New stadium thread

[Ten Caat]

Booooo

 

Fuck the shite stadium in the shitehole

 

I hope your nae slipping a length to one of thae quines on the side ( or any other position )..

[donsdaft]

On re- reading that I should have just left it at Westhill instead of changing it to shitehole.

 

Fit quines are you spikkin aboot?

[Ten Caat]

The W.A.N.K.S/ W.A.E.P.A.L quines .l'll try and sort out a piccy of them in all their glory in the halcyon days of them celebrating fleecing the Westhill public for £70k....

 

[Panda]

Apparently the architects have been changed, according to someone who was at that Q&A thing last week. The same people who designed Brighton's stadium and Liverpool's new stand.

 

According to the same fella, club have recently visited Gent, and plan to visit Spurs & Atlanta soon.

 

Be interesting to see if the design of the stadium changes, though I think it's more likely they'll be looking at things they can include within the stadium to maximise income.

[manc_don]

Well that's a step up from the nobodies they appointed the first time round.  It's usually the other way around. KSS are a decent outfit, did spurs' training ground as well i believe.  I'd imagine they'll get Buckingham's as the contractor then.

 

FFS Milne, offered my practice's services years ago as I knew that lot were pap.

 

Edit: having looked at KSS' site, looks like they've done a lot of corporate fit out, so that'll be what they're doing.

[RicoS321]

It's going to have to be some trick of architecture to make the new stadium in Aberdeen.

[Tyrant]

It's going to have to be some trick of architecture to make the new stadium in Aberdeen.

 

 

Massive moving walkway. Sorted. The bill's in the post, AFC.

 

 

[rocket_scientist]

Surely walkways (massive or otherwise) do not change the location of the intended destination but are mere tools for the access thereto?

[Tyrant]

Nothing gets past you Rocket!

[donsdaft]

Is that a picture of the new Lang Stracht?

 

Looks like an improvement to me.

[Panda]

Dave Cormack in the front page of tonight's evening express saying standing zones and cheaper tickets coming to Pittodrie.

 

Cornack went undercover to observe stewards at the Kilmarnock game last month then spoke to their supervisers. "I said 'Listen guys, I'm just being constructive here, but it's unacceptable what I saw.'"

 

Sounds good. Obviously this is the beginning of them gauging interest to see how many to build at Kingsford.

[manc_don]

Saw that panda. About time someone stood up (pardon the pun) for fans. He's saying the right things if he wants to get the fans on side anyway, let's hope there's some solid substance to it.

[tom_widdows]

Dave Cormack in the front page of tonight's evening express saying standing zones and cheaper tickets coming to Pittodrie.

 

Cornack went undercover to observe stewards at the Kilmarnock game last month then spoke to their supervisers. "I said 'Listen guys, I'm just being constructive here, but it's unacceptable what I saw.'"

 

Sounds good. Obviously this is the beginning of them gauging interest to see how many to build at Kingsford.

 

I wonder if this could signal the end of overreliance on volunteer labour for stewarding and indeed first aid provision at the stadium?

 

I used to be a first aid volunteer at various sports & music venues and I can't honestly say I felt prepared based on the training provided plus whilst being given parts of the uniform and a backpack, the emphasis was on each individual volunteer to provide the rest including actual first aid equipment - Bandages, pads, plasters, gloves, slings etc out of their own pocket. In return you could claim some travel expenses, at some places got a voucher for a free drink and snack, and got to see at about 2/3 of a performace or a game for free all be it from the sidelines or back of the venue.

At the training I felt they were more concerned with providing volunteers than making sure those volunteers actually knew how to deal with the various scenarios they could face.

I presume the various venues paid a relatively small amount to the charities to have these volunteer first aiders and there was a fair bit of pressure to put your name forward for fear of losing the venues gigs This pressure nee guilt-tripping was one of the reasons I jacked it in after about a year.

