 A reliable ball-winner, he won his first major honour for the team he had supported as a boy in the 1982 Scottish Cup.Between 1982 and 1986, Simpson's Pittodrie career gained him a list of domestic winners medals that included two Scottish league championships, three Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup.Simpson played in the 1981–82 UEFA Cup campaign which saw the Dons make their first-ever run of success in Europe by progressing to the Third Round at the expense of Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town and FC Argeş Piteşti of Romania.