Aberdeen to move out the city?

[Antifa Hibs]

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Art...819704?UserKey=
This could see the Dons ****ed! A recent survey and consultation with the fans has shown 81% are against the move and 67% said they would attend less matches.

They appear to be basing it on Darlingtons stadium

All this brings back those horrible memories of Straiton!

Rodders & STF

[Pretty Boy]

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http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Art...819704?UserKey=
This could see the Dons ****ed! A recent survey and consultation with the fans has shown 81% are against the move and 67% said they would attend less matches.

They appear to be basing it on Darlingtons stadium

All this brings back those horrible memories of Straiton!

Rodders & STF

TBH folk from Aberdeen seem to be against just about anything that gets proposed up here.

The new Civic Square- Everyones against it
Trumps golf course- Everyones against it
Union Square shopping centre- There were protests against it until it was built

I live up here and the council want to put a recycling facility in the car park outside my flat. I had a neighbour banging on my door the other night asking me to sign a petition against it because it would deprive our car park, which sits half empty most of the time, of 3 whole parking spaces. I told her where to go.

Aberdeen are in a total mess financially, they almost make Hearts look well run. The selling of Pitoddrie and moving out of town to a part council funded facility is pretty much last chance saloon. It all stems to their delusions about how big a club they are, some of them really believe they are a well known big club around Europe. They built an absolutely ridiculous white elephant of a stand in the mid 1990s but gave no consideration to upgrading the rest of the ground. Now they have a huge stand which sits half empty week in, week out and the rest of the stadium is falling apart at the seams. They have no money to invest in the team, no training facilities of their own (although the sports village that they use is a world class facility) and no players of real high value to sell at the moment, unless you believe Mark McGhee that Fraser Fyvie is worth £10M. They went for a speculate to accumulate policy in the 90s, £1M for Paul Bernard anyone? and it backfired big time.

The move out of town is dammed if they do, dammed if they don't. If they stay at Pittodrie they lose a huge wedge of cash from the sale of the land and are left with a stadium unfit for purpose with a dwindling fan base and spiralling debts. If they move out of town they get help paying for a shiny new 25 000 seater stadium whilst partially reducing debts, unfortunately for them there already piss poor home support will dwindle away to about 7-8000 and they will lose huge ammounts of revenue this way.

Makes me grateful i'm a Hibs supporter.

[Hainan Hibs]

Utterly fantastic news.

I've been up there for University and I still have Gothenburg and facts about their glorious period in the 1980's thrown at me, ironically from people born in 1990.

They still perceive Aberdeen to be a giant in Europe, as if people are wandering around Madrid still talking about facing the mighty Aberdeen FC. None of them accept they are now a bottom six SPL team with absolutely no funds and are completely and utterly *****.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

Actually, Darlington's stadium is superb. Some teams in the Premiership have lesser facilities. You don't need graph paper however, to work out why a team that has just fallen out of the football league can't fill a 25,000 ground.
Oxford United have had the same trouble. The Kassam [?] Stadium is equally impressive, but perhaps too much of a drain on the the budget.
The clever model is MK Dons. Built at enough capacity to cater for where they are just now, but can be easily extended.

[marinello59]

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If they move out of town they get help paying for a shiny new 25 000 seater stadium whilst partially reducing debts, unfortunately for them there already piss poor home support will dwindle away to about 7-8000 and they will lose huge ammounts of revenue this way.

Makes me grateful i'm a Hibs supporter.

No they don't. The council helped fund the initial planning stages then announced that was the extent of their commitment. There will be no more public money involved. Stewart Milne recently admitted there isn't actually any funding in place for this move. How terribly, terribly sad.

[Posh Swanny]

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Actually, Darlington's stadium is superb. Some teams in the Premiership have lesser facilities. You don't need graph paper however, to work out why a team that has just fallen out of the football league can't fill a 25,000 ground.
Oxford United have had the same trouble. The Kassam [?] Stadium is equally impressive, but perhaps too much of a drain on the the budget.
The clever model is MK Dons. Built at enough capacity to cater for where they are just now, but can be easily extended.

Agree with the principle, but stadium:MK itself doesn't need extending. It's already built to hold something like 32,000, they just need to put some seats into the top tier whenever they're be required. With this in mind, I'm not sure how much money they will have saved by doing this - and the stadium looks a bit tatty and unfinished in the meantime.

http://img.skysports.com/08/07/480/M...MK_1066443.jpg

[heretoday]

I paid a visit to Aberdeen FC recently and it was a depressing experience. No one about. Office closed. Stands starting to look run down. It's pretty bleak at that end of the city.

They did us all proud winning the ECWC and standing up to the OF but they are on the way out unless they get some cash in and rebuild somewhere else. I hope they do.

