The Famous Aberdeen - Season 2022/23

[resk]

Does that say "50 away coaches"? Are we going to be hosting cup finals?

[AberDon]

Why are the stands reduced in height? Shite idea.

[resk]

Imagine taking the cup back to the arse end of nowhere on cup final night?

Surely they could tidy up Pittodrie and build a training base then pump the rest into the In team. If they invested a a couple of million last year they would have won the league with ease

If we did that, the stadium and the training facilities would be in separate places. Apparently they need to be in the same place, even though pretty much no other team in the world has them in the same place.

[Dubford don]

5 hours ago, Elixir said:

I must be missing out on the raucous full houses week in, week out, at stadiums across the country.

Wait, no, they're all quiet as well. The difference being Tynecastle (and Easter Road) can play host to those special, electric occasions whenever they do come around.

They're also just far better places to watch football regardless of atmosphere, with superior options for pre-match and post-match.

Tbf tyncastle is an excellent venue the atmosphere at the semi v saints was electric.The only thing that spoils it normally is the brutal football the home team play.

As for the Dons being a wee provincial club its worth remembering that despite being formed 30 years after hearts we have won more trophies and folk in other countries have actually heard of us.

[Highlandmagyar]

I don't see a problem with Kings ford. Road links are decent. Dual carriageway out to Westhill and when the peripheral route is open from A90 it will be a breeze to get to for visiting fans. And there is a decent Tesco and Aldi in Westhill. [emoji4]

[RussellAnderson]

This fan-zone needs to be the bollocks. Either that or shuttle buses from the pubs in town

[BucksburnDandy]

Went down to the exhibition tonight and spoke to a couple of folk - the project director and Duncan Skinner.

Key points I took were the following:

1) The stands aren't going to be as steep as Tynecastle but will be steeper than present South Stand at Pittodrie

2) Sadly stands not as tall as they were going to be, small concession to the WANKS

3) Relatively large fans bar going to be provisioned. Club want us younger fans days to be spent boozing more at the ground. Duncan Skinner said that he wants guys like us to be heading along for about midday, having a few beers, bit of food, watch the early TV games then into the new ground for the game.

4) Safe standing is pretty likely to happen unless the Celtic trial goes wrong. Duncan Skinner confirmed that demand was strong for it, and that the atmosphere in the ground benefits from it. Club want it to happen and will do their utmost. Detail on internals to follow after planning application is successful

5) Training ground is the real game changer in attracting players for the club. 3 floodlit pitches - 2 artificial and one grass along with a further 2 full sized grass pitches and first team training areas. Also full size pitch area provisioned for the use of the community.

6) Having it all in one "campus/area" is quite unique but it makes considerable sense for the club with the developments that will naturally come along with the bypass, along its corridor.

Left a few ideas with Duncan Skinner around the transport to and from the games and perhaps adding a levy onto match tickets then allowing the fans to get on the proposed shuttle buses or public transport to the game for free on production of match ticket, like in Germany and Poland. Also added a few ideas onto the bar/fanzone idea.

Aberdeen drew a lot of ideas from Groningen, Derby, Bristol City, Reading, QPR, some Norwegian clubs and a couple in the Middle East.

Relatively content with what I heard from the guys at the exhibition. Club realise it is key to get the fan experience correct and the transportation spot on in order to draw the crowds out to Kingsford.

[Dons_1988]

Went down to the exhibition tonight and spoke to a couple of folk - the project director and Duncan Skinner.

Key points I took were the following:

1) The stands aren't going to be as steep as Tynecastle but will be steeper than present South Stand at Pittodrie

2) Sadly stands not as tall as they were going to be, small concession to the WANKS

3) Relatively large fans bar going to be provisioned. Club want us younger fans days to be spent boozing more at the ground. Duncan Skinner said that he wants guys like us to be heading along for about midday, having a few beers, bit of food, watch the early TV games then into the new ground for the game.

4) Safe standing is pretty likely to happen unless the Celtic trial goes wrong. Duncan Skinner confirmed that demand was strong for it, and that the atmosphere in the ground benefits from it. Club want it to happen and will do their utmost. Detail on internals to follow after planning application is successful

5) Training ground is the real game changer in attracting players for the club. 3 floodlit pitches - 2 artificial and one grass along with a further 2 full sized grass pitches and first team training areas. Also full size pitch area provisioned for the use of the community.

