tom_widdows

I say bergkamp against newcastle

You mean the long term strategy in which he refused to go back in time and say to his predecessors 'hey guys, before you spend 4.5million on this new beach stand (which of course I am happy to help build), perhaps it might be a good idea to actually look at the long term future of the stadium and how we will get around the issues with the main stand. Perhaps it might be a good idea to put the plans on hold and use the cash to buy that old gas storage land next to the SS carpark. While yer at it lets buy that old builders yard at the back of the merkland stand. That way 20 years from now we wont be surrounded by flats and if some muppet is willing to part with the cash we could actually follow the examples of West Ham & Blackpool in moving the pitch further away from from a public road OR sell it before the recession which is going to hit in about 15years at vast profit and pay off a fair whack of our debts prior to moving to a new stadium. Will you still be asking how the club affords the new stadium should a bidding war result in pittodries site being sold for £30million +? Of the clubs in englandshire with new stadiums that went into administration, the stadium was the least of their worries. Signing up mediocre players on long contracts for min 15k a week and being run by chairmen who were either stupid or out to line their pockets rather than actually look to break even or make the clubs self sufficient caused administration.

May 19th at the O2 Academy

Dont think even the most ignorant of bluenoses would still see them as heroes Particularly now this has delayed the process and added another few 100k to the administrators bill.

Cynic in me says the SNFL will turn out to be run by a Mr Reagan and Mr Topping

Then of course we will also have the Scottish Major League and at the end of the season the best teams from each will meet each other in Best of 7 playoffs for the WORLD SERIES!!!!!

What? Steven the ex rangers, Dundee United, Hearts & Celtic Pressley. If he ever did take over im wondering how many apparently bad results it would take for the support to start turning on him for not being a 'dons' man?

Third division would be entertaining. We only get to see them play the occasional lower league team in the cups and 9 times out of 10 they steamroller them. However those are one off games and im wondering how many of their pri-madonnas would fancy squaring up to Chic Charnley-esque hatchet men and very hungry young players looking to fuck them over on a ploughed field every second satuday.

Who said I believe the move was the best thing for the club? The only thing ive done is counter your claims regarding stadium design and relocations being bad for every club that does it. What inspired me to weigh back into this debate was your original post appeared to be full of claims and opinions stating the move will destroy the club, the move is a Stewart milne plot and that pittodrie can easily be redeveloped if people have enough imagination. The last part in particular jarred due to past experience of developers wanting the moon on a stick and getting arsey when you show them reality. Like the Aberdeen bypass protestors and those against renewable energy you seem quick to say a plan is flawed or a waste of money but you fail to offer a feasible alternative solution to the problem Im interested by your opinions regarding St Johnstone and St Mirrens success. Id say in todays financial climate a change which wipes out your debt, provides facilities to bring on your own players and give your supporters a nicer place to watch you is the foundations for survival ergo success. Im beginning to think your idea of success is in a similar league to Mr Romanov. Spend money you dont have for a few short years of success before returning to where you started from but with a bigger debt.

St Marys - http://binged.it/HDyoah - Purpose built new stadium in brownbelt site with 3 sides of the stadium surrounded by carparking and a large concourse (like that of the RDS) separating the other side from a public road. Emergency access on all 4 sides Old Trafford - http://binged.it/IKDfr8 - Very rich club able to buy out residents and businesses to clear the area around. Large pedestrian zones/ carparks on 3 sides. Matt Busby way provides access only to the stadium. They however cannot reach an agreement with the railway so they as of yet cannot redevelop the old main stand to increase their capacity to 90000. Carrow Road - http://binged.it/HDz2Vt - all 4 sides of the stadium are pedestrian control areas. No public access roads are impeded on match days and emergency services have full access on all sides. The Hawthorns - http://binged.it/IKEHdf - Slightly tight site but plenty of alternative roads routes and accesses allow them to control Halford lane on match days. Stand on Birmingham road has minimum distance permitted to allow for queuing spectators and still allowed them to increase capacity. Compare that situation to the main stand at pittodrie. And of course - emergency cervice access on all 4 sides. Pittodrie - http://binged.it/IKCnTl Older aerial view but the development behind the South Stand is now complete. North is Pittodrie street - A public road providing access to businesses and homes. You cannot permanantly close public roads without providing a replacement route, especially if they encircle large venues which require strict emergency service access. Any new stand at pittodrie brings in the new regulations even if the other 3 dont. Finally you seem to imply that compulsory purchase orders are something you just have to fill out a form and obtain. For airports, railway lines etc perhaps yes. For private companys wanting to extend? No chance. Take a look at how much Arsenal had to pay out to clear thes site for the Emirates.

