Ultimate Masterclass Festival brings legendary night to Music Hall

The 2024 Ultimate Masterclass Festival kicked-off the second half of the year in legendary style as three greats of British sport joined Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce for an unforgettable evening at the Music Hall.

Gianfranco Zola, Damon Hill and Colin Montgomerie appeared at the Music Hall, quizzed on their sporting careers by Ryan Crighton.

The trio opened up on the challenges they faced on their way to the top of their respective sports, the celebrations after winning major titles, and what it takes to be a champion.

Gianfranco Zola

The Italian forward was the first to take to the stage, sharing stories and insight from training and playing with Diego Maradona at Napoli, before winning European glory with Parma and moving to join Chelsea.

Gianfranco left the London club in the summer of 2003, just as Roman Abrahamovic took over.

However, the diminutive forward already had a verbal agreement to ply his trade in Italy once more, this time with Cagliari.

“I suspected that when Roman was buying the club he didn’t know that I was not part of the deal,” Gianfranco said.

“I suspect that Ken Bates (then Chelsea chairman) didn’t say that.

“I didn’t sign any contract but had a verbal agreement with the chairman in Cagliari, so when I found out the club was bought by Roman I was very pleased for them, but I couldn’t go back on my word.

“On top of that, I wanted to leave Chelsea at my top. That was my dream, actually.

“I had two dreams in those years; they were to leave Chelsea at my peak, and the other one was to go back to Sardinia and still be able to give something to the team over there.

“When Roman found out that I was moving to another team, and I know this because the chairman of Cagliari told me later, he phoned the Cagliari chairman and he said: ‘I know Zola is going to sign a contract for you, can you tell me how much it’s going to cost to buy him back?’

“The chairman said I was not for sale.

“Roman replied: ‘How much is it to buy Cagliari then?’"

Damon Hill

A legend of Formula 1, the former world champion has been involved in some of the sports most high-profile moments.

Hill was the teammate of Ayrton Senna when the Brazilian great died after an incident during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, which was just a day after the death of Austrian rookie driver Roland Ratzenberger.

It was that season Hill lost the title to Michael Schumacher during the last race in controversial circumstances.

The Williams man only had to wait another two seasons to get his hand on the title though, winning in 1996 even after he’d found out he was to be dropped by his team at the end of the season.

But even getting a seat in F1 proved difficult for Hill, despite his father being a former world champion himself.

“I was trying to get to Formula 1 aged 20 to about 29, up until about 1990.

“My son was born in 1989, he’s got downs syndrome. Me and Georgie had just bought a house and mortgage rates had gone up, and we had our son, and we developed a crack that went all the way up the house. Literally, our house was falling apart.

“But then I got these opportunities which just seemed to snowball, and I got a chance to drive a car. I showed what I could do and I was much more determined, and I think that was spotted.

“I ended up being a test driver for Williams at a time when Nigel Mansell was winning everything, and I was driving his car.

“I was in the right place at the right time when he left.

“It was a Friday night and Sir Frank Williams phoned up and he said ‘can you come up to Grove?’

“I lived it Wandsworth which is a good two and a half hours away in traffic.

“I said: ‘well it better be worth the trip, Frank’, and he said: ‘I think you should come up’.

“Eventually I got the drive alongside Alan Prost. My first team mate in F1 was a three-times world champion, soon to be four times.”

Colin Montgomerie

The final guest to join Ryan on stage was golfing great and Ryder Cup legend Colin Montgomerie.

‘Monty’ is widely regarded as one of, if not the greatest player of all time never to win a major.

Colin also played the first round on the Trump International Golf Links course, alongside Donald Trump himself.

The Troon-born golfer also boasts one of the best Ryder Cup records in history having never lost a singles match, as well as captaining the side to victory in Celtic Manor in 2010.

Monty won five of eight Ryder Cup’s he featured in as a player, as well as sneaking over the line by a single point as skipper in 2010.

“I actually enjoyed it,” Monty said.

“And I’m a great believer in if you enjoy something then you’re usually quite good at it.”

But when asked about his tournament as captain, Monty said, in jest, “no I didn’t enjoy it at all”.

“It was going okay,” he continued.

“Got the guys out playing and then when they went off, when they started off, I’d lost control.

“Like a football manager, you send your best 11 on the pitch, but have you got control?

“I wanted to hit their shots for them but I wasn’t able to and help them but I couldn’t.

“It was weird that I’d lost control. I hated that part of being captain.

“It was a pressure, as well. We have a record in Europe that we’re very, very proud of. It’s one of the great sporting records really.

“When we return to a home venue, which be Ireland in 2027, it’ll be 34 years since we’ve lost a Ryder Cup at home.

“I was in the middle of this in 2010 and it was this record that I had to sustain, I had to keep this record alive.

“It was close. People said: ‘there’s Monty got emotional on the 17^th when Graham McDowell beat Hunter Mahan’.

“I wasn’t emotional at all, someone had sprayed champagne in my face!”

“It was relief I felt, more than it was excitement of winning."

Join us at our next event

Join AGCC for a deep dive into branding and sales at this special Business Breakfast with Lorenzo Moretti.

Born and raised in Aberdeen, Lorenzo has gone on to lead some of the world’s most high-profile consumer brands, including Office, Dr. Martens, Nike, Gap, Tesco and now Champion.

Delegates will also hear from experts at Mearns & Gill who will share their expertise in bringing local brands to life.

A limited number of tickets are left and are available here.