Aberdeen stadium relocation plans shelved !

[Donegal Hibby]

Over twenty years since they started talking about moving from Pittodrie and building a new state of the art stadium , it seems now they decided to stay where they are and do up Pittodrie as it looks like they have little choice due to Spiralling costs as will as many other factors after all the ambitious plans they had …..

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/6647666/dons-stadium-plans/

[Alan62]

By avoiding the upgrade on their stadium, Aberdeen have had an unfair advantage over clubs that have spent on modern facilities. Pittodrie is an absolute dump and it’s a safety hazard. Let’s hope it costs them a fortune to get it sorted out.


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[3pm]

Deluded and full of pish.

[SHODAN]

Pittodrie has literally one acceptable stand and that's the one behind the goal, they need to replace the whole U-shaped concourse to bring it into the 21st century.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

Sounds likes a bit of posturing. Apparently a Mexican standoff needs three parties.

they’ll be haggling with the council but the council is skint but you can see the battle lines are starting to be re-emphasised through the P&J.

Other than Holland - which stadium will be consumed by rising sea levels first?

[The Hibee Harp]

The long and the short of it is that they wanted the council to finance the majority of any new stadium and they’ve been told to fund it themselves.
Pittodrie won’t look any different in another 20 years imo

[marinello59]

The long and the short of it is that they wanted the council to finance the majority of any new stadium and they’ve been told to fund it themselves.
Pittodrie won’t look any different in another 20 years imo

In a nutshell. They have identified four different sites for a new stadium over the past twenty years and every single one fell through because they wanted somebody else to pick up the bill for it. Absolute chancers. No matter who runs the council in Aberdeen they were never going to pay for it and Cormack has always known that to be the case.

[Bostonhibby]

In a nutshell. They have identified four different sites for a new stadium over the past twenty years and every single one fell through because they wanted somebody else to pay for it. Absolute chancers.Just needs a northern foundation of flumps arrangement then maybe they could knock up a new single tier main stand for £20m or so?

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[gbhibby]

The board will be feeling a bit sheepish having to announce that news.🐑🐑🐑

[O'Rourke3]

In a nutshell. They have identified four different sites for a new stadium over the past twenty years and every single one fell through because they wanted somebody else to pick up the bill for it. Absolute chancers. No matter who runs the council in Aberdeen they were never going to pay for it and Cormack has always known that to be the case.I know it's a trope about the meaness but they let the University carry the burden for the training centre they use, a bit like Hearts.

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[gbhibby]

Wonder what Willie Millers comments will be. They need 3 new stands costs circa £75m if
Tinycastle is anything to go by. Serves them right for not investing in the stadium when the going was good

[HoboHarry]

Baaaaaadddd news for the Don's fans.

[Brunswickbill]

They could get the Stuart Milne Group to give them mates rates. Oh!

[Itsnoteasy]

By avoiding the upgrade on their stadium, Aberdeen have had an unfair advantage over clubs that have spent on modern facilities. Pittodrie is an absolute dump and it’s a safety hazard. Let’s hope it costs them a fortune to get it sorted out.


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Surely they were at a financial disadvantage when they upgraded their stadium to all seater in the 70's whilst no one else bothered.

[marinello59]

I know it's a trope about the meaness but they let the University carry the burden for the training centre they use, a bit like Hearts.

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They have their own fully owned facility on the outskirts of the city named after the greatest figure in their history….. erm Dave Cormack. :greengrin

[marinello59]

Surely they were at a financial disadvantage when they upgraded their stadium to all seater in the 70's whilst no one else bothered.

I don’t think sticking benches on the terracing would have stretched them too much. The all seated splendour of the old beach end was at the same level as the facilities provided at Clydebank’s Kilbowie park, another early all seated stadium.

[GreenCastle]

Burrows will probably do a Motherwell type upgrade with a a lick of paint and some new seats and possible safe standing.

Saying that would be gutted as a Dons fan another new stadium attempt has fallen through and nothing in the near future seems like it will change.