 

There were some people who took it very seriously and were good first aiders in pressure situations, but there were also a few who were doing it for some sort of power-trip (as is sadly often the case in so many roles in society - a horrible side of the human condition)

 

I don't know for sure but having seen the people who are stewards at the various stadiums/ concert venues etc around the UK I suspect they might be in a similar situation to the first aiders but with stewarding there are more opportunities for the power-trip jobsworth, and the 'bully's henchman' ie runs in when the fight is over to kick the loser on the ground.

At the same time there will be lots of these volunteers who will understandably back away from their stewarding duties when faced with a drunken or even just a stressed/ emotional football fan which essentially makes them as useful as a wedding usher.

 

Will we perhaps see a drive towards 'professional' stewards who are actually employed by the football clubs (salary, pensions etc), all of which will have proper training, proper codes of conduct, proper support, and a proper complaints and disciplinary process?

 

 

 

 

[tom_widdows]

Since its gone a bit quiet on the new stadium front here is a video of Brentford's new stadium which they will share with London Irish Rugby club . Supposed to be finished about March and have a capacity just over 17000 (About 5000 more than their old ground).

 

 

im hoping to go see a game at their old ground before they move at the end of the season.

 

 

[manc_don]

Since its gone a bit quiet on the new stadium front here is a video of Brentford's new stadium which they will share with London Irish Rugby club . Supposed to be finished about March and have a capacity just over 17000 (About 5000 more than their old ground).

 

 

im hoping to go see a game at their old ground before they move at the end of the season.

 

We looked at this one when we were designing AFC wimbledon's. I think it's turned out better than their visuals but it's a sad state of affairs that they have to have multicoloured seats to try and pretend it's busy for TV 

 

Seems to be being built at the same time as the surrounding housing, so seems to be delivered in the same manner as AFC. Any idea of who it is Tom?  I could only find passing reference to Ballymore and Wilmott Dixon with another company called EcoWorld seeming to have taken over the latter.

 

Always wanted to go to griffin park, looked like a nice ground.

[RicoS321]

What are they thinking about? Isn't there a field in the middle of fucking nowhere they can put it?

[Panda]

What are they thinking about? Isn't there a field in the middle of fucking nowhere they can put it?

 

I know you're being sarcastic, but the location of Kingsford has never really bothered me. I'd have preferred Loirston, but Kingsford really isn't Outer Mongolia.

 

But my fear is we build a small, shit, basic looking stadium - something that we would have if we ever redeveloped Pittodrie. And funnily enough, that appears to be what Brentford are putting together.

[Ten Caat]

I wouldn't say that the new Brentford ground is "basic". I'd call it "quirky". The difference that they have compared to what we will have is that their ground is very much constrained by space, being built in a metropolitan area surrounded by buildings and a railway. I may have missed it on the video but don't recall seeing the cost mentioned. Even looking on Wiki, all it says is that the ground it is being built on was bought from Barratt Homes. Land in London is extortionate so it really wouldn't surprise me if the final bill for it comes in at more than £100million.

 

We have the distinct advantage of having no real constraints on size. As for location, yes I agree Loirston would have been preferable but Kingsford is perfectly acceptable. Thousands of our support travel more than 8 miles already to reach Pittodrie and I suspect for every supporter that is inconvenienced by the move, at least one other will find it much more convenient to get to. I trust Cormack in a way that I didn't trust wiggy, so if he says the move is necessary then I accept that as fact. It did concern me that alongside the mooted safe standing area, that the plans may mean a reduced capacity to 17.5k as opposed to 20k. But given our average attendance, I can see why the board might well go for that. We can't even sell out for games against the arse cheeks nowadays...even if the game isn't broadcast live on telly.

[rocket_scientist]

But my fear is we build a small, shit, basic looking stadium - something that we would have if we ever redeveloped Pittodrie.

 

30 years ago, the previous chairman planned to redevelop Pittodrie and paid for the RDS, the first stage of that modernisation plan. That wasn't a small shit basic structure and there was room around the stadium to complete his vision.

 

The man he paid to build the RDS saw the weakness of the Gordons-educated, silver-spooned, chairman-by-succession and wormed his way onto the board. The original vision was ripped up and the new chairman proposed relocation to Kingswells within 5 years of the RDS being opened.

