir Alex will never happen again and that story makes this film one of our proudest yet.”