Aberdeen fans back new beachfront stadium plans in club survey

Fans of Aberdeen Football Club have strongly backed proposals for a new beachfront stadium in a club survey.

It comes after the club announced it had been working alongside Aberdeen City Council on plans to build a new stadium “at the heart” of a beachfront redevelopment in the city.

After calling out for fan engagement on the proposal, over 6,500 supporters responded to a club survey, with 92% supporting the plans to replace their current home of Pittodrie.

The survey, which was issued to around 9,000 season ticket holders and those in the AberDNA membership initiative, asked participants if they supported the proposed beachfront location.

Responses found that fans wanted to keep the stadium in the city, close to its original home and heritage, and placing it somewhere that can benefit city centre businesses.

Rob Wicks, AFC’s commercial director, said: “The response to our survey has been fantastic and it’s clear that the vast majority of fans would prefer us to remain near our spiritual home and within the city.

“Inevitably, the long and arduous process of finding a new home for the club has again raised questions over why we can’t stay at Pittodrie and why we are now considering the beach after spending considerable time and money on Kingsford.

“At a new site that isn’t land-locked or otherwise constrained, we can create new, quality, modern and flexible spaces and facilities that will allow us to not only drive current revenues and generate new revenue streams, but also enable considerably more community-led activity.

“As the only option open to us at the time, Kingsford presented a number of positives, including the benefits of having our training facilities co-located with the stadium and the ease of access for fans from outwith the city. It was our plan C when there was no plan D.

“Recognising the urgent need to retain footfall in a city centre devastated by the withdrawal of major retail brands, the council asked us to explore the potential of remaining in the city.

“Since, then we’ve been working with them, our stadium architects and other specialist consultants on potential designs and an outline business case for a new stadium and community sports complex, incorporating an ice rink and leisure centre.”