Aberdeen FC to fund new statium costs by selling Pittodrie

ABERDEEN Football Club hope to net half the cash needed for a new stadium by selling the club's current Pittodrie home.

Aberdeen Football Club is to fund half the costs of new statium, shown in this artists' impression, by selling Pittodrie. Picture: Contributed

The Dons revealed plans earlier this year to flit from their city centre base to a 40 million pounds development on a greenfield site eight miles away, near the outlying western suburb of Kingswells.

And the club hope to score big with the sale of Pittodrie - with the target of bagging up to 18 million pounds by putting the site on the market.

The money from the sale could potentially cover nearly half the costs of the new 20,000 seater stadium at Kingsford.

George Yule, vice chairman at Aberdeen FC, said: “We will explore all practical funding avenues to finance this important development for the club, AFC community Trust, the city and region.

“This will include realising value from the Pittodrie site via a sale for redevelopment, which we expect to be in the region of 18million pounds depending on the market at the time of the sale.

“The development of the funding package for this project is ongoing.”

The new stadium at Kingsford - complete with training facilities - would be next to the A944 Aberdeen to Westhill road and the still-under-construction city bypass.

The age of the club’s current ground and restrictions from surrounding land prevents the club from developing the city centre site any further.

But the Reds could be wowing crowds at the new pitch within the next three years.

A museum charting Aberdeen FC’s most famous moments could also be on offer as well as a cinematic experience if the plans go ahead.

A 12 week public consultation on the plans launched earlier this week.

Members of the public will be given an opportunity to view proposals for the complex, which would include three first team training pitches, two community ones and a pavilion with offices and a gym.

There would also be 1,300 parking spaces around the stadium.

However, some locals have banded together to launch a campaign group opposing the plans. Members of the No Kingsford Stadium group have raised objections about the site being too close to residential areas in Westhill.

And they fear that large volumes of traffic will increase congestion in the area, as well as causing problems for parking on residential streets when there is an overspill of cars.

Mr Yule said: “It is also important to note that, subject to appropriate planning approvals, the project will be delivered in two stages, with the vital professional training facilities, football academy and community facilities being delivered first and the new stadium coming in the second phase.

“At this stage, our priority is securing a positive planning decision and the current consultations are part of that process, with the feedback informing the development of the detailed planning application to Aberdeen City Council later this year.”

Like The Scotsman on Facebook

DOWNLOAD THE SCOTSMAN APP ON ITUNES OR GOOGLE PLAY