What we thinking another 20 years at current location??

Obviously some fans will want to stay at the stadium but with it already looking dated can you imagine having to pay high ST fees for that match day experience.

The away end is a shambles - you wonder if they will improve that for visiting fans - won’t hold my breath.

[Yorkshire HFC]

Much better for the club and the city to stay where they are - I don't really understand why they can't upgrade what they have, just as all the other clubs have done.

The out of town solutions would have been terrible for them.

[Since452]

Tinpot FC

[Viva_Palmeiras]

as an aside

Underlines the importance of maintenance.
Our stands as we’ve see with the refurb / lift issues do need maintained as will HTC.
what is the shelf-life of our stadium?

[Jones28]

An absolute shambles. Possibly the worst away fan experience in the top flight and out comes the first aid box full of sticking plasters.

They will still be at pittodrie in 25 years - they might have managed to finish the main stand roof by then.

[green day]

Its quite funny that the council have told Cormack to gtf.

His pitch was basically "it will cost £80m, but bring £20m a year into the Aberdeen economy so get the chequebook out".

I mean, honestly, who was ever going to fall for that one? Why would a fitba club get all this financial assistance from councils who are already skint.

Especially a club who have a multi millionaire owner, with multi millionaire investors.

A reminder of what a great job Petrie and Farmer* did at Easter Road.

We also need to remember that Tynecastle also has one new stand, and three dilapidated ones which will also cost them a fortune in maintenance for decades to come.





I am not their biggest fans, but they did a great job with the stadium.

[Moulin Yarns]

Sounds likes a bit of posturing. Apparently a Mexican standoff needs three parties.

they’ll be haggling with the council but the council is skint but you can see the battle lines are starting to be re-emphasised through the P&J.

Other than Holland - which stadium will be consumed by rising sea levels first?

Craven Cottage?

[Bridge hibs]

Craven Cottage?

Tinycastle, consumed in stale pish

[Pretty Boy]

There is serious money in the background behind Cormack. Would be totally mad bordering on immoral if any public body picked up the tab and I'm glad that won't be the case.

It's quite a common thing in America. Owners demand public funds to rebuild or renovate stadiums and if they don't appear they threaten to uproot the franchise and move elsewhere. There was a big stand off in Miami with the Dolphins and the county before the owner reluctantly agreed to privately finance the $350M stadium upgrade (with $250M immediately recouped in a sponsorship deal and a whole load of tax breaks offered by Miami-Dade County as a sweetener).

[Pagan Hibernia]

Just needs a northern foundation of flumps arrangement then maybe they could knock up a new single tier main stand for £20m or so?

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seats optional.

[wookie70]

Craven Cottage? Pittodrie is 13m above sea level. If water at that level was a threat then I doubt football stadiums would be anywhere near the top of the list for concerns

[badabing67]

Burrows will probably do a Motherwell type upgrade with a a lick of paint and some new seats and possible safe standing.

Saying that would be gutted as a Dons fan another new stadium attempt has fallen through and nothing in the near future seems like it will change.

What we thinking another 20 years at current location??

Obviously some fans will want to stay at the stadium but with it already looking dated can you imagine having to pay high ST fees for that match day experience.

The away end is a shambles - you wonder if they will improve that for visiting fans - won’t hold my breath.


I thought a Motherwell type upgrade was build 3/4 of a main stand, funded by the sale of Ian St John to Liverpool. If they can sell Lennon Miller to Liverpool maybe they can finish it.

[Springbank]

I do hope Aberdeen build a staircase that leads straight into a wall, just like Hearts did at Tynecastle

They would be within their rights to build a rooftop bar called the Castle View Suite, adding "it has exactly the same view of Edinburgh Castle as Hearts' bar does" i.e.none

[PatHead]

I thought a Motherwell type upgrade was build 3/4 of a main stand, funded by the sale of Ian St John to Liverpool. If they can sell Lennon Miller to Liverpool maybe they can finish it.

