Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has made a fresh appeal to Aberdeen City Council not to shut the door on the club relocating to the beachfront.
Council officials have put the ball firmly in the Dons’ court by insisting any stadium at the beachfront is dependent on capital investment by the club.
Councillors will discuss a report from chief commercial officer Craig Innes on Wednesday, but Cormack has urged them not to pull the plug on a proposed new home for the club as part of the beach masterplan.
Speaking to shareholders at the club’s annual meeting at Pittodrie, the Dons chairman said: “We’ve been looking for a home for a long time and this option at the beach has never been an option.
“So it’s one we want to continue to explore.
“The stadium is still in the plan and if it is ratified on Wednesday I would urge everyone to think of the future of Aberdeen and bring those jobs here.
“We are a willing participant and our appeal is for us all to get together, get on the same page and get out there with a joint front to try to raise the money we need from government and commercial sources to try to get this project done.
“Our appeal to the administration and city council is to get together over the next few months and really look at what this can do for Aberdeen.
“Just as you can congratulate the council for spending £400m on TECA, can you imagine what we could do by developing Beach Boulevard?”
Dons chairman believes masterplan is vital for the city
The council’s insistence on Aberdeen funding a new home themselves has become the major stumbling block in recent weeks, but Cormack believes hurdles can be overcome if the stadium remains part of the masterplan.
He said: “The council are meeting on Wednesday to discuss the overall masterplan itself.
“There will be subsequent meetings which take place and, right now from reading the reports, the stadium is part of the masterplan.
“But how it gets funded is another question.
“We were approached about two years ago by the administration at the time and asked how we could help the city and keep the club in the city centre. Because economically it makes sense for them.
“We began a dialogue which has gone on over the last 18 months.
“At a higher level, the First Minister wants Aberdeen to be the net zero capital of the world.
“In order for us to achieve that and bring thousands of higher paid jobs to Aberdeen for that as the oil dies down over time, we need an infrastructure where families want to come and live in Aberdeen.
“The most important thing is when we go out to look at funding sources for a joint stadium, it is a council stadium.
“When you are talking to potential partners the first question they ask is Aberdeen City Council 100% on board with this. With the recent press, it’s up for debate.
“Until such time as we can get everyone round the table we have to go out positively to these potential funding sources, where there are grants available.”
Staying at Pittodrie is a non-starter
Cormack confirmed, should the beach masterplan collapse then the club will revert to their original plan of building a stadium at Kingsford next to the training ground, Cormack Park.
But it is clear a redeveloped Pittodrie is not going to happen.
The Dons chairman said: “Pittodrie is a no-no. We’ve looked at this for years.
“We have to increase our turnover. We’re spending £17-18million when our season ticket income was £2m.
“We have to explore unlocking new revenue streams. It’s not about just putting in a new stand and accommodating more people.
“We’re landlocked at Pittodrie. No matter how we try to revamp the stadium we won’t unlock any more income opportunities.
“Hearts and Hibs are getting significant investment. They’ve got the space to do it at their stadiums.
“In our mind we would have less opportunity to deliver more income and it would take three or four years of reduced income to accomplish that.
“The 15m we would likely get for Pittodrie would be lost. That is a key ingredient for delivering the new stadium.
“Right now I’d like us to evaluate as long as we can until the council says they don’t want to do it, to deliver the beach.”