Clydebank didnt move by choice. They were in dire financial straits and then their chairmen decided to prematurely sell the stadium before even getting together an idea for a new stadium. Club was then forced to play in Dumbarton (not too bad) and then Greenock (40mile round trip with awkward public transport links and the pull f the old firm is pretty much death for most small clubs). As a matter of fact they had relocated 5 times prior to their nomad years. Airdrionians eventually moved less than a mile to their new stadium. They were fucked over by a ludicrous planning application and then North Lanarkshire councils plannind dept, very poor club management in deciding to sell Broomfield and allow it to be turned into a supermarket before they had final designs for a new stadium so they had to play 8 miles away for 4 seasons (poor public transport links and the pull of the old firm picked off the supporters) all the while spending the money they got from morrisons on rent etc, and finally that wonderful 10000 seat rule (a massive factor in the financial problems of many clubs). They then also had a board falling out with each other and fell into the trap of the bosman = players are free to sign but their wages cost more than our turnover. Clyde were forced to leave shawfield in 1986 after it was sold by the greyhound association and then spent 8 years groundsharing (shawfield is less than a mile from celtic park anyway. 8 years of fans being picked off by the bigger clubs in the city). Getting the chance to move to a new town with no professional sports team and a new stadium to rent was a no brainer given the financial situation of football after the bosman ruling. Unfortunately the stadium is in the middle of nowhere with poor public transport links and 'franchises' just dont work in the UK. Football fans have loyalties and Cumbernaulds population would already have being picked off by other clubs. Meadowbank Thistle/ Livingston needed to move if they were ever going to be a success. It is to typical of scottish football that the SFA decided to allow another Edinburgh team in to the league instead of Inverness thistle back in 1974. I suspect pressure to find a use for Meadowbank stadium to stop it falling apart was a big factor. Even worse that you can see Easter Road from Meadowbank. Id say to go from 3rd division to 3rd place in the SPL in 6 years and win the league cup in 2004 is pretty massive success for a new club. However once again financial mismanagement, poor board decisions, dodgy italian owners, a large chunk of their fans being kids with free tickets in a stadium too large (10000 seat rule again) and of course, like Cumbernauld, Livingstons population would already have set their loyalties (hibs, hearts, Falkirk, the old firm, Fergie led aberdeen, maclean lead Arabs etc) all fucked them over. Far as im aware the whole new stadium requires fund from selling pittodrie and at no point is it the plan of our board (who have been penny pinching for best part of 20years) to leave pittodrie before we have a new stadium to play in. You also have missed out St mirren who sold off Love street to Tesco, and with the cash built a new stadium with training facilities and more importantly wiped out their debts. If all it takes for fans to abandon the club is moving 3miles across the city then we have more deepset problems that need to be addressed. Leeds Road, Belle Vue, the Manor Ground, Elm Park were falling apart. The Taylor report and Bradford city disaster put severe safety restrictions reducing their capacities. Too expensive to redevelop so sell to private developers for lots of money and use that to build a new stadium The Dell, Filbert Street, Baseball ground, Victoria Ground, Highfield road, Vetch field, Ayresome park were all boxed in (like Pittodrie is) and their restricted capacities (taylor report and bradford) were hindering their clubs ability to compete financially in premiership and even the championship (rivals getting 25000+ but they were stuck with less than 20000 capacity. Unfortunately failing to gain promotion back to the premiership straight away is financial suicide for clubs who have spent many years using the Sky Millions. Administration in England is a whole different ball game to scotland particularly if yer new stadium happens to be finished just in time for you to be relegated or your board decided to spend ITV digital tv cash and other money you dont have trying to get premiership football (Cardiff, Bristol City are on the brink due to failure to reach the 'promised land' Wigan is another Blackburn and potentally a gretna - always been a rugby league town. Never sell out the JJB even when playing Man united etc. Its only a matter of time. I want you to list these successfully redeveloped constrained sites. I refuse to once again go over the regulations and requirements for new stands and stadiums and the planning issues of trying to work around public roads. There is also the factor of MONEY. Only way we can afford to redevelop pittodrie is a) a nutter millionaire decided to throw away their money on us, b) we beg the bank to loan us a few more million (at massive interest), or c) a dodgy insurance job. Of course the big factor is the capacity would be cut in half which might not be such a bad thing for atmosphere given we seem to be averaging less than 10000 these days but spending all that cash to restrict your money making capacity is financial suicide. See my previous comments regarding Coventry & Oxford. For Arsenal see my previous comments about stadiums being in constrained sites. Highburys capacity was down to less than 40000 whilst their big rivals in the North were getting 45-70000. Arsenal didnt win a trophy between 1993 and 1995. was that the fault of Highbury or Fergie? Aberdeen havent won a trophy since 1995. Can we blame that on Pittodrie? Bolton - See Coventry and many other english clubs with stupid boards spending high for small short term gain Firstly you cannot compare american franchise based sports to European Football. However I agree with you regarding boring legoland designed stadiums but personally if anyone refuses to go to a new stadium because it looks boring then they aint interested in the teams on the field. The 'character' of old stadiums is brought about due to redevelopments spaced over many years. Go back in time to when football was new and you will find lots of stadiums identical to each other. One seated stand perhaps designed by Archibald leitch (or ripped off in any case) with 3 sides of large open terracing. As stadiums regulations were updated and fans started asking for a roof over their heads and not having to be less than 5ft tall to sit down (main stand stands at pittodrie, tannadice, dens park, tynecastle etc) the stands were replaced and in many cases this was done with little thought for 'hey maybe we should think about a pattern here. For me, whatever character was left in pittodrie vanished with the Beach end. Ill give you this one which is why ive been calling for the old Cove Railway station to be re-opened as part of the plans. Isnt going to happen though. However the only city centre site large enough for a 20000capacity stadium is now covered by a white elephant shopping mall and new bus station. Football stadiums need space and their isnt much of it going spare in central aberdeen. if yer going to bring this sort of thing up then please use examples similar to aberdeen. 2 of the biggest clubs in Europe in a city twice the size of Aberdeen is not a fair reflection. Footbally loyalty in scotland is out the window anyway given more people leave Aberdeen to watch the old firm than actually go to Pittodrie. That is your opinion and unfortunately it is shared by many others. Milne is the bogeyman and his tenure has been a massive plan to build flats next to Seaton. YAWN. Are you still going to be bleating on about this if say Cala, or Wimpey, or Barrats outbid SMG for the land? I want anyone who continues to bring this up to show us all where the money to redevelop pittodrie is going to come from. Are we suddenly going to unearth 10 fraser Fyvies and sell them all for £5million each? Is milne really the only reason we have been shite for 2 decades? Bosman removing one of our incomes had no bearing? Old firm fiddling finances and outspending everyone didnt do anything? Ill admit he has appointed some shocking managers and decided to give them way too much cash but our players are always paid, He was against the setanta deal and ive yet to read any serious articles where the name aberdeen football club is alongside administration and 'serious financial problems' What qualifications do you have to comment on 'best practice in stadium redevelopment' or judging on 'long term financial ruin' if we dont move will you still be preaching when 5 years form now Pittodrie's capacity is reduced to 16000 because the main stand no longer has a safety certificate? or when large parts of the south stand are closed off for foundation repairs. You also seem to have missed out any reference to training facilities. Are you happy with the current arrangements for City parks and running on the beach?