The reason that the Motherwell stand stops is that the bungalow at the far end refused to sell their garden to allow it.
Next time you are there notice the frame is there at the front but the stand stops. Then look how the 2nd? Bungalow's garden is right in the footprint of the stand.

[Keith_M]

Surely they were at a financial disadvantage when they upgraded their stadium to all seater in the 70's whilst no one else bothered.


Not really, it was mostly wooden benches so couldn't have cost much.

Ibrox was a different matter, as they did a proper rebuild on three sides of the stadium, which cost a fortune.

[Keith_M]

An absolute shambles. Possibly the worst away fan experience in the top flight...


Second worst, after Celtc Park.

[marinello59]

Much better for the club and the city to stay where they are - I don't really understand why they can't upgrade what they have, just as all the other clubs have done.

The out of town solutions would have been terrible for them.

The footprint is too small, the small main stand has no room for expansion. They had the chance to buy the land beside the ground where the old gas works were but went with getting somebody else to pay for a new stadium on the edge of the City instead. The idea was to rotate the position of the stadium by 90 degrees. Barratts bought the land instead and built flats.

[Moulin Yarns]

Pittodrie is 13m above sea level. If water at that level was a threat then I doubt football stadiums would be anywhere near the top of the list for concerns

Has Pittodrie ever flooded??


During the 1970s, Craven Cottage flooded, with water flowing in from the riverside.

No more than 7m above sea level on a tidal section of the Thames.

[Carheenlea]

It always felt to me that they were never 100% committed to building a new stadium. Just seemed like bluster they knew was never going to materialise.

As others have said, Pittodrie will look just the same in another 20 years.

[CentreLine]

That artist’s impression of what the new stadium would look like is pretty impressive. But then so were the cardboard boxes produced by our neighbours a few years back. Means nothing if the plan for completion is unrealistic.
STF delivered a grand job at ER. Would have been significantly better if we hadn’t lost the car park IMHO.

[Ribs1875]

It's probably bitter/sweet if your an Aberdeen fan. Hopefully they can gradually reconstruct the 3 shack stands to complement their monster stand behind the goals.

I wonder how much they have wasted on these applications, architecture drawings and meetings.

Say what yous want about Farmer and Petrie, we were way a head of everyone else when we finished our stadium redevelopment.

[Jones28]

It's probably bitter/sweet if your an Aberdeen fan. Hopefully they can gradually reconstruct the 3 shack stands to complement their monster stand behind the goals.

I wonder how much they have wasted on these applications, architecture drawings and meetings.

Say what yous want about Farmer and Petrie, we were way a head of everyone else when we finished our stadium redevelopment.

Finished our big infrastructure spends in 2010/11, so getting on for 15 years and in that time Aberdeen have eh, lobbied the council to build them a new stadium and Hearts have rebuilt Shrubhill House in Gorgie.

[green day]

Finished our big infrastructure spends in 2010/11, so getting on for 15 years and in that time Aberdeen have eh, lobbied the council to build them a new stadium and Hearts have rebuilt Shrubhill House in Gorgie.

Aberdeen at least own their training centre, so thats something. But the refurbishment of Pittodrie is going to be difficult and costly, and there is almost nothing they can do with the main stand.

Hearts are weird (as we all know). They have a new stand, which is large and has decent facilities.

But the other 3 stands are awful to sit in, look dilapidated, and will start to cost a lot of money to maintain pretty soon.

If Hearts were ever to rebuild those stands, its a heck of an expensive job on that tiny footprint.
Also, if they did ever get round to it, their capacity would have to reduce by a thousand or two - as they would be compelled to install more space per person, and improved knee space.

I find it quite amusing, really !

[Jones28]

Aberdeen at least own their training centre, so thats something. But the refurbishment of Pittodrie is going to be difficult and costly, and there is almost nothing they can do with the main stand.

Hearts are weird (as we all know). They have a new stand, which is large and has decent facilities.

