tom_widdows

Looking very tight in the Playoff place table at the moment Come tomorrow night Scotland could be bottom of it as we are the only 2nd place team with a negative goal difference (malta results removed). 1 B Portugal 6 5 0 1 21 3 +18 15 2 G Italy 7 4 2 1 11 8 +3 14 3 E Denmark 7 4 1 2 12 5 +7 13 4 C Northern Ireland 7 4 1 2 10 5 +5 13 5 D Wales 7 2 5 0 7 5 +2 11 6 I Croatia 7 3 2 2 6 4 +2 11 7 F Scotland 7 3 2 2 8 9 ?1 11 8 A Sweden 6 3 1 2 10 7 +3 10 9 H Bosnia and Herz 6 2 2 2 10 8 +2 8 Sweden will most likely jump up to 2nd place tomorrow with a victory over Luxembourg so Group H seems to be where we have to hope results go our way to at least make sure beating slovenia gets the desired result Tomorrow it is Bosnia vs Belgium & Cyprus vs Greece. If the Greeks win and the Bosnians don't it pretty much guarantees Greece will finish 2nd (they play Gibraltar in their final game). That scenario would mean the group H runners up would finish with Max 13 points. If the Bosnian's dont win and the Cypriots beat Greece then its even better

Just to clear up a couple of things. Aberdeen FC may be the applicants but the Agents who submitted the application and were indeed responsible for it (with assistance from the club as required) are Halliday Fraser Munro. Stewart Milne's involvement would have been as a representative of the Client. The Stewart Milne Group are House builders and timber kit designers/ suppliers. A planning application for a large stadium complex is nothing like one for a large housing development which is why there are specialist planning consultants for such projects. I am presuming HFA meet that criteria. The application has not been 'pulled'. The decision has been deferred to allow for additional discussions and given it appears ACC have allowed this rather than simply killing it off with a rejection this allows more time for design tweaks etc. Planning applications unlike Building warrants are open to interpretation. There are local plans, guidelines etc but they can actually all be ignored if the local authority sees fit. I could be wrong but I doubt the ACC planning department or HFM have ever had to deal with a project like this one and it will have been a learning curve for everyone involved. Personally having read some of the statements & responses from some of the consultants it struck me that they did not know what to do or even what to ask for and when faced with the unknown the default response always seems to be 'reject'. Until the application is withdrawn or rejected I am keeping an open mind.

About 20 years after the one about the construction of the Beach 'Leisure' Park Potentially related given the aggro over potential parking controls being brought into Westhill if the stadium was contructed, I see Aberdeen-shire Council are investigating de-criminalising on-street parking IE taking it out of Police control and hiring their own traffic wardens.

Can you elaborate further?

Robbie Winters Vs Dunfermline - 1999 Robbie Winters Vs Arabs - 2000 (Grand day out that one) Arild Stavrum vs Arabs - 2001 Paul Hartley vs Hamilton - 2010

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-41468048 Let the merry go round commence on October 12th. For anyone wondering what a judicial review would mean

McCulloch oot along with his assistant. My bet is on Kris Boyd becoming player manager

The 2014 Christmas special is particularly disturbing but my personal favourite was the 'White Bear' Episode in season 2. Had no idea Brooker had sold it to the States or that there was a season 3 or 4.

My mind always springs to a former AFC Captain who apparently classes cheating to win an SPL title as a Manager as better than honestly winning 3 as a player or dumping Real Madrid & Bayern Munich in 1983

Good luck to him. I think its refreshing to see someone like Coyle head back to a 'smaller' Scottish club. Suggests to me that he isn't just chasing money and is prepared to actually 'manage' a team rather than rely on a transfer kitty to carry him. Too many managers get a couple of sniffs of Englandshire and then turn their noses up at any Scottish club (apart from the obvious gap years that comes with yon Tic).

