Loirston chosen for new stadium

Aberdeen FC set to move

EXCLUSIVE

By Charlie Allan

 

Published: 03/04/2009

 

THE Evening Express can today reveal the preferred location for Aberdeen’s new community stadium.

 

The £38 million community facility, which will become home to Aberdeen FC, will be at Loirston Loch in the south of the city.

 

It follows a year-long series of feasibility studies to decide if the site at Nigg would be the best location for the stadium.

 

The report on the recommendation of the Nigg site will now go out to consultation and will be referred to the council’s policy and strategy committee on April 28.

 

A number of other potential sites across the city, including one at King’s Links, were examined by Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeen FC and it was decided all of them were unsuitable.

 

Aberdeen FC managing director Duncan Fraser, who is also a member of the Arena Project Advisory and Monitoring Board created to advise of the best site and stadium design, said: “These recommendations have still to be approved and at the appropriate time, there will be a full consultation process with fans.

 

“Their feedback will be important.â€

 

For more on this story, and an exclusive image of the new arena, pick up today’s Evening Express or check back later

This whole preposal fills me to dread to the very core.

 

If this board of directors track record has anything to go by this may spell the end of Aberdeen Football Club. Nothing this board has done has inspired me.  Aberdeen Football club survives despite these faceless men.

 

Cove is the THIRD choice site for the club.

 

Cove is NOT Aberdeen

 

In the same way Motherwell  is not thought of as part of Glasgow and Dunfermline as part of Edinburgh. We are going to lose our identity.  I disagree with Ajja. The reason our club survives is precisely because we dont play in the B and Q stadium in a piece of wasteground in a mechano stadium.  And that people CAN walk from The Pittodrie Bar, or the Blue Lamp or thier OWN FUCKING HOMES TO THE GROUND.  Does anybody on here ACTUALLY think that we are going to get an amazing modern architectural statement from this current bunch of visionaries within our club?

 

The answer is no, because, as per usual, this project will be completed with the lowest cost figure in mind, which does not necessarily provide VALUE for money.

 

The selling of the ground around Pittodrie is one of the biggest scandals in the city. we are a one club city with (apparently) nowhere to go.  The lack of judgement from the board is a disgrace for which they should be held accountable.  If not the expanding of the ground, then the space for decent quality training facilities.  In this regard we are a joke.  A continuing joke that has never been dealt with.  The board harp on about relying on youth.  Yeah, well how about giving those people you rely on to keep this club going THE RESPECT OF HALF DECENT TRAINING FACILTIES, rather than dog turd strewn public parks.

 

There is much spin about the merits from moving from Pittodrie (on a cynical note I believe it is to feather the nest of those on the board).  There has been very little said about re-vamping the old place and waht has been said is to my mind utter shite.  Yes, thae main stand needs replaced, but i bet you your bottom dollar there is a way of achieving this without losing too much capacity.  And so what if we do lose 5k seats? Very rarely do we achieve 17K.  This is a fact we are hammered for in the weegia repeatedly.  It just means we cut the ugly sisters allocation and make the place our own.

 

Remember, this board dragged our club into debt over the RDS.  If they didnt see a future in the old place than that has been for nothing.  All that subsequent tightening of purse strings afterwards could have gone to a better quality of product on the park.  This surely is a debacle that can never be forgiven.

 

Like i said.  Aberdeen Football Club survives desopite the board of directors.

 

STAND  FREE

 

PS 650k A FUCKING YEAR for WM inc services?  If he loved this club so much he would offer to drop his wages to free money up for current playing staff.

 

 

 

 

 

Motherwell arnea in Motherwell though, they're in Wishaw?

Motherwell arnea in Motherwell though, they're in Wishaw?

 

Since when?

PS 650k A FUCKING YEAR for WM inc services?  If he loved this club so much he would offer to drop his wages to free money up for current playing staff.

 

 

 

 

 

Source?

This whole preposal fills me to dread to the very core.

