‘The Dandies’ could boast beachfront home

Image: Aberdeen FC

Aberdeen (Scotland) councilors have voted to take forward new plans for the beach area for the Scottish professional football club, Aberdeen F.C. – a potential new football stadium for the club.

The ‘BBC’ stated that Aberdeen F.C. previously secured permission for a new ground at Kingsford on the City outskirts, where they have opened training facilities.

However, talks have since taken place over strengthening links between the City Center and the beachfront.

A further report on the beach masterplan will be heard in November.

The Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were promoted in 1905.

The 22,199-capacity Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League club Aberdeen F.C. since they were formed in 1903.

The ‘BBC’ further stated that an amendment from Councilor Ian Yuill against any public funding being used for the stadium aspect of the plans was defeated at the City Growth and Resources Committee meeting held on August 25^th.

The Committee Convener, Ryan Houghton, said a stadium might form part of the eventual plans but that decision did not need to be made before full business cases were heard.
 

‘Real sense of urgency’

The proposal is to build the new stadium next to the beach leisure center site.

The Committee also voted to take proposals, including the potential pedestrianization of part of Union Street, to the next stage.

‘Spaces for People’ measures on Union Street and Belmont Street will remain in place until a final plan for transport on the City’s main thoroughfare is agreed. A further report is due to come to the Committee later in the year.

Added Houghton, “There’s a real sense of urgency people have for changing the future of the City. We need to make a City Center that people want to spend time in.”

The above decision comes after Aberdeen F.C.’s plans for a new £50m 20,000-seater stadium proposed for Kingsford, near Westhill, were given a legal go-ahead in March 2019.

However, campaigners claimed the site was an incursion into green belt land, and alternatives were available.

In a statement the club stated that it “remains supportive of the Council’s ambitious vision” for both the City Center and the beachfront.

The Aberdeen F.C. further stated, “We’re really impressed with both the scale and pace of the work to date. A new stadium at the beach, as part of an integrated approach to leisure and community amenities, is very exciting and we will continue to input constructively to the various consultations and studies which will inform the final plans.”

Earlier, construction had begun in July 2018 on the new Aberdeen venue, Kingsford Stadium, with the first phase, a training facility named Cormack Park, opened in October 2019. The stadium had been scheduled for completion by 2023, but in the midst of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland, the club confirmed that the project had been put on hiatus.

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