The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Opposing stadium sides make final pleas on plan
Crunch meeting: Football club accused of scaremongering by objectors
Supporters and objectors of the new £50million Dons stadium at Kingsford packed into Aberdeen Town House yesterday to deliver their final impassioned pleas ahead of a decision next month.
More than 40 submissions were made for and against the 20,000-seat arena, training academy and heritage museum between Westhill and Kingswells, including one from Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes.
The crunch meeting lasted more than seven hours. The project would be delivered in two phases, with the community and sports facilities and football academy constructed first and the stadium built in the second phase.
The club aims to be playing matches at the new stadium in the 2020-21 season. It will be considered by full council in October.
Tensions had run so high during the lead up to yesterday’s public hearing that security deemed it necessary to search bags of members of the public who piled in to view from the gallery.
Mr McInnes was one of the first to state the case for the move from Pittodrie.
He said: “At the same time our performance and results will drop as we are unable to attract good players.
“(The development) would be a real game changer for us and such a fantastic opportunity for us to strengthen our aims and desire to become a rated club in Europe.”
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce lent its weight to the argument, with chief executive Russell Borthwick stating that backing the stadium is vital for the city as it looks to recover from the oil downturn.
Andrew McKinlay, from the Scottish FA, said the governing body was behind the club’s ambitious plans, and that securing a new ground would likely be crucial if the club were to qualify for the Europa League group stages in the future.
Westhill For Kingsford group member Keith Sinclair called for councillors to grant planning permission, and said that he and other fans objected to being labelled troublemakers, a barb at No Kingsford Stadium campaigners who claim crowd trouble from supporters would put an extra burden on police. He said: “I’m insulted that we’re called hooligans and drunken louts because it suits their agenda.”
Kingswells Community Council and the No Kingsford Stadium campaign group were joined by several residents from the area who joined forces to launch their vehement objections to councillors. Heather Brock, a Westhill resident, said: “We were told six years ago that the club had to move to a new stadium if it wanted success. The club is now the second best team in the country. They are guilty of scaremongering. They keep saying they will lose Derek McInnes if they don’t get the move. He will go regardless, managers come and go. The Kingsford stadium will be a football stadium, nothing more. It will not benefit the community.”
“The Kingsford stadium will be a football stadium, nothing more”