The Aberdeen Mega-Hyper New Stadium Thread

[10menwent2mow]

23 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

How much is the land worth? How much do Aberdeen bring in via matchday income? 

On both, I've no idea, but on the assumption that we own everything as far as golf road behind the RDS and both the car parks, I'd say it's a very significant sum. It's a lot of flats that could be built on that bit of land. 

[Charles Stiles]

19 hours ago, coprolite said:

We can't re-build the main stand to the size it is, or bigger because of rules about blocking light for nearby houses, if i remember rightly. 

I get the bigger structure situation but not being able to rebuild something to the size it already is stinks of typical local authority jobsworth nonsense.

[lubo_blaha]

13 hours ago, 10menwent2mow said:

On both, I've no idea, but on the assumption that we own everything as far as golf road behind the RDS and both the car parks, I'd say it's a very significant sum. It's a lot of flats that could be built on that bit of land. 

It’s quite annoying to read that we don’t have enough space to redevelop Pittodrie given that the stadium probably takes up around half of the overall site. 

We could even do a Spurs, rotate the pitch and completely rebuild on the same site. Unfortunately we don’t have another ground nearby to decant to, shuttle buses to Tannadice would be even worse than Kingsford.

 

[Ginaro]

On 12/12/2022 at 17:41, coprolite said:

We can't re-build the main stand to the size it is, or bigger because of rules about blocking light for nearby houses, if i remember rightly. 

What if two or three houses on on Pittodrie Street were were bought/knocked down and the road stopped up at Merkland Lane to allow a bigger stand footprint (or space during reconstruction) and still provide access to the car park?

Edited December 13, 2022 by Ginaro

[Ray Patterson]

2 hours ago, lubo_blaha said:

It’s quite annoying to read that we don’t have enough space to redevelop Pittodrie given that the stadium probably takes up around half of the overall site. 

We could even do a Spurs, rotate the pitch and completely rebuild on the same site. Unfortunately we don’t have another ground nearby to decant to, shuttle buses to Tannadice would be even worse than Kingsford.

 

There are options tbf - like doing what Caligari and Rijeka did and building a temporary home at Kingsford for a season, or even moving to the P&J Live (Okay maybe that's a stretch)

Building a big 7k seater temp stand at the Balmoral to be dismantled right after. 

Plenty options available but Cormack will just moan for ages instead

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by Ray Patterson

[coprolite]

1 hour ago, Ginaro said:

What if two or three houses on on Pittodrie Street were were bought/knocked down and the road stopped up at Merkland Lane to allow a bigger stand footprint (or space during reconstruction) and still provide access to the car park?

I'm afraid my knowledge of planning law extends only as far as a vague and uncertain recollection of a press release from over ten years ago

[Dunty]

On 08/12/2022 at 15:33, DiegoDiego said:

 

Would a better comparison not be the Stirling-Alloa line, which has been a huge success? Westhill and Alloa are roughly the same size and the distances are also pretty similar.

Okay, it's probably unfeasible to run a line out west from the city centre, but in general I don't think a fixed link from a growing town of 12,000 to a city of 200,000 via other unserviced parts of the city should automatically be a stupid idea.

They can't even find a plan to produce a rail link from Dyce train station to the airport, a distance of all of 2.5 miles. Even the shelved plans for that were going to cost £70m six years ago.

On 09/12/2022 at 09:28, VincentGuerin said:

A story we know well.

Tynecastle was apparently not and never would be UEFA compliant, yet, here we are. The old stand was draining money and up-keep was going to kill us, yet, here we are.

Football clubs say whatever suits them at the time.

 

You can't compare Hearts & Aberdeen's situations though as Hearts only had to rebuild one stand while Aberdeen would need to build three.

Hearts get dispensation because the other stands were built before the current regulations. Same for Anfield.

As soon as Aberdeen knock down a stand they're at the mercy of modern building regulations and uefa constraints.

An architect explained it to me that a rebuilt Pittodrie would look like Hamilton's stadium but with the Richard Donald Stand behind one goal. So a 12,000-13,000 capacity.

