New stadia is far from an easy process
ABERDEEN have already turned to the SFA for help in trying to obtain planning permission for a new stadium at Kingsford, west of the city.
Dundee will probably do likewise as they step up their bid to move to Camperdown Park on the city’s outskirts.
Andrew McKinlay, SFA chief operating officer, presented a submission to a pre-determination meeting in Aberdeen Town House last week.
He stressed the Dons’ proposal would not only help Aberdeen, but Scottish football in general, as the SFA seek to establish whether to stop playing at Hampden when their current lease expires in 2020.
Obviously, Celtic Park and Ibrox are foregone conclusions along with Easter Road and Tynecastle for lesser internationals.
McKinlay stressed: “It’s vitally important to be able to bring games to places other than Glasgow and Edinburgh.”
However, Aberdeen’s chosen site is on green-belt land and opposition from locals is fierce.
The Dons have every reason to be nervous about the council vote next month.
Dundee are not nearly as far ahead with their plans, but already own the ground they want to develop.
Last week they released architectural drawings for an extremely ambitious complex to include a new stadium, training facilities, a hotel, a crematorium, housing and an extension to the ice rink already on the site.
They may not face the same severity of local opposition as Aberdeen, but the council will take some convincing as the land is right next to an already heavily congested ring road. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears. Just ask St Johnstone, Hamilton, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, St Mirren, Falkirk, Livingston, Dumbarton, Airdrie, East Fife, Clyde or Stirling Albion.
They all had to overcome varying degrees of opposition before custom-built new grounds could be constructed.
Teams who opted to remain at their traditional homes had less trouble in gaining permission to demolish old stands and build new ones.
Following the Ibrox disaster in 1971, and the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, football grounds were forced to vastly improve their safety.
Rangers, Celtic, Kilmarnock, Dundee United, Hibs, Motherwell, Partick Thistle and Dunfermline opted to stay put and modernise.
Most turned to Barr Construction, owned by then Ayr United chairman and major shareholder Bill Barr, to build new stands and extensions.
Ironically, Barr himself was unable to do anything for Ayr.
He deemed redevelopment of Somerset Park not viable, then was left frustrated when plans for an out-oftown stadium were rejected by the Scottish Executive.