[Gatecrasher]

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No they don't. The council helped fund the initial planning stages then announced that was the extent of their commitment. There will be no more public money involved. Stewart Milne recently admitted there isn't actually any funding in place for this move. How terribly, terribly sad.

So groundsharing with ICT may be on the cards

[SunshineOnLeith]

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no training facilities of their own (although the sports village that they use is a world class facility)

They only used the Sports Village in the winter when outdoor pitches were frozen. Pretty sure they're back at Balgownie/Duthie Park etc now. They were offered the chance to 'do a Hearts' with the Sports Village, and pay to have it in a similar way to Hearts have Heriot-Watt's facilities but they turned it down. When they were in there in the winter they were paying full price for their bookings I believe. It's incredible when you consider that ASV is a stones throw from Pittodrie.

Bafflingly poorly run club.

[hughio]

I think its a great shame.

When I lived there Pitoddrie was a fine ground and in recent years I accept its a bit dog eared.
To sell it for property developement (as Stewarty Milne wants to do) is just profiteering.
The ground sits in the heart of the community and if they move it out to the proposed wasteland up high on the approaches to the city (cold north easterlies perhaps) I predict it will be the death of the Club.My pals who live up there confirm they wont be going and their pals also agree.

Milne is a menace and hopefully the fans will see him off.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

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Agree with the principle, but stadium:MK itself doesn't need extending. It's already built to hold something like 32,000, they just need to put some seats into the top tier whenever they're be required. With this in mind, I'm not sure how much money they will have saved by doing this - and the stadium looks a bit tatty and unfinished in the meantime.

http://img.skysports.com/08/07/480/M...MK_1066443.jpg

Actually, you don't notice it so much when you are watching the game. Bit like when you sat in the old east and looked at the rest of the ground and thought it looked great.

[rubber mal]

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No they don't. The council helped fund the initial planning stages then announced that was the extent of their commitment. There will be no more public money involved. Stewart Milne recently admitted there isn't actually any funding in place for this move. How terribly, terribly sad.

And neither they should. I would be furious if the sheep or any other club was given public money to help fund a new stadium, while every other club has to use their own cash, often to the detriment of the team.

[bighairyfaeleith]

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I think its a great shame.

When I lived there Pitoddrie was a fine ground and in recent years I accept its a bit dog eared.
To sell it for property developement (as Stewarty Milne wants to do) is just profiteering.
The ground sits in the heart of the community and if they move it out to the proposed wasteland up high on the approaches to the city (cold north easterlies perhaps) I predict it will be the death of the Club.My pals who live up there confirm they wont be going and their pals also agree.

Milne is a menace and hopefully the fans will see him off.

Whats the alternative?

[CB_NO3]

Good news if you ask me, i can see us winning the league in a few years at this rate with the huns, hearts and the sheep all going bust haha. On a serious note though this could see Aberdeens crowds drop big and they could end up like a Killie or Motherwell with their only source of income is to give 10 or 15 thousand seats to the old firm.

[Caversham Green]

They have a real problem. A bank loan of £9.7m plus accrued interest is due for repayment on 10 March 2011. The plan was that this would be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of 'Todders and a move to a 'community' stadium - which is presumably what the OP refers to. Various parts of this plan seem to have fallen through and the whole thing seems to be well behind schedule, but that loan (up to about £12m with interest) will still have to be paid. It seems unlikely that the bank will extend the terms of the loan, so they could find themselves homeless if they can't arrange alternative finance.

The bank has security over the ground which is owned by a separate subsidiary company to the football club.

[sahib]

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http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Art...819704?UserKey=
This could see the Dons ****ed! A recent survey and consultation with the fans has shown 81% are against the move and 67% said they would attend less matches.

They appear to be basing it on Darlingtons stadium

All this brings back those horrible memories of Straiton!

Rodders & STF

People always say stuff like that. If they build a decent wee stadium with decent transport links then they will be ok, I suspect. People moaned about the demise of the most recent manifestation of the East terrace. Now the new one is lauded as if it were a ruddy architectural marvel and a thing of beauty.

[Caversham Green]

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People always say stuff like that. If they build a decent wee stadium with decent transport links then they will be ok, I suspect. People moaned about the demise of the most recent manifestation of the East terrace. Now the new one is lauded as if it were a ruddy architectural marvel and a thing of beauty.

I think a new stadium is always likely to attract new people in as well - that certainly happened down here with the Mad Stad. They need to get the thing built though, and sharpish.

[--------]

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No they don't. The council helped fund the initial planning stages then announced that was the extent of their commitment. There will be no more public money involved. Stewart Milne recently admitted there isn't actually any funding in place for this move. How terribly, terribly sad.