6) Having it all in one "campus/area" is quite unique but it makes considerable sense for the club with the developments that will naturally come along with the bypass, along its corridor.

Left a few ideas with Duncan Skinner around the transport to and from the games and perhaps adding a levy onto match tickets then allowing the fans to get on the proposed shuttle buses or public transport to the game for free on production of match ticket, like in Germany and Poland. Also added a few ideas onto the bar/fanzone idea.

Aberdeen drew a lot of ideas from Groningen, Derby, Bristol City, Reading, QPR, some Norwegian clubs and a couple in the Middle East.

Relatively content with what I heard from the guys at the exhibition. Club realise it is key to get the fan experience correct and the transportation spot on in order to draw the crowds out to Kingsford.

Cheers for that, good summary [emoji106]????[emoji106]????

[resk]

6) Having it all in one "campus/area" is quite unique but it makes considerable sense for the club with the developments that will naturally come along with the bypass, along its corridor.

Cheers for the summary. Can you expand on what's meant by this? I might be missing something but from what I can see, there's good reason that this set up would be unique - it just doesn't make sense.

Land is expensive in towns and cheap in the country. A training facility needs a lot of space but only a few people ever need to go there. Conversely, 10-20,000 people go to a stadium every fortnight. So, you build the training facility in the country (fitba players and staff can drive cars) and the ground in the town where supporters can access it by public transport and go for a pint.

It just seems to me that Dons fans have largely bought into this myth that there are huge advantages to an all-in-one facility, and are prepared to let their club move out of the town where it belongs, on the basis of information which comes from one source and one source only, namely, the club.

Pittodrie has been allowed to deteriorate over the years which has made the slow drip of propaganda even more effective. I'll get shouted down here, I know I will, and I'm not saying staying at Pittodrie is feasible or even desirable. I just don't want to be the only major Scottish club that doesn't play where it belongs.

[NorthernLights]

44 minutes ago, BucksburnDandy said:

Went down to the exhibition tonight and spoke to a couple of folk - the project director and Duncan Skinner.

Key points I took were the following:

1) The stands aren't going to be as steep as Tynecastle but will be steeper than present South Stand at Pittodrie

2) Sadly stands not as tall as they were going to be, small concession to the WANKS

3) Relatively large fans bar going to be provisioned. Club want us younger fans days to be spent boozing more at the ground. Duncan Skinner said that he wants guys like us to be heading along for about midday, having a few beers, bit of food, watch the early TV games then into the new ground for the game.

4) Safe standing is pretty likely to happen unless the Celtic trial goes wrong. Duncan Skinner confirmed that demand was strong for it, and that the atmosphere in the ground benefits from it. Club want it to happen and will do their utmost. Detail on internals to follow after planning application is successful

5) Training ground is the real game changer in attracting players for the club. 3 floodlit pitches - 2 artificial and one grass along with a further 2 full sized grass pitches and first team training areas. Also full size pitch area provisioned for the use of the community.

6) Having it all in one "campus/area" is quite unique but it makes considerable sense for the club with the developments that will naturally come along with the bypass, along its corridor.

Left a few ideas with Duncan Skinner around the transport to and from the games and perhaps adding a levy onto match tickets then allowing the fans to get on the proposed shuttle buses or public transport to the game for free on production of match ticket, like in Germany and Poland. Also added a few ideas onto the bar/fanzone idea.

Aberdeen drew a lot of ideas from Groningen, Derby, Bristol City, Reading, QPR, some Norwegian clubs and a couple in the Middle East.

Relatively content with what I heard from the guys at the exhibition. Club realise it is key to get the fan experience correct and the transportation spot on in order to draw the crowds out to Kingsford.

Sounds promising.  The transport issue is the massive one for me.  Right now we have a stadium that is pretty much within walking distance from the city centre and basically any bus gets you on to Union Street be it from within the city or further afield.  By moving to a location beside Westhill that changes drastically.  For a large section of the fans from the Shire however the new stadium will be brilliant for them regardless.   

I'm not too worried about the design.  As long as the stands are close to the pitch and enclosed I'll probably be happy.  I was recently at the St Mirren v Dumbarton game and for the first time I appreciated how bad their stadium is since I was in the home end rather then behind one of the goals.  There are massive gaps in the corners and sitting side on to the pitch is the first time I noticed how bad it is.  If they had an enclosed stadium it would be great.