 

A quarter of a century will have elapsed between Milne's radical proposal in the second half of the 90's and the new stadium being built but from a cost basis alone, from common sense even, there was no logical reason to acquire new land and build new when we already had a spiritual home and the opportunity to modernise the rest of it, having already completed one end.

 

When you support Kingsford and you use phrases like you would have preferred another location and "my fear is..." then you are trying too hard to not come across as the stooge and the apologist that you are. Yes the ship has sailed with regard to the original redevelopment vision of over THIRTY YEARS AGO. The worm saw to that by not objecting to/ facilitating the building around Pittodrie but history cannot be revised. Some posters aren't old enough to know the history. Posters like you leave a bad smell because you continuously ignore and/or revise history to support the current manager and the newly-departed chairman without knowing or anticipating the future. Yes we must always make the best of a bad situation. Being blind to how the situation got bad however is to deny truth and the path Aberdeen America FC is on is a poisoned one and it can't possibly work without customer-approval. Since the majority of the old customers are against the agenda-that-Milne-built, the club needs to find brand new customers for it to be viable and they don't exist.

[RicoS321]

I know you're being sarcastic, but the location of Kingsford has never really bothered me. I'd have preferred Loirston, but Kingsford really isn't Outer Mongolia.

 

But my fear is we build a small, shit, basic looking stadium - something that we would have if we ever redeveloped Pittodrie. And funnily enough, that appears to be what Brentford are putting together.

 

Why? It's a fucking building for housing fitba fans. It'll be dated within a decade like any Stewart Milne build, because it'll have the plasticky panels that are the current fashion that everyone will think is trendy but don't stand the test of time.

 

Which is exactly the issue with westhill. If you can't walk to it, then it is outer Mongolia. 1.3 miles from the city centre, means that every single route of public service in the north east serves pittodrie. Westhill is served by a handful of busses. It's a 20th century idea and a fucking awful business decision. When the focus of anyone who has a brain is to reduce car travel, we build something that can only be accessed by car. It doesn't form part of a city development, or future growth plans. It's illiterate, backward thinking. To move your business from the heart of the infrastructure is the most ridiculous and short term move, to the extent that you have to conclude that the current and previous chairmen have no interest in the 50-100 year future of the club. The fans should instinctively no better.

 

Ten years after it's built, when we're playing the mid-table clash against the fifth team in the Danish league as part of the third tier extended European league, the crowds will begin to turn away, realising it was all just a plastic, manufactured, fakeness.

[Panda]

I wouldn't say that the new Brentford ground is "basic". I'd call it "quirky". The difference that they have compared to what we will have is that their ground is very much constrained by space, being built in a metropolitan area surrounded by buildings and a railway. I may have missed it on the video but don't recall seeing the cost mentioned. Even looking on Wiki, all it says is that the ground it is being built on was bought from Barratt Homes. Land in London is extortionate so it really wouldn't surprise me if the final bill for it comes in at more than £100million.

 

We have the distinct advantage of having no real constraints on size. As for location, yes I agree Loirston would have been preferable but Kingsford is perfectly acceptable. Thousands of our support travel more than 8 miles already to reach Pittodrie and I suspect for every supporter that is inconvenienced by the move, at least one other will find it much more convenient to get to. I trust Cormack in a way that I didn't trust wiggy, so if he says the move is necessary then I accept that as fact. It did concern me that alongside the mooted safe standing area, that the plans may mean a reduced capacity to 17.5k as opposed to 20k. But given our average attendance, I can see why the board might well go for that. We can't even sell out for games against the arse cheeks nowadays...even if the game isn't broadcast live on telly.

 

But then, it was only a few seasons ago we were selling out 20,000 for big games in Europe and v the Old Firm. If they build it to a smaller capacity it's almost like they're saying they don't feel we'll get back to that level again.

 

Think we have a certain ceiling for most League fixtures certainly. But if they are serious about this Uefa 100 thing, then that means regular group stage games in either the Europa League or this new conference thing, and would imagine the potential is there for regular 20k sell-outs in that stage.