Oh dearie dearie me.

You mean that ALL the money they get from selling Pittodire will have to be spent on the new stadium, with the rest of the necessary cash forming a burden of debt that may cripple the club for the foreseeable future?

I'm de-vast-ated.

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And neither they should. I would be furious if the sheep or any other club was given public money to help fund a new stadium, while every other club has to use their own cash, often to the detriment of the team.

Exactly. We've done it - why can't they?

[Antifa Hibs]

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People always say stuff like that. If they build a decent wee stadium with decent transport links then they will be ok, I suspect. People moaned about the demise of the most recent manifestation of the East terrace. Now the new one is lauded as if it were a ruddy architectural marvel and a thing of beauty.

There is a difference...

If Hibs moved to Straiton I can't imagine i'd be there everyweek. TBH I can't imagine the state of the club would be in. Leith, the pubs, cafes, bookies etc make a Saturday what it is just as much as the football itself. That would be the same as the sheep fans i'd imagine in their areas. They are also moving due financial mis-management, so losing 100+ years of history, nostalgia and the beach end yadda yadda because of the dafties in suits, alot of folk would give it up.

Suits me TBH, Aberdeen could do a Motherwell/Killie/Dundee Utd here, quarter full stadiums needing 8000 old firm fans to balance the books. I don't mind the dons, but their fans do my ****ing nut in!

[Killiehibbie]

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Suits me TBH, Aberdeen could do a Motherwell/Killie/Dundee Utd here, quarter full stadiums needing 8000 old firm fans to balance the books. I don't mind the dons, but their fans do my ****ing nut in!

The bigots don't take that many to games very often nowadays. Killie didn't get a 10,000 gate until the very last game of the season and I think one of their games against celtic was less than 7,000. Kick off times, tv and pricing has put a lot of them off.

[--------]

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There is a difference...

If Hibs moved to Straiton I can't imagine i'd be there everyweek. TBH I can't imagine the state of the club would be in. Leith, the pubs, cafes, bookies etc make a Saturday what it is just as much as the football itself. That would be the same as the sheep fans i'd imagine in their areas. They are also moving due financial mis-management, so losing 100+ years of history, nostalgia and the beach end yadda yadda because of the dafties in suits, alot of folk would give it up.

Suits me TBH, Aberdeen could do a Motherwell/Killie/Dundee Utd here, quarter full stadiums needing 8000 old firm fans to balance the books. I don't mind the dons, but their fans do my ****ing nut in!

Just need to look at Airdrie. The old ground was right in the town centre, with all that stuff close at hand.

The new ground's a couple of miles away, between a council house estate and a bunch of car dealerships - no pubs, no bookies, nothing around.

And as you say - because of a deal of mismanagement by the suits.

When I go to ER with my son, we have a ritual. I park the car, get the tickets, walk back to Leith Walk and we meet in the Harp & Castle. Watch the lunchtime Sky game, then head round to ER about 2.30. Settled in and comfy by ten to three. If we want to catch the headlines afterwards, we can go back to the pub, or catch them in the car heading back across town. That's what makes the day. Lose that, you lose an awful lot.

[jgl07]

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Oh dearie dearie me.

You mean that ALL the money they get from selling Pittodire will have to be spent on the new stadium, with the rest of the necessary cash forming a burden of debt that may cripple the club for the foreseeable future?

Exactly. We've done it - why can't they?

Aberdeen do not have the space to rebuild the stadium insitu so will have to move later if not sooner.

Aberdeen always used to be a well run club with little or no debts. That all changed when the new stand was built just as the club dropped from being a potential title contender to also rans. Crowds have dropped but the support seems unwilling to accept their place in the scheme of things.

They are in real trouble as I cannot see there is a hope in hell of the City Council funding them for a new stadium.

[hughio]

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Whats the alternative?

There are always alternatives.

Look what STF did at our Club.

The land sale would no doubt be to Stwart Milne homes PLC.
The price would be such as to service the existing debt AND provide for a healthy profit for Stewarty boy.

Anyone with the club's real interests at heart wouldn't put their profit before the iconic heart of AFC which is in the middle of the city not on a frozen plateau half way to Stonehaven.

[Joe Baker II]

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TBH folk from Aberdeen seem to be against just about anything that gets proposed up here.

The new Civic Square- Everyones against it
Trumps golf course- Everyones against it
Union Square shopping centre- There were protests against it until it was built

I live up here and the council want to put a recycling facility in the car park outside my flat. I had a neighbour banging on my door the other night asking me to sign a petition against it because it would deprive our car park, which sits half empty most of the time, of 3 whole parking spaces. I told her where to go.

