The 2019–20 Aberdeen F.C. season was Aberdeen's 106th season in the top flight of Scottish football and the seventh in the Scottish Premiership. Aberdeen also competed in the League Cup, the Scottish Cup, and in qualifying for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.
On 13 March 2020, the Scottish football season was suspended with immediate effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 18 May 2020, the SPFL declared the end of the season determining on an average points per game with the Dons finishing in fourth place.
Summary
June
The club at the end of May confirmed youngsters David Craddock, Morgan Brown and Ryan Harrington were released along with Greg Halford, whilst Greg Stewart, Dominic Ball, James Wilson and Max Lowe returned to their parent clubs. Graeme Shinnie and Mark Reynolds signed pre-contracts with Derby County and Dundee United respectively.
On 4 June, Wales International Ryan Hedges signed a three-year deal on a pre-contract joining from Barnsley officially on 1 July, and Ash Taylor signed a two-year deal as he returns to Pittodrie after two years at Northampton Town. The following day, Curtis Main signed a two-year deal joining from Motherwell. On 13 June, Sam Roscoe joined Ayr United. On 17 June, Luc Bollan joined the development squad from Dundee United.
On 18 June, the Europa League First Qualifying Round draw was made and the Dons were drawn to play against Finnish side RoPS. The following day, Craig Bryson signed a two-year deal on a pre-contract and will join on 30 June from Derby County. Also, Michael Ruth joined from Queens Park and with the Dons paying Compensation, he joined up with the development squad. On 21 June, the Premiership fixtures were released with the Dons starting at home to Hearts.
On 22 June, Jon Gallagher joined the club on an initial six-month loan from MLS side Atlanta United. On 24 June, after contacting him in January, Gary Mackay-Steven signed for New York City. On 25 June, Greg Leigh signed a season-long loan from Dutch side NAC Breda with the option of a future deal. Young goalkeeper Archie Mair joined Norwich City with the Dons receiving compensation for the player, and the club signed up Sam Jackson from Dundee who joined the development squad on a one-year deal.
July
On 3 July, after spending last season on loan, James Wilson signed a two-year deal. He later that day played in a 2–0 friendly win against Peterhead with Sam Cosgrove and Shay Logan scoring the goals. On 5 July, youngster David Dangana joined Stranraer on a season-long loan. On 8 July, after signing a new one-year deal in May, Frank Ross joined Ayr United on loan until January.
Before the first European tie with RoPS Rovaniemi, goalkeeper Joe Lewis was named as the new club captain after the departure of Graeme Shinnie to Derby County. On the day of the match, manager Derek McInnes and assistant head coach Tony Docherty signed a new two-year deal to 2022. The Dons won the first leg 2–1 and despite dominating the match, they conceded a stoppage-time goal, keeping the tie in the balance.
On 14 July, Funso Ojo signed a three-year deal joining from Scunthorpe United for a fee believed to be £125,000. He was originally set to join Hibernian, but manager McInnes convinced him to join Aberdeen. The Dons then played RoPS Rovaniemi in Finland, and in a very nervy match, they won 2–1 to set up a tie with Georgia side Chikhura Sachkhere. Subsequently, the opening match of the season with Hearts was rearranged to 4 August.
August
After drawing 1–1 in the first leg, the Dons thrashed Chikhura Sachkhere 5–0 at Pittodrie to set up a tie with Rijeka who they met in 2015 and won 5–2 on aggregate. Due to the Dons qualifying for the next round, the League match with St Mirren and the League Cup match with Dundee were pushed back 24 hours to the Sundays. Before the away match with Rijeka, Zak Vyner joined the club on an initial season-long loan from Bristol City. The Dons also resisted a transfer request from defender Scott McKenna and bids for him from Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest and Bristol City. Aberdeen lost the away leg to Rijeka 2–0, with reports Dons fans were treated badly with lead to an investigation by UEFA.
On 14 August, goalkeeper Danny Rogers moved to Greenock Morton on a season-long loan deal. Aberdeen were knocked out of the Europa League with a 2–0 defeat to Rijeka, ending 4–0 on aggregate. It was the sixth year in a row they had failed to get past the third qualifying round. Aberdeen needed extra time to beat Dundee in the League Cup to set up a quarter-final tie away to Hearts.