Featured image credit: Aberdeen FC
Scottish Premiership football club Aberdeen has welcomed a decision from Aberdeen City Council to keep a community stadium within its overall beach masterplan.
Councillors yesterday (Wednesday) approved the commencement of preparatory work for the first phase in the transformation of the city’s beachfront.
As well as a new stadium for the club, the plan includes an urban park, an events park, and new landscaping and structures on Broadhill. Councillors have instructed officers to begin early discussions with the planning authority ahead of submitting applications, with a full business case to be reported to the council in August 2023.
In October, the club stepped up its efforts to secure a new beachfront stadium by releasing an economic impact report for the proposed project. The report outlined that a new stadium is projected to inject at least £1bn (€1.16bn/$1.23bn) into the local economy over the next 50 years and generate footfall of 38 million.
Dave Cormack, chairman of the club, said: “We are committed to working collaboratively with the council on the logical next steps to delivering and funding a flagship community asset that will benefit the city centre and the wider economy.
“If Aberdeen is to compete for the people and investment in order to thrive and prosper, we must have bold, ambitious projects that provide the amenities and facilities which will entice people to come here to work, live and play.
“The stadium at the beach is not simply about a home for Aberdeen FC where we would play one top-flight men’s game every second week, instead it’s a genuine community asset, that would be used every day of the week to host the community and visitors, that cements our position as a leading developer of professional sport, that supports grassroots sport and actively promotes health and wellbeing.
“It not only keeps the club in the city and is supported by an overwhelming number of our fans, but it also retains and increases footfall and spend in our city centre, supporting local businesses and transforming the leisure offering for citizens and visitors.”
In April, Aberdeen revealed that its plans for a new beachfront stadium had received “overwhelming” support from fans.
Aberdeen had previously agreed a deal to build a new stadium on the outskirts of the city but in August 2021 the club released a statement saying that it was supporting the council’s new beachfront vision.
The plan for a 20,000-capacity stadium in Kingsford, where the club’s training ground is based, was approved in 2019, before councillors last year detailed plans for a stadium on the beachfront.
Plans for the beachfront stadium have also been backed by the Scottish Football Association, with the venue touted as a possible destination for future international matches.
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