On 09/12/2022 at 12:55, VincentGuerin said:

 

 

On 09/12/2022 at 14:24, DA Baracus said:

Because Aberdeen don't average 18k. Why would more fans start attending games regularly just because they have a new stadium?

I'll give you one reason.

Go to the Aberdeen website and have a look at what seats are available for Tuesday's game with Rangers. You don't need an account to be able to see the stadium map.

There are around 17,000 tickets sold. But now they've hit a problem.

If you want to buy two seats together, you only have two choices. The uncovered section of the South Stand (a horrible place to be in the depths of winter), or the upper deck of the RDS - which due to the pitch being lengthened since it was built actually blocks the view of the goal line. Because of that Aberdeen won't sell many more tickets in the following week.

Likewise, the Merkland is sold out, but when you watch it on TV you'll see half it is empty. That's because it's an "ultras" section, but to get a safety certificate they are only allowed to sell half of it, because they can't transform it into rail seating or a terracing because it's too shallow. So they can't grow the most popular section of the ground.

A new stadium, with better sight lines and facilities, and a big safe standing section, and Aberdeen are probably looking at 19,000-20,000 for that game. 

[RawB93]

On 12/12/2022 at 17:41, coprolite said:

We can't re-build the main stand to the size it is, or bigger because of rules about blocking light for nearby houses, if i remember rightly. 

Just build the whole thing out of glass. 

[Dunty]

Dave Cormack claiming on the BBC that joining up with the council on their beachfront plans mean the stadium will cost £80m-£90m, but if they build themselves at Kingsford it's £50m.

So council need the club to stay in the city but want them to pay the extra £40m for it?

[Frank Grimes]

 

[VincentGuerin]

1 hour ago, Frank Grimes said:

 

Not really sure what that means. Doesn't actually say anything.

[coprolite]

1 hour ago, Frank Grimes said:

 

Sounds positive but worryingly vague. Does this mean the council will fork out to keep us in the  city? 

[10menwent2mow]

I've not really looked into the detailed plans for the new stadium. Is there any plan for some sort of AFC museum?

[Jacksgranda]

1 hour ago, 10menwent2mow said:

I've not really looked into the detailed plans for the new stadium. Is there any plan for some sort of AFC museum?

You mean like Pittodrie?

[Dunty]

2 hours ago, VincentGuerin said:

Not really sure what that means. Doesn't actually say anything.

It just means that the council want to push ahead with the rest of the development, and are happy for Aberdeen to join them at a later date if/when they get the money.

Guess it means it gives Aberdeen more time to consider their options over whether to press ahead with beach stadium or go back to Kingsford.

[Gorgie greatness]

On 12/12/2022 at 15:37, topcat(The most tip top) said:

Willie Jamieson late equaliser against Celtic at that end was so spectacular it was on the title sequence for the highlights programme even after the  Stand was built

There were a load of grumpy jambos who'd left early trudging out on the other side of the fence

He used to work in the pub down the road from me! I mentioned that goal & the sarcastic c**t says that’s all I done son so I agreed with him

[Dunty]

Had a browse through the Aberdeen council documents.

The justification of a 16,000 capacity. Is embarrassing.

They begin by arguing new stadiums lead to a 25% increase in attendances. Aberdeen's home league average this season is around 15,300 - and bear in mind we haven't played the Old Firm yet. A 25% increase takes that up to 19,000. Even a conservative estimate of 10% takes it to near 17,000. The club have undermined their own argument.

"It'll improve atmosphere / Juventus made their stadium smaller"

Dave, 18k fans in a 20k stadium make more noise than 16k. Plus Juventus' old stadium was exorbitantly big - they still built the new ground to double their average attendance.

Just admit if you build at the beach the increased costs mean you can't afford bigger for now. Be honest and stop this patronising shite.

[Frank Grimes]

18 hours ago, VincentGuerin said:

Not really sure what that means. Doesn't actually say anything.

Aye who knows, I’m past caring 

[DA Baracus]

10 hours ago, Dunty said:

They begin by arguing new stadiums lead to a 25% increase in attendances

Not in Scotland they don't.

[Dunty]

16 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

Not in Scotland they don't.

That will likely be because there isn't a big team in Scotland that has moved stadium in the last 20 years.