Not too sure until it actually happens. thought in the back of my mind would be to throw my support behind a low league english team. Probably Wrexham, Shrewsbury, Exeter or Guernsey FC Like tlg1903 Id keep an eye out for the dons results but SPL wranglings would be another huge reason never to set foot back in a city I dislike quite strongly

They scrapped the original group thing in season 1982-83 (first round was made up of groups - Our group was Dons, Dumbarton, Dundee & Morton) They then changed it in 1983-84 so that the group stage was brought in at Round 3 - Dons, Dundee, Meadowbank Thistle & St Johnstone. Scrapped completely in season 1984-85 but kept the 2 legged Semi-finals until the following season. Maybe we could do what the Germans apparenlty do - Team from lower division is always given home advantage no mater who comes out of the hat first and all games are played to a finish - this should apply to the scottish cup too.

Confirmed tonight. Late Queen of the South equaliser means County are champions without kicking a ball

They are according to 5live

A 3-0 defeat A 5-1 defeat A 1-0 win The only one that matters is the last. Personally I dont see what people get so hung up with other clubs reaching cup finals. It means fuck all unless you walk away with the trophy (Especially with the League cup since it has no European place)

Not sure if yer being sarcastic or not but for your information League cup 1995 - Aberdeen 2004 - Livingston 2007 - Hibernian 2012 - Kilmarnock Scottish Cup 1990 - Aberdeen 1991 - Motherwell 1994 & 2010 - Dundee United 1997 - Kilmarnock 1998 & 2006 - Hearts

Hibs winning This apparent 'intruiging battle for relegation' chick young seemed to be bleating on about is getting shorter. Appears it could be the dandy dons that send the pars back to the SFhelL on the 28th

Hell of a strike against southampton today

Leigh hinds Leon Mike Lubomir Blaha Something about strikers beginning with 'L'

What they are proposing will be finished in June. http://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/files/7876E2D1F2A3733AC940B7D32D055A8A/pdf/12_00246_FUL-APPROVED_GENERAL_PLAN_A1-345644.pdf http://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=LYB65QIH7R000

Most if not all of them have to live in Elgin?

Gotta feel sorry for Elgin fans http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clips/p006yfj6/ripping_yarns_ripping_yarns_series_2_-_golden_gordon/

We can still get relegated.