Hopefully they nail the bar area as that'll make a big difference.  If its open for a few hours after the game too that would be great too.

Glad to hear safe standing is part of the plan.  I was down at our game at Celtic this season and was impressed with how they've implemented safe standing.  We'd be crazy not to follow suit.

Edited November 24, 2016 by NorthernLights

[BucksburnDandy]

Cheers for the summary. Can you expand on what's meant by this? I might be missing something but from what I can see, there's good reason that this set up would be unique - it just doesn't make sense.

Land is expensive in towns and cheap in the country. A training facility needs a lot of space but only a few people ever need to go there. Conversely, 10-20,000 people go to a stadium every fortnight. So, you build the training facility in the country (fitba players and staff can drive cars) and the ground in the town where supporters can access it by public transport and go for a pint.

It just seems to me that Dons fans have largely bought into this myth that there are huge advantages to an all-in-one facility, and are prepared to let their club move out of the town where it belongs, on the basis of information which comes from one source and one source only, namely, the club.

Pittodrie has been allowed to deteriorate over the years which has made the slow drip of propaganda even more effective. I'll get shouted down here, I know I will, and I'm not saying staying at Pittodrie is feasible or even desirable. I just don't want to be the only major Scottish club that doesn't play where it belongs.

For the club, they have tried to identify suitable spots nearer the town centre for developing a ground but have basically been too slow off the mark and missed a chance of building one in the central area of town. In thinking about it, the last real chance they had went when Union Square was approved.

As such, they feel that having it in the one campus reduces costs of buying land and building, with less worries about neighbours etc. The feeling I seemed to get was the expectation is that within the next 15-20 years, the green belt land left between Kingswells and Westhill will continue to be built upon and that along the bypass, more housing would also be built. They feel that as that happens, the stadium would be more accessible there, in time.

My preference would have been stay at Pittodrie and redevelop. Every day of every week. But again the club were terribly run from the moment Chris Anderson passed away. Soon as we lost his vision, we lost the chance to buy the land and redevelop Pittodrie.

[lubo_blaha]

Having the bar open for hours before and after the game is a win-win. It means those who like having a few beers on matchday will be giving their cash to the club and also helps the transport situation as not everyone will be trying to get on a bus at the same time. They could also make buses free before 1pm and after 6pm (for example). It'd lower the number of people queuing for transport at peak times and they'd make the money back several times over in food and drink sales.

[jamamafegan]

Drinking at the stadium all day is a shite plan. Away days are meant to be spent in the town, it's part of the away day experience - drinking in different boozers, chatting with locals, seeing the sights. You won't catch me coming out to your fans bar in the middle of a farmland with your overpriced lager.

Dons fans are excited because this is new and refreshing. Yes the plans look impressive when set out and the pictures look good. But if you can see past that it's just glorified pish. I hope you prove me wrong and it's a huge success but I'm not convinced.

[jamamafegan]

Does it come with the opportunity for stadium expansion at least? Bowl stadiums typically come the option to increase capacity by sticking a tier on.

[lubo_blaha]

Drinking at the stadium all day is a shite plan. Away days are meant to be spent in the town, it's part of the away day experience - drinking in different boozers, chatting with locals, seeing the sights. You won't catch me coming out to your fans bar in the middle of a farmland with your overpriced lager.

Dons fans are excited because this is new and refreshing. Yes the plans look impressive when set out and the pictures look good. But if you can see past that it's just glorified pish. I hope you prove me wrong and it's a huge success but I'm not convinced.

It'd hardly be an away day for a Dons man like yourself.

[La_Leyenda]

9 hours ago, Elixir said:

That new stadium looks every bit as shit as we all knew it would be. It's something you'd expect of a new franchise club - a bit like Livi's ground, really. In the middle of nowhere too. Ooft.

Must be brutal knowing that's your future when you look at the likes of a finished Tynecastle and Easter Road in the heart of our nations capital.

Well I for one am shocked that Hearts' biggest fanboy is of the impression Tynecastle is better than the new Aberdeen stadium.

Definitely never saw that one coming.

3 hours ago, BucksburnDandy said:

2) Sadly stands not as tall as they were going to be, small concession to the WANKS
 

Very good summary and everything I've heard about the new stadium has been very positive.

