Warning Pittodrie would not have capabilities to host Europa games

ALEX WALKER

Granite City, causing local businesses and the Dons “a significant loss of revenue”. He was speaking at a public hearing into a proposed new £50 million, 20,000 seater stadium proposed by the club and backed by the SFA for Kingsford, on the outskirts of the city.

Mr McKinlay said the current stadium faced “significant challenges” to comply with both domestic and UEFA regulations.

He said the pitch was struggling to gain more than a silver level standard in the SFA club licensing regime due to its smaller field dimensions and provisions for disabled supporters, media and uncovered spectator areas were also under scrutiny. But at a pre-determination hearing for the plans at Aberdeen City Council, Mr McKinlay warned the narrower pitch and other issues meant “were Aberdeen in the wonderful position of having qualified for the group stages of the Europa League, they would face significant and possibly insur- mountable challenges to host their matches at Pittodrie”.

He added: “The thought of Aberdeen having to play these games in the Central Belt is one that is rightly unthinkable to the thousands of Aberdeen fans who would want to attend these games.

“Indeed, there would be a significant loss of revenue to the club and the city of Aberdeen and it goes without saying that neither the club nor the city would want to send out this message to the rest of the footballing world.”

Dons manager Derek McInnes said four and a half years after taking the job his players were still training on “unacceptable” public park and rugby ground pitches after vowing “never to train there again” on his first day. He said the stadium would be a “real game changer for us and such a fantastic opportunity” to move up in Europe.

But Katherine Sneeden, of Jigsaw planning, for the No Kingsford Stadium group, said the plans for the site went against the local development plan adopted in January and would have a ‘huge impact’ on the loss of the green belt.

The late children’s author Roald Dahl.