jamamafegan Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Hurry up and get a new stadium built. Would be seriously good news for Scottish football to have a strong Aberdeen with a new stadium challenging every year. This. As long as the stadium is at least 25,000 - or has the ability to expand. Become a force and build for the future. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForzaDundee Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 This. As long as the stadium is at least 25,000 - or has the ability to expand. Become a force and build for the future. Indeed. Imagine Gronigen's stadium in red. It's only 22500 seater too. Would attract loads more fans (both home and away) as well as substantial extra sponsorship revenue. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamamafegan Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Indeed. Imagine Gronigen's stadium in red. It's only 22500 seater too. Would attract loads more fans (both home and away) as well as substantial extra sponsorship revenue. Man, I was just about to post the same thing right there! It's a cracking stadium. Doesn't look soulless either, which is what tends to happen with new bowl stadiums. Just watched the highlights there from when Aberdeen played them, great atmosphere. 22500 Dons fans would make a right noise in something like this. Interesting to read that Milne was left impressed with Groningen's facilities. Maybe he has something like this in mind when the time comes to build. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamamafegan Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Also just read: There are plans to expand the stadium to a capacity of 30,000 or 40,000. The Euroborg Stadium is known to be one of the more atmospheric of all Dutch stadiums. Despite its relatively short existence, it has already earned the nickname the Green Cathedral. On to a winner with that one IMO 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Excellent news! Another member to join our (bank) debt free club B) Good shout. All this Armageddon really is turning-out pretty well, quite frankly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussellAnderson Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 I think any talk of a larger stadium is a bit premature. The size of the stadium is perfect for now, but a design with potential for expansion would be good. Aberdeen is a growing city and 10-20 years down the line we might be able to expand a little. After two or three seasons of selling out every game only then would you consider expanding. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanmistermustard Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Great news for Aberdeen and Scottish Football. Tho i can see some folk in the media weeping at the news that another Scottish football team is doing well whilst Rangers continue to f**k it up outside the top division. But no doubt the same folk will spin it so its somehow a sign that the Old Firm are crucial to our game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheep77 Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Great news the money they save on intrest payments can go to the manager to improve the team 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jute Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Great news the money they save on intrest payments can go to the manager to improve the team Apparently it's to go towards getting a new training facility. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BucksburnDandy Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Great news, after 9 months of negotiation to finally get across the line. A massive burden off the club's back to go totally debt free as opposed to exchanging for soft loans. The debt conversion to equity gives SMG and AAM an increased stake while the Donald family become major new shareholders. Huge credit to George Yule, Duncan Fraser and the rest of the board, been a painstaking process but it has been worth it. Now, let's hope for good news on the training ground at Balgownie and the new stadium sooner rather than later! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosso vendicatore Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 (edited) Has the debts been paid off completely or just manoeuvred as was the case at Tannadice? Not an expert but it seems so We were 15m in debt, 5m to SM and AAM and 10 to the bank The way I read it, the bank has said, give us 3m cash now and the debts gone (7m Write off), the Donalds (big Dons fans) have paid the 3m to the bank and gained seats on the board, shares. So bank debt gone and no debt to Donalds. Milne and AAM also said they dont want their cash back but will have shares instead, as part of the deal between the Donalds, Milne and AAM the community trust were also given shares I believe as part of the community give back So the bank pretty much scrubbed 7m, I dont know how much of that was original loans and how much accumulated intrest over the years, but thats it, did killie not get the same, the bank wants away from football clubs it seems. Edited November 12, 2014 by rosso vendicatore 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AberdeenBud Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Will there be an open top bus and parade? ^^^ Never seen his team on an open top bus parade. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d31 Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 It doesnt appear as if Donalds are seeking election to the board, yet anyway 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosso vendicatore Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Aye your right, I was having a moment, shares it is 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssdon Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 (edited) This is great news for our club Now we need to move on and build on this Training facilities are next and then its the stadium situation. The most important thing is keeping the team strong though. Our home crowds are up again this season and that is with the £50 price increase. Wages will be about the same, only the bonuses will change that. We will make a lot more from the semi final this year than we did last season. Reason being our game with UTD will have at least 10k more