But the other 3 stands are awful to sit in, look dilapidated, and will start to cost a lot of money to maintain pretty soon.

If Hearts were ever to rebuild those stands, its a heck of an expensive job on that tiny footprint.
Also, if they did ever get round to it, their capacity would have to reduce by a thousand or two - as they would be compelled to install more space per person, and improved knee space.

I find it quite amusing, really !

The figures for Pittodrie/new stadium are crazy. £60 million plus on the plans for the new stadium at the beech, and those figures have been bandied about for a while now, you could probably put that closer to £70 or £80 million.

They're living in the past in more ways than one.

Yes it's one of the older grounds and there's an element of romanticism associated with that but the thread on old football grounds spells it out quite clearly that new, modern stadiums are just better in every way. I think the old East was great, characterful and fun but having been in there numerous times and in the East for a full season with an ST I don't think the club missed a single trick in rebuilding it when they did.

£80 odd million to build a new stadium will be a massive pull on their finances, so they are stuck where they are and theres no prospect of it improving. I've been a few times and wouldn't hurry back.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

It's probably bitter/sweet if your an Aberdeen fan. Hopefully they can gradually reconstruct the 3 shack stands to complement their monster stand behind the goals.

I wonder how much they have wasted on these applications, architecture drawings and meetings.

Say what yous want about Farmer and Petrie, we were way a head of everyone else when we finished our stadium redevelopment.

and at one of the lowest costs for steel. When demand / production cooled

[Centre Hawf]

Doing the stadium and training facility when we did was an absolute god send. We don't get a lot right on the park but I do think when you see Easter Road in it's entirety it's hard to not be impressed by what has been achieved by a club outside the Glasgow two in terms of facilities.

Tynecastle's new mainstand will always look rank to me, they'll be glad it's all done but I'd be amazed if they were internally satisfied, at least entirely. Even their training facility situation leaves a lot to be desired.

It's a shame we can't make it all count on the park but we're hopefully not set for any huge problems in our future when it comes to facilities like Aberdeen and Hearts could be.

[Ribs1875]

£80 million to spend on a stadium? I know they were looking to the council for help to build it. According to transfermarkt.co.uk (not always accurate, but a good baseline) Aberdeen are worth just under £19 million.

That is ridiculous and doesn't make sense from a business and footballing stand point. They mentioned they will revisit that in the future. Seriously? The costs will continually grow. It's basically like dangling a carrot infront of a donkey.

The best thing they could do is gradually build a horse shoe to compliment their big monster behind the goals at Pittodrie.

[Crazyhorse]

£80 million to spend on a stadium? I know they were looking to the council for help to build it. According to transfermarkt.co.uk (not always accurate, but a good baseline) Aberdeen are worth just under £19 million.

That is ridiculous and doesn't make sense from a business and footballing stand point. They mentioned they will revisit that in the future. Seriously? The costs will continually grow. It's basically like dangling a carrot infront of a donkey.

The best thing they could do is gradually build a horse shoe to compliment their big monster behind the goals at Pittodrie.

The way costs are going I think £80m might be an underestimate.
I was reading somewhere recently that Luton’s new 20,000 seater Power Court Stadium is expected to cost at least £100m!

[Billy Whizz]

They’ll just have to take a hit on attendances while they rebuild 3 new stands. Hibs did it a number of years back
Must admit I enjoy a trip to Pittodrie, not to the stadium, but to the amusements and restaurants around it
They’d be mental to move from that area

[Since452]

It's probably bitter/sweet if your an Aberdeen fan. Hopefully they can gradually reconstruct the 3 shack stands to complement their monster stand behind the goals.

I wonder how much they have wasted on these applications, architecture drawings and meetings.

Say what yous want about Farmer and Petrie, we were way a head of everyone else when we finished our stadium redevelopment.

Hopefully they have an absolute nightmare reconstructing their midden, costs them a fortune and it effects them on the park, with any luck ending in the relegation they've squirmed out of previously.