SFA backing the proposals + an updated shuttle bus plan https://publicaccess.aberdeencity.gov.uk/online-applications/files/F6E4BFBF821AB3F243819C12DB239905/pdf/170021_DPP-Supporter_Travel___Shuttle_Bus_Strategy-1556965.pdf

Memories of two matches against the Arabs in the Calderwood Era Sunday 27th February: 4-1 defeat at Tannadice in the Scottish cup QF (Byrne) Wednesday 2nd March: 2-1 Win at Tannadice in the League (Diamond, Stewart)

Off the Ball today they said someone had done some research into the wage gulf between PSG and yon Tic compared to the wage gulf between yon tic and the 'diddy' teams in the spfl PSG average player wage last season - Apparenlty £4.2million Celtic Average player wage last season - Apparenlty £700k Averange non OF player wage last season - Apparenlty £47k PSG 6 times more than Celtic Celtic almost 15times more than the non OF Teams Strange that Jim Mcintyre has yet to mention this as an excuse for Ross county's defeat

Thistle seemingly denied a 2-1 win over the evil horde thanks to the Linesman making a 'mistake' and giving a stonewall thrown in to Sevco who then immediately went on to score. Refreshing to hear the BBC commentary team going nuts about that decision with the first comment being 'had that happened at the other end it would be all over tomorrow's papers!'

The important word there is 'may'. No one has provided any evidence the council 'offered' land. In fact given the problems Aberdeen City Council have had over the last 2 decades regarding 'offering' and indeed 'selling' land to certain parties I would be very surprised to see anything. Since 100% AK went AWOL you seem to be the only one fixated on something that at this stage is an internet rumour. I've had a look back at the past local plans and back in the 2008 Local plan, Pittodrie + the Driving Range + Cricket pitch was shown as one large potential development site. However in 2009 the Council began drafting the first Local Development Plan for the City. This was finally approved in January 2012 and adopted in February 2012. That plan reduced the development site to cover only Pittodrie and designated the cricket pitch and driving range as 'urban Greenspace'. Whilst all this was happening the Loriston Stadium was granted Planning permission and the club actually named a contractor for the works, then in August 2012 the newly appointed ACC rejected the Calder Park Community Sports Complex effectively killing the whole project The club announced plans for Kingsford in May 2016 4 years after the Kingslinks and other green areas of the Beach were designated urban Green-space. The only development opportunity on the Kingslinks is a site smaller than Pittodrie next to the Bridge over the Don. In light of this can anyone now reveal the location of the land by the Beach the Council allegedly 'offered' when the club announced the Kingsford Plans?

http://www.donstalk.co.uk/index.php/topic,19542.0.html Clowns, ban that mod

A document which lists the multiple sites around the city and the reasons they were deemed unsuitable. How does that not have anything to do with the 'council has offered land' debate? The council can allegedly offer as many sites as they like but if none of them meet the Clubs criteria or budget then using such offers as an argument against building at Kingsford is pointless. From a planning point of view to accept the argument a proposed 25Hectare development should not be built in one location because there are smaller and/or more expensive sites elsewhere would set a quite dangerous precedent for any future large scale developments in the city. Could you please also clarify your last statement about the Planner's not accepting these reasons? Back to the Kingslinks discussion you are actually correct in the Cricket Ground + Driving Range is 10 hectares (checked this on a CAD plan). The problem is the club needs 25 Hectares. The other issue (as stated in long post about the alternative sites) is Aberdeen's 2017 local plan has zoned the Kingslinks (including the cricket ground & Driving Range) as Urban Green space, Green Space network, and a Developed Coastal Management area. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=74498&sID=9484 http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=74499&sID=9484 If you think trying to build on green-belt in the suburbs is hard, wait till you try to concrete over existing urban green-space. Many people still haven't forgiven the 1990s councils for allowing the loss of the grassland next to Codona's to build the Queen's links leisure park. This is an image that seems to have been taken around about the time the beach leisure centre was built. This is what replaced the greenspace next to Codona's about 10 years later The 2003 plan which you posted a couple of images from (Seem to recall from my Uni days that it included suggestions of a tram network) has been superseded several times and now no longer applicable.

About a week old but something jarred when I heard one of the objectors 'summarise' the history of the stadium site planning. https://www.kingsfordstadium.co.uk/sites-considered-new-aberdeen-stadium/