Aberdeen are in a total mess financially, they almost make Hearts look well run. The selling of Pitoddrie and moving out of town to a part council funded facility is pretty much last chance saloon. It all stems to their delusions about how big a club they are, some of them really believe they are a well known big club around Europe. They built an absolutely ridiculous white elephant of a stand in the mid 1990s but gave no consideration to upgrading the rest of the ground. Now they have a huge stand which sits half empty week in, week out and the rest of the stadium is falling apart at the seams. They have no money to invest in the team, no training facilities of their own (although the sports village that they use is a world class facility) and no players of real high value to sell at the moment, unless you believe Mark McGhee that Fraser Fyvie is worth £10M. They went for a speculate to accumulate policy in the 90s, £1M for Paul Bernard anyone? and it backfired big time.

The move out of town is dammed if they do, dammed if they don't. If they stay at Pittodrie they lose a huge wedge of cash from the sale of the land and are left with a stadium unfit for purpose with a dwindling fan base and spiralling debts. If they move out of town they get help paying for a shiny new 25 000 seater stadium whilst partially reducing debts, unfortunately for them there already piss poor home support will dwindle away to about 7-8000 and they will lose huge ammounts of revenue this way.

Makes me grateful i'm a Hibs supporter.

This posts looks worryingly like a lift from Wallace Mercer's various statements 20 years ago, there is not that much wronfg with Pittodrie as a stadium as it is.

[Antifa Hibs]

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This posts looks worryingly like a lift from Wallace Mercer's various statements 20 years ago, there is not that much wronfg with Pittodrie as a stadium as it is.

Sure I read Aberdeen had to spend £500,000 this season to ensure it got a safety certificate, its crumbling to bits. A ******hole in other words

[Joe Baker II]

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The bigots don't take that many to games very often nowadays. Killie didn't get a 10,000 gate until the very last game of the season and I think one of their games against celtic was less than 7,000. Kick off times, tv and pricing has put a lot of them off.

Also they have put off home supporters too though to some extent they are connected, far less home fans outwith the diehard minority likely to be motivated to attend a Killie/OF game if expect 7-8,000 crowd while more would be up for it if the stadium likely to be at least close to full, obvious parallel was Rangers game at ER end of last season where propsect of smaller crowd/lack of atmosphere deterred a lot of Hibs fans so it can happen here too.

Difference is that if clubs changed their insane policies that you describe above regarding these games clubs like Killie could get back to something close to the attenndaces they enjoyed in the 1990s. But I do not see how Aberdeen moving to a characterless stadium will achieve anything other than the opposite.

[Joe Baker II]

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. People moaned about the demise of the most recent manifestation of the East terrace. Now the new one is lauded as if it were a ruddy architectural marvel and a thing of beauty.

I do not know who you speak too, but you are totally wrong if you think all Hibs fans are thinking like this about the new east stand.

[Dashing Bob S]

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Aberdeen do not have the space to rebuild the stadium insitu so will have to move later if not sooner.

Aberdeen always used to be a well run club with little or no debts. That all changed when the new stand was built just as the club dropped from being a potential title contender to also rans. Crowds have dropped but the support seems unwilling to accept their place in the scheme of things.

They are in real trouble as I cannot see there is a hope in hell of the City Council funding them for a new stadium.

Does Milne not own the considerable amountof land around the ground but wants to build housing on it?

[Kaiser1962]

Does anyone know what Milne's position on all this is and where his heart lies? This is obviously key to the whole thing as Milne is the only man who can underwrite (Farmer-esque) the debts and the Bank will listen. Seems to me Aberdeen FC, and its future, are entirely in the hands of Wiggy and whatever he wants.

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They have a real problem. A bank loan of £9.7m plus accrued interest is due for repayment on 10 March 2011. The plan was that this would be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of 'Todders and a move to a 'community' stadium - which is presumably what the OP refers to. Various parts of this plan seem to have fallen through and the whole thing seems to be well behind schedule, but that loan (up to about £12m with interest) will still have to be paid. It seems unlikely that the bank will extend the terms of the loan, so they could find themselves homeless if they can't arrange alternative finance.

The bank has security over the ground which is owned by a separate subsidiary company to the football club.

[JE89]

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Utterly fantastic news.

I've been up there for University and I still have Gothenburg and facts about their glorious period in the 1980's thrown at me, ironically from people born in 1990.

They still perceive Aberdeen to be a giant in Europe, as if people are wandering around Madrid still talking about facing the mighty Aberdeen FC. None of them accept they are now a bottom six SPL team with absolutely no funds and are completely and utterly *****.

"Third team in Scotland" chat is laughable.