Aberdeen F.C. - Stadium

Stadium

Aberdeen have played throughout their existence at Pittodrie Stadium, the name of which comes from the Pictish for "place of manure". The ground was first used by the original Aberdeen F.C. in 1899, in a 7–1 win over Dumbarton; when they merged with two other teams in 1903, the new club took over the old Aberdeen ground. On 15 August 1903, 8,000 spectators turned up to watch the new Aberdeen draw 1–1 against Stenhousemuir, the first game played at Pittodrie by its amalgamated tenants. The club initially rented the ground, but subsequently bought it in 1920. The stadium contains 21,600 seats, but due to the directors' boxes, some sources place this figure at 22,000. The record attendance occurred on 13 March 1954, when 45,061 spectators turned up for a Scottish Cup match between Aberdeen and Hearts.

The stadium consists of four stands. The Main Stand, which houses the club offices and players facilities. The Merkland Road Stand is primarily for families. The South Stand is opposite the main stand and holds the largest amount of spectators. A quarter of this section is used to accommodate travelling supporters, except for Old Firm games, where half of this stand is given to the visiting fans. The newest element is the Richard Donald stand at the East, or Beach End, of the ground, and is named after former chairman Dick Donald. This is a modern, two–tier design, completed in 1993, containing hospitality suites which is significantly taller than the other structures at the ground. In 1978, Pittodrie became the first all covered, all-seater stadium in Britain.

The club are examining a move to a new Aberdeen Stadium, which if given the go ahead, will be placed on the Loirston Loch and will seat around 22,000 but could be increased to 30,000–35,000 should a major event require a stadium of that size in Scotland. Plans for a new stadium began when the club indicated that further development of Pittodrie Stadium was not possible due to the age of the ground and the restrictions from surrounding land.

The full council approved the project in May 2009, subject to planning permission.publisher In August 2010, a planning application for the new stadium was submitted to the Council, which was approved in February 2011. It was announced in August 2011 that Barr Construction Ltd will be the contractor for the construction of the stadium, which was scheduled to begin in 2012. However, in May 2012, it was announced that the move had been delayed by a year due to problems with land ownership.