Still not a patch on Kirk Broadfoot

We did. They were owned by the council and paid for out of the Council Tax Budget, donations and local groups occasionally hiring them at an hourly or specified rate depending on the event you were hosting. Tuesday night football cost us 50p- £1 each for 1hr back in the 80s. They were not privately owned or located on a private company's land. When the council could no longer afford them they were either sold off (if the land was valuable), or handed over to the local community who set them up as registered charities (which is what happened in my home village). These charities charge for people to use their facilities otherwise they have to close them down and leave them to rot. Some of the faciltiies at Kingsford will apparently be available for local groups to use (pitches, sports pavilion etc) but this will be at the clubs discretion. If the people of Westhill or Kingswells want similar facilities which are 'publicly' owned then they will have to Lobby Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire Council to extend or open up a new sports centre or two The Cricket pitch plus the Driving range is not 10 Hectares. The Current Pittodrie site is 5.5 Hectares and that would only just fit into in that space. I would say the 10 hectares is the the driving ranges plus the Kings Links Golf Course. In terms of compensation I take it you mean the following 1) Pay out the remaining lease to the council. Current rate-able value for the Kings links golf centre is £108,000 per year. Exactly how long is this long Term lease?. 2) Find a replacement site and pay for the construction of a New Driving Range, and the relocation of the Business. This latter used to be the way Supermarkets got hold of old Stadium sites. Finding and purchasing a site large enough for a new driving range with modernised facilities plus construction costs - £2.5Million? Before all this of the Club has to convince the council to sell the oldest Municipal Golf Course in the city. Now we move onto the stadium complex. Planning rules require a specific amount of car Parking for sports stadiums and just because a kings links stadium is closer the city centre does not mean this will be relaxed. Falkirk's new stadium has a capacity half of Pittodrie and is 15mins walk from the Train station but still required more than 600 Parking spaces. Then there is the road infrastructure - Improvements to the Golf Road, The esplanade etc which will be made all the more complicated by the prospect of 350 new residential units being built on the Doorstep. But the biggest headaches are the sandy soil conditions, the drainage/ flood prevention infrastructure (Kings Links is only approx 7ft above sea level). These alone could potentially double or even triple the cost of construction. It could be done but it is by no means a cheaper alternative. My understanding it is being built to relieve congestion throughout the city but in particular the A90 route (Anderson Drive, The Parkway and the bottle necks at the brig o dee, Haudigan and Bridge of Don rounabouts} All trucks heading to or coming from Peterhead, Fraserburgh etc have to take this route with the Brig O'Dee being especially bad as large trucks cannot use the existing bridge.

The invincibles currently 3-0 and its not yet half time. As much as I dislike Paris SG it is nice to see yon Tis getting a pasting

The issue with that manc is where do you add them? The discussion seems to have moved away from 'Pittodrie being redeveloped' to 'new stadium just down the road' but a presumption seems to be the Council would take the view the existing infrastructure is fine. Crowds and Traffic currently arrive and disperse through residential streets which causes significant disruption to local residents, is a hindrance to emergency services and results in gridlock in the city centre. Yes the Railway & Bus stations are less than 2miles away but how many home fans do actually use the train to come to the game? (Genuine question as my trips north for home games on the train or bus never seem to end with me fighting through massive hordes of red shirted folk on the station concourses waiting for the West or South bound trains home) In Scotland, St Mirren, Stirling Albion, Dumbarton, East Fife, Falkirk, St Johnstone as I recall all had stadiums surrounded (at least partly) by residential areas. All moved to new stadiums clear of residential property. New clubs Caley Thistle & Livingston's stadiums were built away from residential areas. New stadium = New guidelines and I seriously doubt the master-planning, & transport/ crowd gathering & dispersal strategies will be allowed to be based on fans walking up Pittodrie street, Merkland Road, Pittodrie place, or across the golf course onto the esplanade. Yes you can't stop people doing this but you also can't rely on it for a new development. Resolving or at least cutting the traffic congestion on King Street is not a simple task as it cuts through an established highly populated area and like it or not in Aberdeen the car is king. My last home game was back in December 2016 and eventually got the bus I required to Bridge of Don just after 6pm - more than 1hr stood in the rain. The bus lanes were completely ineffective in the gridlock Like it or not when it comes to traffic control, the moment that Bypass opens Kingsford has the edge over Pittodrie. Please also remember the Kingsford transport strategy/shuttle bus plan is a proposal. Until it is put into practice no one will know how effective it will be. The transport Scotland conditions require the plan to be reassessed and updated accordingly following each match day Once flaws are established changes can be made until after a few a seasons the whole thing falls into place. It is not in the clubs interest for fans to miss kick-offs/ sit in traffic for hours after the game.

People who for whatever reason are incapable of finding their seats in a theatre/ stadium/ cinema/ trains etc even after being directed by stewards or ushers. For the bonus are the ones who argue that they are in the correct seat even when tickets have been produced as proof. Once had an argument in the RDL with a guy who demanded my Dad and I get 'out of his seats'. He refused to back down and got quite aggressive when we pointed out they were our season ticket seats, the row number on his tickets was different and his seats were actually for the upper tier. Steward eventually took him away.