The Famous Aberdeen - Season 2022/23

[jessmagic]

Soulless bowl in Waitrose country no thanks min

[Dons_1988]

Why are we giving a voice to people who don't like football is my question.

Just build a state of the art 30k seater where union terrace gardens are. What could go wrong?

[RiG]

19 minutes ago, RussellAnderson said:

The club probably do need to be more transparent and detailed about why Pittodrie is unfeasible. 

Agree. It's about time he reveals just how many flats he plans on building there when / if Pittodrie gets knocked down.

[SilverWolfe]

The club probably do need to be more transparent and detailed about why Pittodrie is unfeasible. 

Pittodrie would need to flattened and a new stadium built which will cost millions. Selling Pittodrie and building somewhere else pays a good chunk of it. I don't think they really need to come out and say that when it's that obvious

[RussellAnderson]

12 minutes ago, Tartantony said:

 

Pittodrie would need to flattened and a new stadium built which will cost millions. Selling Pittodrie and building somewhere else pays a good chunk of it. I don't think they really need to come out and say that when it's that obvious

 

I'd like the club to share any feasibility study they've done to determine this. A stand-by-stand renovation using innovative design would probably be every fan's ideal solution, and given Stewarty's reputation for flat-building, I think the fans need to know why this may not be possible.

[Ken Fitlike]

Isn't there all sorts of UEFA stadium criteria that impact heavily on the potential capacity of a redeveloped Pittodrie?
Should have built the RDS hard by the road. But didn't that have Planning Issues at the time?

[Elixir]

3 hours ago, PauloPerth said:

So Hearts can develop a 20,000 capacity ground on their hemmed in site, yet Aberdeen can't here:

You can do what you want when you're the establishment club. 

[PauloPerth]

26 minutes ago, Elixir said:

You can do what you want when you're the establishment club. 

Yes, quite.

I think the point is Aberdeen fans are getting taken for a ride a bit here.

Its not possible, only option is to move, club can only move on in a new stadium etc.  It sounds similar to all the arguments the West Ham board used prior to their move, although they really didn't have space to expand.  Wonder how they feel about that move now?  

I'd want some cold hard facts from someone other than my property developer chairman before accepting that a ground with a current capacity of 20,000 couldn't be completely re-developed and modernised to have a new capacity of 20,000.

[Milnzo]

6 hours ago, Frank Grimes said:

The Club have said until it's blue in the face we can't redevelop Pittodrie, the South, Main and Merkland Stands are too close to residential property to redevelop.

 

Which is utter bollocks.

Goon brigade lap it up though.

[BucksburnDandy]

As someone who had a lot of concerns and still does about the new ground, I got in contact with the club today and spent 20 minutes on the phone to the project director. Here are my notes:

I am just off the phone to Raymond Edgar, Project Director for Kingsford.

 

I asked four key questions and these are the answers I got:

 

1)      Why have we got no indoor pitch in the training development give the propensity for harsh winters?

 

It is purely economic that we haven’t got it in the initial plans. The current cost of the facilities is £10 million and an indoor pitch would add another £4-5 million. The plan is to install one in some of the available green space behind the academy pavilion in phase three of the development, five years or so down the line, so looking at about 2025-2026. This allows the club time to settle a bit before asking for yet more funds from people. However, it is something that we do want and will be pursuing as soon as we can fund it. McInnes has earmarked it as a key thing to do once there, whether he is there or not.

 

2 ) Can we increase the gradient of terracing to make better views and increase atmosphere, without increase the height of the stands?

 

In short, yes, yes we can do. There are internal drawings that have been produced by one the planners working on the project that has an increased rake and would still fit the same number of seats/spaces in. They would not be looking to make the facility more shallow at all, they have noted fan concerns about this and the unpopularity of places like Hampden. I used the example of Hibernian’s new East Stand as ideal without being a death trap. So the plan is to get as increased a rake as possible without losing any capacity, so we should see an increase on the plans allegedly floating round the internet. The Project Director doesn’t want to be associated with a terrible construction.

 

3 )The thorny issue of Transport – Have we got busses secured for potentially 9,000 to 13,000 home fans or is this still up in the air?

 

“Thorny issue is putting it lightly!” They have letters of confirmation from most local bus companies, including First and Stagecoach, that they will provide enough busses for crowds, regardless of games being a Saturday, Sunday or midweek evening. Only times it could be tight are for full house European games before kick-off. However, they put in a clause in their letters stating that they must draw busses from other parts of the country to fulfil our contract to ensure there were no issues. They plan to include the cost of busses in the ticket costs, so as not to have people raking about for change. They want the services to be very swift and efficient as far as possible. They will move busses around the pickup points depending on demand.

 

4) What are the plans for private funding? Will ordinary fans be able to contribute?