 

If this board of directors track record has anything to go by this may spell the end of Aberdeen Football Club. Nothing this board has done has inspired me.  Aberdeen Football club survives despite these faceless men.

 

Cove is the THIRD choice site for the club.

 

Cove is NOT Aberdeen

 

In the same way Motherwell  is not thought of as part of Glasgow and Dunfermline as part of Edinburgh. We are going to lose our identity.  I disagree with Ajja. The reason our club survives is precisely because we dont play in the B and Q stadium in a piece of wasteground in a mechano stadium.  And that people CAN walk from The Pittodrie Bar, or the Blue Lamp or thier OWN FUCKING HOMES TO THE GROUND.  Does anybody on here ACTUALLY think that we are going to get an amazing modern architectural statement from this current bunch of visionaries within our club?

 

The answer is no, because, as per usual, this project will be completed with the lowest cost figure in mind, which does not necessarily provide VALUE for money.

 

The selling of the ground around Pittodrie is one of the biggest scandals in the city. we are a one club city with (apparently) nowhere to go.  The lack of judgement from the board is a disgrace for which they should be held accountable.  If not the expanding of the ground, then the space for decent quality training facilities.  In this regard we are a joke.  A continuing joke that has never been dealt with.  The board harp on about relying on youth.  Yeah, well how about giving those people you rely on to keep this club going THE RESPECT OF HALF DECENT TRAINING FACILTIES, rather than dog turd strewn public parks.

 

There is much spin about the merits from moving from Pittodrie (on a cynical note I believe it is to feather the nest of those on the board).  There has been very little said about re-vamping the old place and waht has been said is to my mind utter shite.  Yes, thae main stand needs replaced, but i bet you your bottom dollar there is a way of achieving this without losing too much capacity.  And so what if we do lose 5k seats? Very rarely do we achieve 17K.  This is a fact we are hammered for in the weegia repeatedly.  It just means we cut the ugly sisters allocation and make the place our own.

 

Remember, this board dragged our club into debt over the RDS.  If they didnt see a future in the old place than that has been for nothing.  All that subsequent tightening of purse strings afterwards could have gone to a better quality of product on the park.  This surely is a debacle that can never be forgiven.

 

Like i said.  Aberdeen Football Club survives desopite the board of directors.

 

STAND  FREE

 

PS 650k A FUCKING YEAR for WM inc services?  If he loved this club so much he would offer to drop his wages to free money up for current playing staff.

possibly

however the RDS didn't put us in debt, and if it did it has more than paid for it self. It was the crazy wages and fees in the mid 90s that built up the debt and the continued mismanagement since....I mean £1.2M loss this year was "good"!?

 

Anyway as much as I love walking down Merkland Road to Pittodrie the place is a dump has no atmosphere and really needs pulled down in it's entirety and started again.

As much as I love Pittodrie, at most home games, I am slightly embarrased by the lack of singing and atmosphere. For a home ground to be so quiet is scandalous.

 

I would love to see Pittodrie refurbished or rebuilt because, as much as Ajja hates it, Saturdays can't get better with a few pints in the Pitt or the Broadhill and seeing AFC usually grind to a win/draw/loss. 

possibly

however the RDS didn't put us in debt, and if it did it has more than paid for it self. It was the crazy wages and fees in the mid 90s that built up the debt and the continued mismanagement since....I mean £1.2M loss this year was "good"!?

 

Anyway as much as I love walking down Merkland Road to Pittodrie the place is a dump has no atmosphere and really needs pulled down in it's entirety and started again.

 

All part of the continuing msimanagemt from the board.

 

50 000 at park head every week and the place is a grave yard..

As much as I love Pittodrie, at most home games, I am slightly embarrased by the lack of singing and atmosphere. For a home ground to be so quiet is scandalous.

 

I would love to see Pittodrie refurbished or rebuilt because, as much as Ajja hates it, Saturdays can't get better with a few pints in the Pitt or the Broadhill and seeing AFC usually grind to a win/draw/loss.

