Aberdeen name former Hibs ace as club captain on eve of Premiership kick off against Hearts
The former Millwall and Dunfermline Athletic man takes on the armband after Graeme Shinnie’s exit from Pittodrie.
Scotland international striker Kevin Nisbet has been named as the new club captain at Aberdeen ahead of their 2026/27 Scottish Premiership campaign kicking off.
The Dons start the new league season with Hearts the visitors to Pittodrie in the late kick off on Saturday. There is no love lost between the Jambos fans and the new skipper of the North East club who scored 31 goals in 78 appearances as a Hibs player between 2020 and 2023.
The 29-year-old scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 Edinburgh Derby win for the Hibees at Easter Road back in April 2023, a match that saw them end a nine game winless run against their rivals. Nisbet left Leith for a move to English Football League Championship side Millwall that summer but injury hampered his time in South East London and he returned to the Scottish Premiership with Aberdeen in 2024, signing initially on loan before completing a permanent move.
Former Hibs striker named Aberdeen captain with Hearts heading to Pittodrie for season opener
The 11 times capped Scotland forward finished the Premier Sports Cup group stage as top scorer in the competition with six goals from their four matches and was one of four Dons players to start a match wearing the captain’s armband. Former Kilmarnock skipper Brad Lyons was another and someone who Stephen Robinson clearly considered for the role as the midfielder has been named vice captain for the new season.
Fellow ex Rugby Park man Lewis Mayo also started a League Cup game as captain as did another new centre back arrival in former Leyton Orient defender Daniel Happe. However, Robinson has opted not to permanently give the armband to a new arrival and instead went with Nisbet who is entering his third full season with the club.
He takes over the role from modern day Aberdeen legend Graeme Shinnie, the Scottish Cup winning captain who made just under 350 first team appearances for his hometown club over two spells. The 34-year-old midfielder has returned to first club Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Nisbet will be hoping his first match as official Dons’ skipper will end in victory and recent history certainly suggests that is entirely likely. Hearts have not won a game at Pittodrie in over a decade with their last victory coming back in May 2016.
That game is due to kick off at 5:30pm on Saturday, August 1 as part of the opening weekend of Scottish Premiership fixtures. Here is the full list of round one matches for the 2026/27 top flight season:
Friday, July 31
- Dundee United vs Rangers - Tannadice Park, 8pm kick off
Saturday, August 1
- Falkirk vs St Mirren - The Falkirk Stadium, 3pm kick off
- Aberdeen vs Hearts - Pittodrie Stadium, 5:30pm kick off
Sunday, August 2
- St Johnstone vs Kilmarnock - McDiarmid Park, 2pm kick off
- Hibs vs Motherwell - Easter Road Stadium, 4:30pm kick off
- Celtic vs Dundee - Celtic Park, 7:30pm kick off
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