 

We broke this into the funding of the two phases, first phase is £10 million (training ground), second phase (ground) £40 million. For the training ground, we currently have just over £5 million secured for the £10 million needed for it. Other companies have said that they will contribute but only once the plans get approved. They are fairly confident that they will get the £10 million in the bank for the training ground through corporate backers. McInnes and the club are desperate for the training ground, as we are currently in the bottom three of the Premiership for training facilities. For the ground, around £18 million will come from the sale of Pittodrie, going on today’s low market. Thereafter, we will need to fund £22 million. The idea will be that this will come from a mix of fans and corporate backers. There will be a way for fans to contribute to the ground, whether it would be through a share issue, through debentures like Hampden Park, or through a foundation style of monthly pledges. At the moment, the Project Director envisaged that it would be a mix of all three, so as to allow both rich and poor fans to contribute as best they could.

 

Finally he mentioned that we can’t split the application as the council insisted we put in training ground and stadium as one application. They wanted that, so if it fails, we go back in with just the training ground would be the plan, back to square one with the stadium.

About Kings Links - The driving range still has a 40 year lease on it. The club reckon our council will give us f**k all support to get rid of it. In fairness, they're right. Aberdeen council doesn't give a f**k about the football club

[RussellAnderson]

Fuckin great post Bucksburn min. In my opinion the training ground is the most important aspect of the plan so it's good to know they're not planning on ditching it if the stadium doesn't get done. The bus plans are promising but ambitious, and seeing how transport plans get executed in Scotland previously, I'm not holding my breath.
Good man though, took one for the team there. I'll be nicking these facts for the pub later.

[starryfish]

As someone who had a lot of concerns and still does about the new ground, I got in contact with the club today and spent 20 minutes on the phone to the project director. Here are my notes:

I am just off the phone to Raymond Edgar, Project Director for Kingsford.

 

I asked four key questions and these are the answers I got:

 

1)      Why have we got no indoor pitch in the training development give the propensity for harsh winters?

 

It is purely economic that we haven’t got it in the initial plans. The current cost of the facilities is £10 million and an indoor pitch would add another £4-5 million. The plan is to install one in some of the available green space behind the academy pavilion in phase three of the development, five years or so down the line, so looking at about 2025-2026. This allows the club time to settle a bit before asking for yet more funds from people. However, it is something that we do want and will be pursuing as soon as we can fund it. McInnes has earmarked it as a key thing to do once there, whether he is there or not.

 

2 ) Can we increase the gradient of terracing to make better views and increase atmosphere, without increase the height of the stands?

 

In short, yes, yes we can do. There are internal drawings that have been produced by one the planners working on the project that has an increased rake and would still fit the same number of seats/spaces in. They would not be looking to make the facility more shallow at all, they have noted fan concerns about this and the unpopularity of places like Hampden. I used the example of Hibernian’s new East Stand as ideal without being a death trap. So the plan is to get as increased a rake as possible without losing any capacity, so we should see an increase on the plans allegedly floating round the internet. The Project Director doesn’t want to be associated with a terrible construction.

 

3 )The thorny issue of Transport – Have we got busses secured for potentially 9,000 to 13,000 home fans or is this still up in the air?

 

“Thorny issue is putting it lightly!” They have letters of confirmation from most local bus companies, including First and Stagecoach, that they will provide enough busses for crowds, regardless of games being a Saturday, Sunday or midweek evening. Only times it could be tight are for full house European games before kick-off. However, they put in a clause in their letters stating that they must draw busses from other parts of the country to fulfil our contract to ensure there were no issues. They plan to include the cost of busses in the ticket costs, so as not to have people raking about for change. They want the services to be very swift and efficient as far as possible. They will move busses around the pickup points depending on demand.

 

4) What are the plans for private funding? Will ordinary fans be able to contribute?

 

We broke this into the funding of the two phases, first phase is £10 million (training ground), second phase (ground) £40 million. For the training ground, we currently have just over £5 million secured for the £10 million needed for it. Other companies have said that they will contribute but only once the plans get approved. They are fairly confident that they will get the £10 million in the bank for the training ground through corporate backers. McInnes and the club are desperate for the training ground, as we are currently in the bottom three of the Premiership for training facilities. For the ground, around £18 million will come from the sale of Pittodrie, going on today’s low market. Thereafter, we will need to fund £22 million. The idea will be that this will come from a mix of fans and corporate backers. There will be a way for fans to contribute to the ground, whether it would be through a share issue, through debentures like Hampden Park, or through a foundation style of monthly pledges. At the moment, the Project Director envisaged that it would be a mix of all three, so as to allow both rich and poor fans to contribute as best they could.

 

Finally he mentioned that we can’t split the application as the council insisted we put in training ground and stadium as one application. They wanted that, so if it fails, we go back in with just the training ground would be the plan, back to square one with the stadium.

About Kings Links - The driving range still has a 40 year lease on it. The club reckon our council will give us f**k all support to get rid of it. In fairness, they're right. Aberdeen council doesn't give a f**k about the football club

Great post [emoji106]

[Dons_1988]

As someone who had a lot of concerns and still does about the new ground, I got in contact with the club today and spent 20 minutes on the phone to the project director. Here are my notes:

I am just off the phone to Raymond Edgar, Project Director for Kingsford.