and the other semi will be a sell out at Hampden We have has 3 European games which were all over 15k We wont have any debt interest to pay once this is all sorted Looking good All we need to do is sort the stadium. I'm sure I have read we pay around 400k a season just to keep it safe. That's money that would be going else where P.S Also this is completely different to what Dundee UTD have, they still have a debt to someone. He hasn't written it off, there is just not the same pressure to pay as there would be with the bank Edited November 13, 2014 by ssdon 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milners Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 (edited) Now we need to move on and build on this Training facilities are next and then its the stadium situation. The most important thing is keeping the team strong though. Our home crowds are up again this season and that is with the £50 price increase. Wages will be about the same, only the bonuses will change that. We will make a lot more from the semi final this year than we did last season. Reason being our game with UTD will have at least 10k more and the other semi will be a sell out at Hampden We have has 3 European games which were all over 15k We wont have any debt interest to pay once this is all sorted Looking good The most important thing is to live within our means as we used to do under Dick Donald - so every season break even. Ian Donald and then Stewart Milne put us in a bad situation but at least it is now sorted that we should be able to move on from this. Think Crowds are down by 31 although next game should be up unless we get 9,500. Wages are a little up from last season as Derek McInnes said in the black and gold meeting last week. Edited November 13, 2014 by Milners 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Lovely stuff http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/michael-gannon-how-aberdeens-red-4618991 ABERDEEN’S annual accounts used to get shoved through the shareholders’ letterboxes every year and land with a thud. Folk would be terrified to open them up because the contents inside were getting more gruesome every 12 months. Not this time. This year’s report looked so good it could have come off the top shelf and delivered in a brown envelope. Congratulations, your club is debt free. Talk about a pre-Christmas bonus. There’s no better feeling than that final mortgage payment (so I’ve been told), paying off the car (so I’ve been told ) or that last standing order from your loan (so I’ve been told). Even your pal telling you to forget about that score he chucked you the other week is pretty nice (so I’ve been told). But to have nearly £15million wiped from the accounts in one fell swoop is cause for another parade down Union Street. The Dons lifting the League Cup last season was pretty special. Lifting the debt is absolutely huge. They might not have gone on about it but Aberdeen were being crippled by their borrowings. Having to stump up half a million every six months on repayments was like trying to run a marathon with a sumo wrestler on your back. Sooner or later the strain was going to tell. The club was balancing the books but the dirty great big debt beast was dominating everything. The new stadium was in development hell, the training ground on ice, and Derek McInnes’s budget couldn’t budge. Now they are free – and more importantly they’ve got out of the hole without having to sell their souls. No stadium rights, no merchandise deals, no car park securities or henchmen in the boardroom. Aberdeen secured their financial boost the good old fashioned way – from local people who have the club’s best interests at heart. Stewart Milne has received a kicking over the years but he’s taken the hits and continued to bankroll the club. Along with Aberdeen Asset Management they have ploughed in the dough and instead of waiting to be repaid they have continually transferred loans into shares. Those guys have managed to keep the club afloat but now it will be full steam ahead thanks to a couple from Stonehaven. Willie and Elaine Donald have sunk in the dosh to allow Milne to clear the £10m loan with the bank and wipe out the £15m club debt. In return? A chunk of shares but not much else. Certainly not the family gold or control of the boardroom. We‘ll have to wait to next month’s agm to discover if they want to rename Pittodrie the Willie and Elaine Area but somehow I doubt it. The couple were determined to put something back in to the club and community but wanted to do it on the quiet. Not because they are shadowy figures looking to pull the strings in the background for their own gains. They’ve only been named because under financial rules they had to be. They just wanted to continue to have a quiet life, supporting their team and their region. No doubt there will be Rangers fans greeting into their cornflakes reading this as it’s impossible to ignore the contrast. The soaring success of last term shot Aberdeen’s turnover through the £11m barrier and boosted the wages kitty to more than £6m. That won’t be going unnoticed in boardrooms all around the country. Celtic aside, those figures blow the rest of the Premiership out of the water. It’s also not a kick in the backside off what Rangers are spending right now. The Dons are in place to really lay down the gauntlet in the next couple of years. There might even be more scope for investing in the team. Rangers have been so focused on working out how they can eventually compete with Celtic they’ve taken their eye off the ball. It looks like it will be hard enough for them to compete with Aberdeen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussellAnderson Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 It's ironic the white elephant stand that has been such a burden on us is named after such a good financier. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheep77 Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Hope we push on and get Shinnie deal done in jan 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d31 Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 certainly hope club will have ambition to push for it mckay, tansey and meekings also available 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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