Aberdeen FC accuse council of ‘disparaging Dons fans’ while building ‘drain on resources playpark’ but not a stadium

Furious Aberdeen FC bosses have taken a swipe at a multi-million-pound playpark being created at the beach as they lash out at “personal and misleading remarks” over their seafront stadium ambitions.

In an exclusive interview with The Press and Journal, council finance chief Alex McLellan soundly rejected chairman Dave Cormack’s offer of the Pittodrie land as part of a deal to help fund a new ground just yards away from the club’s historic home.

And he doubled down on the local authority’s stance that no public cash would go towards the proposed stadium.

In a shock statement published on the club’s website on Monday evening, a spokesperson stressed that the Pittodrie deal was only intended as a “small part” of the club’s offer.

And they took aim at the council’s “misleading” stance – arguing that the position “disparaged” the many Dons fans who took to the city centre for a parade to celebrate the Scottish Cup win this year.

What is the row about?

Plans for a new beach stadium have been at a standstill for years, with the council and the club disagreeing over whether public money should be used to design and build the new ground.

To overcome this stalemate, Dons chairman Dave Cormack in August offered up Pittodrie and the surrounding land to help secure his proposed 99-year lease on the replacement ground.

However, last week, council cash chief Alex McLellan urged Mr Cormack to list Pittodrie on the private market if he needed funds.

The SNP member also revealed he had seen the ground’s land survey – which included the estimated price Pittodrie could fetch on the market.

What do Dons say in shock statement?

The club has now hit back in a strongly-worded post online.

The bombshell statement reads: “The club is at a loss to understand what prompted Cllr McLellan to make such personal and misleading remarks about Aberdeen Football Club in relation to the community stadium project.

“He knows full well that the site at Pittodrie is only a small part of what the club offered to bring to this project.”

The Dons claim that, at a behind-closed-doors meeting about 18 months ago,  council bosses pledged to look into “similar projects in the UK where a football club is the anchor tenant in a community stadium”.

This was done “in the knowledge that Aberdeen FC would be committed to providing a rent and rates income stream”.

‘It beggars belief council is not taking this seriously’

The Monday night statement continues: “As the anchor tenant of a new multi-sports, community stadium, Aberdeen FC will pay hefty rent and rates, adding tens of millions in new revenues to Aberdeen City Council, over a long-term lease.

“And, as if that wasn’t appealing enough to a cash-strapped local authority, a new economic impact report from BiGGAR Economics revealed that this transformational project will generate £3.2 billion into the local economy over 50 years.

“It beggars belief that councillors, who are supposed to have the interests of our city at heart, are not taking this seriously.”

Dons stadium statement: ‘This is about more than a new ground’

The Dons stressed that the council is able to borrow money for major projects like this one at “very favourable interest rates”.

And they insist the development would “deliver an attractive return on investment in terms of jobs, spend in the local economy and additional tax revenues”.

The official message continues: “The beachfront regeneration presented the opportunity to build a world-class shared community stadium.

“If this was just about a new stadium for the club, we’d look at moving ahead with Kingsford or explore the major challenges of trying to redevelop Pittodrie.

“But it’s not.

“It’s about Aberdeen benefiting from the catalytic impact of a new community asset at the beach.

“It’s not about what the club wants or needs, it’s about what’s best for our city and its citizens at this pivotal time for our future prosperity.”

‘New playpark will be a drain on resources’, Dons claim in shock stadium statement

But, not for the first time, the club lamented that this vision can only ever get off the drawing board “if there is the political will to make it happen”.

And the club suggests that the millions already ploughed into seafront regeneration work will actually cost the council in the long run.

“Yes, there has been significant investment at the beach, but spending £55 million on an urban park does not create jobs or generate wealth into the economy,” the club adds.

“Instead, they are a drain on council resources, adding considerable, annual maintenance costs to an already-constrained operating budget.”

‘We asked councillors to put down their swords’

Aberdeen FC goes on to lift the lid on recent talks with council chiefs at Pittodrie, where Dons higher-ups pleaded with everyone to “put down their swords and work together to seriously evaluate the project”.

The statement adds: “To that end, we left the meeting agreeing that we’d jointly work on a heads of terms agreement. This was to be led by the council, not the club.

“But instead, all we’ve seen from them are misleading briefings to the media, dismissing the economic report, by a reputable company used by the Scottish Government, and disparaging what our supporters bring to this city, including the 130,000 who turned up for the open top bus parade after the Scottish Cup win.”

So is all lost?

The years-long stadium saga seems to have yet again reached another stumbling block, with the club and the local authority refusing to budge on who should pay for a reported £4 million design survey.

When the the recent economic report was published, Mr Cormack again urged city leaders to “share this ambition”, and help to make the £42m construction happen.

Despite the fiery statement, the club remains keen to see things progress.

It concludes: “This beachfront vision can still be pulled off.

“The ball is not in our court, it is well and truly in the hands of our council leaders – only they have the mandate and the ability to secure public, capital investment to drive a major infrastructure project like this.

“The leaders of the opposition parties understand this.

“Sadly, our current administration does not and continues to deliberately miss the point which is both disappointing and disingenuous.”

[Source: Press and Journal]