After years of stalled negotiations, the long-awaited plans for a new Aberdeen FC stadium at the city's beachfront have finally seen some movement, albeit amid escalating tensions between the Scottish Premiership club and the local council.
Discussions between Aberdeen FC and the council are reportedly ongoing, but progress has been minimal.
Recently, Alex McLellan, the councillor responsible for the city’s finances, indicated that the club's hesitance to invest financially may be a key factor in the ongoing deadlock.
This assertion has prompted a strong rebuttal from club officials, who labeled the claim as “disingenuous.”
During the Aberdeen FC AGM on December 9, chairman Dave Cormack indicated that they are making several improvements to their current Pittodrie Stadium, which has seen little change to its structure since the Richard Donald Stand opened over 30 years ago, and acknowledged that any potential move wouldn't be in the near future.
Legendary ex-manager Sir Alex Ferguson opened Cormack Park, a multi-purpose, state of the art training ground, on the outskirts of Aberdeen in October 2019. And there was previously proposals to build the next stadium beside it.
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"It’s never been our intention to build a stand-alone stadium at the beach," an Aberdeen statement on Monday read.
“The previous administration of Aberdeen City Council approached the Club about being a key stakeholder in and tenant for an anchor project that would be the catalyst for the wider regeneration of the beachfront.
“Aberdeen FC invested considerable executive time, over three years, on working with the Council to develop plans for an integrated leisure complex and community stadium. As a Council-led project, the onus was on the Council to lead the development of the detailed design and costings and the fund-raising, with the Club making a significant contribution to the cost of the stadium element.
“However, the current administration has scaled back their plans for the beachfront – which is absolutely their prerogative. But it’s disingenuous to suggest that the Club is either stalling the process or not prepared to pay our share.
“The Club has spent £5million on various plans for a new stadium in three separate locations. We’re not prepared to incur any further costs on plans which end up becoming a political football.
“We believe an integrated leisure complex and community stadium would be a major piece of infrastructure that enables the city to attract and retain the companies and people it needs to be at the forefront of the energy transition. But making this happen and raising the funding requires ambition and the political will.”