 

You need to go back and read my comments. Pre-match boozing is the best part of any Saturday as far as I am concerned but you have to accept at some point that the old fashioned structures of football are becoming redundant.

I've read every angle on the proposed move away from Pittodrie, from today's current acceptance that we're gonna be playing in Cove, to the original plans that saw Wiggy standing over a cowshite-filled patch of land at Bellfield Farm about seven years ago ... see images below

 

 

I refuse to believe that Pittodrie is a dead horse. Yes, the land around Pittodrie has been allowed to slip away from our grasp, but I've read a lot of talk from the pro-Cove/Loirston/wherever brigade that the ground that Pittodrie sits on is just not suitable to hold structures like multi-thousand-seater stands. If a piece of land no more than 300 metres away can hold something as magnificent as the Chris Anderson Sports Complex, why the fuck is ground beneath Pittodrie such a difficult thing to manipulate?

 

Look at the great clubs of British football. The one thing the vast majority of them have in common is their stadiums are situated IN THE CITY! Arsenal and Man City, albeit have many many times the riches we have. But they have both relocated to new stadiums within close proximity of the old stadium.

 

Even in Scottish football, the most prominent clubs have worked with various sections of the surrounding community to ensure that the club remains in the city. Hibs and Hearts, in particular, were tightly constrained by houses and public buildings. However, the city council have worked with both clubs to free up land so that Hearts could stay in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, and Hibs could stay in Leith.

 

Aberdeen FC belongs at the beach as much as the Codonas, Beach Ballroom and the Kings Links. If you rip the heart out, the club just becomes another tenant in a lifeless shell of a stadium that is in a location brushed completely to one side. Aberdeen FC belongs first and foremostly in Aberdeen ... not in a commuter-suburb situated closer to Portlethen than to Aberdeen!

I've read every angle on the proposed move away from Pittodrie, from today's current acceptance that we're gonna be playing in Cove, to the original plans that saw Wiggy standing over a cowshite-filled patch of land at Bellfield Farm about seven years ago ... see images below

 

 

I refuse to believe that Pittodrie is a dead horse. Yes, the land around Pittodrie has been allowed to slip away from our grasp, but I've read a lot of talk from the pro-Cove/Loirston/wherever brigade that the ground that Pittodrie sits on is just not suitable to hold structures like multi-thousand-seater stands. If a piece of land no more than 300 metres away can hold something as magnificent as the Chris Anderson Sports Complex, why the fuck is ground beneath Pittodrie such a difficult thing to manipulate?

 

Look at the great clubs of British football. The one thing the vast majority of them have in common is their stadiums are situated IN THE CITY! Arsenal and Man City, albeit have many many times the riches we have. But they have both relocated to new stadiums within close proximity of the old stadium.

 

Even in Scottish football, the most prominent clubs have worked with various sections of the surrounding community to ensure that the club remains in the city. Hibs and Hearts, in particular, were tightly constrained by houses and public buildings. However, the city council have worked with both clubs to free up land so that Hearts could stay in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, and Hibs could stay in Leith.

 

Aberdeen FC belongs at the beach as much as the Codonas, Beach Ballroom and the Kings Links. If you rip the heart out, the club just becomes another tenant in a lifeless shell of a stadium that is in a location brushed completely to one side. Aberdeen FC belongs first and foremostly in Aberdeen ... not in a commuter-suburb situated closer to Portlethen than to Aberdeen!

 

 

:clap:

 

Also Ajja, the very essence of football is its perocialism, from the boys meeting in the red beastie for the past thirty years, to all over Europe and the biggest teams on earth, there will be an element of this.  It is, however the wonderful "modern" game that has tried to buy into this, the American, japanese, Arabian millionaires whilst meanwhile diluting  this sense of parochialism through soaring costs to the punter, has manifestly changes the nature of the product, to its utter detriment. 

I look forward to the Stadium move, 10 minutes up the road, 15 coming home, simple stuff.

I look forward to the Stadium move, 10 minutes up the road, 15 coming home, simple stuff.