[rocket_scientist]

But then, it was only a few seasons ago we were selling out 20,000 for big games in Europe and v the Old Firm. If they build it to a smaller capacity it's almost like they're saying they don't feel we'll get back to that level again.

 

No it's not "almost" anything. The plan to build for less capacity than current is the most revealing part of this whole sham. Nice use of the word "they're" by the way, like you're not part of it

 

Ambition is necessary to create good things. Milne never had any ambition for "the product". Even when 43,000 of us turned up at red Parkhead, it never occurred to him that a good manager picking and motivating a good team could really compete, particularly against the dross that pollutes the SPFL these days and get 25,000 of us supporting a worthwhile cause. The cause has never been worthwhile under Milne because football was never his focus far less his principal objective.

[Panda]

Why? It's a fucking building for housing fitba fans. It'll be dated within a decade like any Stewart Milne build, because it'll have the plasticky panels that are the current fashion that everyone will think is trendy but don't stand the test of time.

 

Which is exactly the issue with westhill. If you can't walk to it, then it is outer Mongolia. 1.3 miles from the city centre, means that every single route of public service in the north east serves pittodrie. Westhill is served by a handful of busses. It's a 20th century idea and a fucking awful business decision. When the focus of anyone who has a brain is to reduce car travel, we build something that can only be accessed by car. It doesn't form part of a city development, or future growth plans. It's illiterate, backward thinking. To move your business from the heart of the infrastructure is the most ridiculous and short term move, to the extent that you have to conclude that the current and previous chairmen have no interest in the 50-100 year future of the club. The fans should instinctively no better.

 

But how many are walking or using public transport to get to Pittodrie now? I'd guess the majority still use car. It's an Aberdeen city problem that the transport options are so poor, rather than an Aberdeen FC one. The club have to do what's best for them and Kingsford was £1.1m to purchase compared to the extortionate costs of building in the city centre, or the £15m shortfall of staying at Pittodrie.

 

I grew up in Westhill and made that Westhill-Pittodrie journey every second week for the best part of 15 years. Not once did we consider not going because of the distance and I'd be surprised if that many are put off making the opposite journey.

 

Like I say, the location doesn't concern me. It has it's flaws of course but they don't keep me awake at night. The important thing is it's a Groupama Arena or Euroborg being built there, and not a Brentford.

 

Ten years after it's built, when we're playing the mid-table clash against the fifth team in the Danish league as part of the third tier extended European league, the crowds will begin to turn away, realising it was all just a plastic, manufactured, fakeness.

 

Different topic, but I'm looking forward to the new conference League .

 

Brondby are around fourth or fifth at the moment in Denmark. Would be a decent fixture that.

[Panda]

No it's not "almost" anything. The plan to build for less capacity than current is the most revealing part of this whole sham. Nice use of the word "they're" by the way, like you're not part of it

 

Ambition is necessary to create good things. Milne never had any ambition for "the product". Even when 43,000 of us turned up at red Parkhead, it never occurred to him that a good manager picking and motivating a good team could really compete, particularly against the dross that pollutes the SPFL these days and get 25,000 of us supporting a worthwhile cause. The cause has never been worthwhile under Milne because football was never his focus far less his principal objective.

 

Obviously I'm not going to even attempt a proper reply to any of your posts because it'd give me a headache trying to work out what's genuine and what are coded cries for help, but keep them coming as they are thoroughly entertaining reads. Especially the suggestion I'm part of the stadium build.

[tom_widdows]

I wouldn't say that the new Brentford ground is "basic". I'd call it "quirky". The difference that they have compared to what we will have is that their ground is very much constrained by space, being built in a metropolitan area surrounded by buildings and a railway. I may have missed it on the video but don't recall seeing the cost mentioned. Even looking on Wiki, all it says is that the ground it is being built on was bought from Barratt Homes. Land in London is extortionate so it really wouldn't surprise me if the final bill for it comes in at more than £100million.

 

Initial budget was £71million with large chunk of that being underwritten by Brentwood's owner. Probably get a tidy sum from selling the old stadium for housing too.

 

Seems to have been a fairly smooth construction so they may scrape in under the £100million mark in the end.