 

I asked four key questions and these are the answers I got:

 

1)      Why have we got no indoor pitch in the training development give the propensity for harsh winters?

 

It is purely economic that we haven’t got it in the initial plans. The current cost of the facilities is £10 million and an indoor pitch would add another £4-5 million. The plan is to install one in some of the available green space behind the academy pavilion in phase three of the development, five years or so down the line, so looking at about 2025-2026. This allows the club time to settle a bit before asking for yet more funds from people. However, it is something that we do want and will be pursuing as soon as we can fund it. McInnes has earmarked it as a key thing to do once there, whether he is there or not.

 

2 ) Can we increase the gradient of terracing to make better views and increase atmosphere, without increase the height of the stands?

 

In short, yes, yes we can do. There are internal drawings that have been produced by one the planners working on the project that has an increased rake and would still fit the same number of seats/spaces in. They would not be looking to make the facility more shallow at all, they have noted fan concerns about this and the unpopularity of places like Hampden. I used the example of Hibernian’s new East Stand as ideal without being a death trap. So the plan is to get as increased a rake as possible without losing any capacity, so we should see an increase on the plans allegedly floating round the internet. The Project Director doesn’t want to be associated with a terrible construction.

 

3 )The thorny issue of Transport – Have we got busses secured for potentially 9,000 to 13,000 home fans or is this still up in the air?

 

“Thorny issue is putting it lightly!” They have letters of confirmation from most local bus companies, including First and Stagecoach, that they will provide enough busses for crowds, regardless of games being a Saturday, Sunday or midweek evening. Only times it could be tight are for full house European games before kick-off. However, they put in a clause in their letters stating that they must draw busses from other parts of the country to fulfil our contract to ensure there were no issues. They plan to include the cost of busses in the ticket costs, so as not to have people raking about for change. They want the services to be very swift and efficient as far as possible. They will move busses around the pickup points depending on demand.

 

4) What are the plans for private funding? Will ordinary fans be able to contribute?

 

We broke this into the funding of the two phases, first phase is £10 million (training ground), second phase (ground) £40 million. For the training ground, we currently have just over £5 million secured for the £10 million needed for it. Other companies have said that they will contribute but only once the plans get approved. They are fairly confident that they will get the £10 million in the bank for the training ground through corporate backers. McInnes and the club are desperate for the training ground, as we are currently in the bottom three of the Premiership for training facilities. For the ground, around £18 million will come from the sale of Pittodrie, going on today’s low market. Thereafter, we will need to fund £22 million. The idea will be that this will come from a mix of fans and corporate backers. There will be a way for fans to contribute to the ground, whether it would be through a share issue, through debentures like Hampden Park, or through a foundation style of monthly pledges. At the moment, the Project Director envisaged that it would be a mix of all three, so as to allow both rich and poor fans to contribute as best they could.

 

Finally he mentioned that we can’t split the application as the council insisted we put in training ground and stadium as one application. They wanted that, so if it fails, we go back in with just the training ground would be the plan, back to square one with the stadium.

About Kings Links - The driving range still has a 40 year lease on it. The club reckon our council will give us f**k all support to get rid of it. In fairness, they're right. Aberdeen council doesn't give a f**k about the football club

Excellent work thank you.

[Frank Grimes]

15 hours ago, Milnzo said:

Which is utter bollocks.

Goon brigade lap it up though.

No it isn't.

Unless you suggest knocking down the flats outside the Merkland and South Stands?

Or flattening the Main Stand for over a year depriving us of hundreds of thousands of pounds of commercial revenue? I'm sure the players can just get changed in the car park in the meantime as well 

Sceptical, cynical Aberdonians are fucking worse than **** 

[Reina]

These arrived today 

[Suspect Device]

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40962708

Fined £9,100 for Cyprus. They got fined £25k.

 

[jamamafegan]

Tonight my fellow Saintees, people who I called my friends, have decided to shun my match thread for next weeks Celtic clash. I've been officially abandoned. I came here because I didn't know where else to go...

[Jmothecat2]

Tonight my fellow Saintees, people who I called my friends, have decided to shun my match thread for next weeks Celtic clash. I've been officially abandoned. I came here because I didn't know where else to go...

Best thing to do is get the Blue away Dons top with 'May' on the back. Baby steps.

[lubo_blaha]

Stockley off to Exeter according to the s*n (who are usually spot on with our transfer news, unfortunately).

[DrewDon]

May and possibly Maynard will be able to offer us something against the better teams that Rooney occasionally has not been able to, which reduces our dependency on Stockley from last season. He's probably fourth in the pecking order now. I wouldn't lose sleep if he moved on. League Two is probably his level at the moment. 

Edited August 25, 2017 by DrewDon