However, I don't understand the height being lowered to appease the objectors. That would mean we would be stuck with it, never being able to increase the capacity or height of the stadium, either for our own use or if Scotland were to host something.

The height of the stands is the one real negative of it.

1 hour ago, jamamafegan said:

Drinking at the stadium all day is a shite plan. Away days are meant to be spent in the town, it's part of the away day experience - drinking in different boozers, chatting with locals, seeing the sights. You won't catch me coming out to your fans bar in the middle of a farmland with your overpriced lager.

Dons fans are excited because this is new and refreshing. Yes the plans look impressive when set out and the pictures look good. But if you can see past that it's just glorified pish. I hope you prove me wrong and it's a huge success but I'm not convinced.

The supporters bar is being built for the use of home supporters, not the 500 or so Hearts support that visit.

[shootingboots]

6 hours ago, La_Leyenda said:

Well I for one am shocked that Hearts' biggest fanboy is of the impression Tynecastle is better than the new Aberdeen stadium.

 

Hearts don't take very big supports outside the central belt anyway so it really shouldn't bother them too much.

I like the idea of the supporters area, pints at the ground etc. As someone pointed out above it's not an away day for us...!
Having been to the Allianz Arena in Munich a few times for Bundesliga matces it works well there, very enjoyable post match etc. instead of scurrying to get the quickest route home. 

Edited November 25, 2016 by shootingboots

[gkneil]

10 hours ago, resk said:

 

 

Cheers for the summary. Can you expand on what's meant by this? I might be missing something but from what I can see, there's good reason that this set up would be unique - it just doesn't make sense.

Land is expensive in towns and cheap in the country. A training facility needs a lot of space but only a few people ever need to go there. Conversely, 10-20,000 people go to a stadium every fortnight. So, you build the training facility in the country (fitba players and staff can drive cars) and the ground in the town where supporters can access it by public transport and go for a pint.

It just seems to me that Dons fans have largely bought into this myth that there are huge advantages to an all-in-one facility, and are prepared to let their club move out of the town where it belongs, on the basis of information which comes from one source and one source only, namely, the club.

Pittodrie has been allowed to deteriorate over the years which has made the slow drip of propaganda even more effective. I'll get shouted down here, I know I will, and I'm not saying staying at Pittodrie is feasible or even desirable. I just don't want to be the only major Scottish club that doesn't play where it belongs.

 

Some may argue that Celtic do..................

[KingswellsRed]

17 hours ago, Elixir said:

That new stadium looks every bit as shit as we all knew it would be. It's something you'd expect of a new franchise club - a bit like Livi's ground, really. In the middle of nowhere too. Ooft.

Must be brutal knowing that's your future when you look at the likes of a finished Tynecastle and Easter Road in the heart of our nations capital.

Spoke with the guy at the exhibition last night who confirmed Tynecastle has no room for the facilities Hearts want or need to make money. It is also non UEFA compliant. Tynecastle really is going to hold Hearts back for years to come. Enjoy looking up at Aberdeen when we are taking our club to a new level which Hearts could only dream of thanks to these new training facilities and stadium

 

Edited November 25, 2016 by KingswellsRed

[topcat(The most tip top)]

1 hour ago, KingswellsRed said:

Spoke with the guy at the exhibition last night who confirmed Tynecastle has no room for the facilities Hearts want or need to make money. 

That's hardly a trade secret. It is after all one of the main reasons we're replacing the main stand and are currently demolishing buildings to make room.

The new Dons stadium looks like it will be good for Aberdeenshire based supporters but piss off Aberdeen based ones. When Chris Robinson was trying to tout a similar move back in the '90s he came out with a "fact" that most Hearts supporters were from beyond the bypass as opposed to the city itself. I was sceptical then and remain so but it does serve as a reminder that my personal views are skewed by being from the city centre. 

People from Aberdeen proper won't like having to treck out into the middle of nowhere but people from Aberdeenshire will presumably love the fact that they haven't got to find parking in the town. Over the longer term you're inevitably going to lose some support from the former group but gain some from the latter. 

What's crucial is that the team's next fallow period doesn't coincide with the move. If Aberdeen have a team worth getting on a shuttle bus for then most people will have formed that habit strongly enough to keep doing it even when they don't