 

Do you live up a hill or something?

Do you live up a hill or something?

Nope, car up to the stadium, medium pace walk home.

That's an impressive speed you've got there Mini!

That's an impressive speed you've got there Mini!

Indeed, it's all downhill on the way home, easy stuff.

That's an impressive speed you've got there Mini!

 

It's the spin bike!

Indeed, it's all downhill on the way home, easy stuff.

 

Yeah mate, must be some hill! I drive the seven miles or so to work each morning in around ten minutes, so for you to cover that walking in fifteen is great!

It's the spin bike!

If you look back near the start of this thread, you'll see I made an arse of nellie who tried to make a funnai with the spin jokes.

 

Loirston isn't 7 miles from my house though.

Cove is part of the city of Aberdeen, end of debate.

Personally I do not feel that it matters where in Aberdeen the stadium is located as long as we deliver on the pitch. I actually think that a brand new stadium, if the correct design is chosen, and the fans consulted in the correct manner will be rather spectacular, and even more so with a team producing the goods.

The possibility of attracting better players when better facilities are offered will become a little easier, other than offering them to train on a public park. 

Aberdeen FC have in their hands a opportunity to have one of the best stadiums in Scotland if not the UK or Europe. Let's hope they don't fuck it up.

Pittodrie is finished and we should deal with, support the new stadium development.

 

 

STAND FREE!!

 

 

:clap:

 

Also Ajja, the very essence of football is its perocialism, from the boys meeting in the red beastie for the past thirty years, to all over Europe and the biggest teams on earth, there will be an element of this.  It is, however the wonderful "modern" game that has tried to buy into this, the American, japanese, Arabian millionaires whilst meanwhile diluting  this sense of parochialism through soaring costs to the punter, has manifestly changes the nature of the product, to its utter detriment.

 

OK, I'll try to get this one straight...again. You are right in all you say and I agree with it entirely. Having shared many drunken trips with me you know I am all for this picture you paint and it is absolutely the lifeblood of the footballing day out that you and I enjoy and want to enjoy forever.

 

Trouble is, saying it, writing it, maybe even believing it is not going to change it. Modernisation is taking football in a different direction and however much that hurts the traditionalists its still going to happen. Progress will always trump the luddism and emotional rhetoric.

 

As for developing Pittodrie, is the sale of the land not the key to any new stadium whether it be ground up new build or major redevelopment ? Surely the money just isn't there to fund a revamp of the scale required.

Cove is part of the city of Aberdeen, end of debate.

Personally I do not feel that it matters where in Aberdeen the stadium is located as long as we deliver on the pitch. I actually think that a brand new stadium, if the correct design is chosen, and the fans consulted in the correct manner will be rather spectacular, and even more so with a team producing the goods.

The possibility of attracting better players when better facilities are offered will become a little easier, other than offering them to train on a public park.

Aberdeen FC have in their hands a opportunity to have one of the best stadiums in Scotland if not the UK or Europe. Let's hope they don't fuck it up.

Pittodrie is finished and we should deal with, support the new stadium development.

 

 

STAND FREE!!

 

Hate to break it to you.... but thats exactly what'll happen...

 

The mere fact thats its out at cove will massively affect the 'on the day' fans - it'll no longer be a case of 2pm coming along and thinking lets wander down to the footy - anyone who works in altens & lives the other side of town will tell you what a pain in the arse it is to get there.

I wouldnt rely at all on the council to provide the necessary public transport ofr the fans to get there either.

 

 

 

I've read every angle on the proposed move away from Pittodrie, from today's current acceptance that we're gonna be playing in Cove, to the original plans that saw Wiggy standing over a cowshite-filled patch of land at Bellfield Farm about seven years ago ... see images below

 

 

I refuse to believe that Pittodrie is a dead horse. Yes, the land around Pittodrie has been allowed to slip away from our grasp, but I've read a lot of talk from the pro-Cove/Loirston/wherever brigade that the ground that Pittodrie sits on is just not suitable to hold structures like multi-thousand-seater stands. If a piece of land no more than 300 metres away can hold something as magnificent as the Chris Anderson Sports Complex, why the fuck is ground beneath Pittodrie such a difficult thing to manipulate?

 

Look at the great clubs of British football. The one thing the vast majority of them have in common is their stadiums are situated IN THE CITY! Arsenal and Man City, albeit have many many times the riches we have. But they have both relocated to new stadiums within close proximity of the old stadium.

 

Even in Scottish football, the most prominent clubs have worked with various sections of the surrounding community to ensure that the club remains in the city. Hibs and Hearts, in particular, were tightly constrained by houses and public buildings. However, the city council have worked with both clubs to free up land so that Hearts could stay in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, and Hibs could stay in Leith.

 

Aberdeen FC belongs at the beach as much as the Codonas, Beach Ballroom and the Kings Links. If you rip the heart out, the club just becomes another tenant in a lifeless shell of a stadium that is in a location brushed completely to one side. Aberdeen FC belongs first and foremostly in Aberdeen ... not in a commuter-suburb situated closer to Portlethen than to Aberdeen!

 

The fact manchester city council obtained compulsary purchase orders to free up the land doesnt have any impact on this then?

Or Arsenal having to buyout all the tennants in ashburton grove and also pay to re-house them (not just householders either, some pretty big businesses too) plus all the transport infastructure - total cost approx £80,000,000

 

And in the case of Manchester city they had the advantage of not having to pay to build the bloody thing since the local council, lottery commision and local tax payer funded not just the stadium but also the transport infastructure.

 

Arsenal on the other hand also had the advantage of £100,000,000 coming on from emirates. (over 1/4 of the total stadium cost) and that little patch of ground called highbury being worth considerably more than the £9million pittodrie WAS valued at prior to the economic downturn.

 

 

The Chris anderson complex is not a stadium and more importantly it is not designed to have 20,000 people converging on it every second saturday. If it was they would never have got past the feasibility stage.

 

Do you think it is a coincidence that there is such a large concourse at the back of the RDS - and that is for 6000 fans? Can you see where an equivalent concourse could be constructed behind the merkland, south stand or main stand?

 

 

 

 

 

As for developing Pittodrie, is the sale of the land not the key to any new stadium whether it be ground up new build or major redevelopment ? Surely the money just isn't there to fund a revamp of the scale required.

To play devils advocate here... If the money isn't there to fund the redevelopment of 1/2 stands - where is the money going to come from to build (& purchase the land) a whole new stadium??

In this economic climate there is virtually no chance of any public money getting put towards it & the club is effectively broke - the sale of pittodrie wont cover the existing debt & then we have to fund a stdium on top of that with no assets.

To play devils advocate here... If the money isn't there to fund the redevelopment of 1/2 stands - where is the money going to come from to build (& purchase the land) a whole new stadium??

In this economic climate there is virtually no chance of any public money getting put towards it & the club is effectively broke - the sale of pittodrie wont cover the existing debt & then we have to fund a stdium on top of that with no assets.

 

Its a fair point. I would assume that the additional new stadium requirement will come from private funding. A fresh greenfield development will provide much more opportunity for commercial investments and initiatives than trying to shoehorn a revamped stadium into a locked in urban site. I suspect that people are underestimating what is required to redevelop Pittodrie to turn it into a modern arena. Its often significantly more troublesome and expensive to redevelop an existing run down structure than to build fresh.

Look at the highlighted areas below!

 

 

What about the large "nothing" land out the back of the South Stand? There's a massive area behind the South that is purely devoted to .... providing a path for the opposition fans to walk up.

 

As for developing new stands at the existing Pittodrie site, why not build OVER the roads? Golf Road has nothing but the Broadhill Bar opposite it. And the Main Stand has nothing but a carpark on the other side of the road. Building over the roads, thus forcing traffic to tunnel underneath the new stands, must surely be an option that can be explored.