Aberdeen FC launch new campaign for Kingsford stadium support

Aberdeen Football Club has launched a major campaign demonstrating support for its planned new £50m stadium complex in Kingsford.

Sir Alex Ferguson is leading the rallying call - with AFC asking the Red Army and the wider public to voice their support for the plans. The proposals will go before councillors in the Granite City again on the 13th September, after a meeting of Shire councillors failed to approve the project earlier this year.

It's a controversial development, that received 4,500 objections from across the North East when it was first proposed. The club is hoping it'll persuade groups against the Kingsford facility to stand down with the Aurora campaign - that has already secured the backing of Dons legends, sporting champions and prominent members of the business community.

AFC hero and Gothenburg Great Willie Miller, golf champion Paul Lawrie and supporter Mike Loggie, chief executive of The Saltire Energy Group, are some of those who have thrown their weight behind the plans.

AFC executive vice chairman, George Yule, said: “In the run up to a decision on our planning application, we want to demonstrate the huge amount of support out there for our plans. I’m constantly approached by people wanting to know what we’re doing to galvanise support and how they can help us get this application over the line. This campaign is our response. It provides a focal point and clear calls to action so that they can make their voices heard.”

Those who support the plans are being urged to demonstrate their backing through displaying the Aurora branded material, posting supportive comments on social media using the hashtag #AllForAurora and providing public endorsements.

The club believes building a modern stadium, bespoke training facilities and dedicated multi-purpose facilities for the AFC Community Trust is vital to achieve a successful and sustainable future and hopefully maximising its contribution to the North East economy and society.

Sir Alex Ferguson, who famously led the Dons to victory against Real Madrid in 1983, said: “The Club’s plans are ambitious, inspiring and inclusive. With best-in-class football training pitches and academy on the same site as a modern stadium, AFC has the opportunity to steal a march on other European clubs.”

If planning consent is granted at a Town House meeting in October, the proposals will see £50million invested to create a new home for the Dons with football training pitches and academy that will also provide a base for expansion of the work done by the Aberdeen FC Community Trust on social inclusion, participation in sport and healthy lifestyles for all ages across the region.

Mr Yule added: “The city really got behind us ahead of the Cup Final and that is the kind of level of support we are hoping for ahead of the decision by councillors in a few weeks’ time. We are urging everyone, who also believes in the huge opportunities a new stadium will bring, to get behind the Aurora campaign and show our elected members that there is overwhelming support for our vision to become a reality.

“Over 17 years, we have spent considerable time, money and effort on taking forward plans which have failed due to reasons outwith our control. While we accept that there are those with genuine concerns about the location, and we remain committed to addressing these, we finally have a site that is within our control, affordable and deliverable. This could be our last chance to realise our long-held vision of a new stadium and facilities that are fit for the 21st century. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity.”

The Club’s plans for the 25-hectare site at Kingsford, near Westhill, would see the construction of the largest new-build stadium in Scotland in 100 years.

Dons manager Derek McInnes believes the planned facilities will inspire future generations of fans as well as budding young footballers.

He said: “We will be building a stadium that supports our ambition and meets the expectations of our fans alongside outstanding community sports facilities. As well as helping us to attract the best talent on-the-pitch possible, Kingsford would be a focal point for community engagement and footballing excellence for the north of Scotland and an inspiration for future generations of local youngsters.”

The proposals include the new stadium with up to 20,000-seat capacity; three professional training pitches; two community 3G pitches; a community pavilion with changing facilities, offices, a gymnasium and multi-purpose space with a potential community learning zone; a fan-zone, AFC store; Red café; AFC Heritage Museum and Memorial Garden; and around 1,400 car parking spaces, bus parking and drop off areas.

The project would be delivered in two phases, with the community and sports facilities and football academy constructed first and the stadium in the second phase. If given the go-ahead, the target completion dates are 2018 for the community sports campus and football training academy and the new stadium for the 2020/21 season.

A statement on campaign group No Kingsford Stadium's website said:

"The decision on AFC’s Kingsford Stadium application is not a popularity contest as AFC would have the public believe. It is clear that the club now fear that planning permission will be denied them by Aberdeen City Council and are launching a last minute attempt to place pressure on the local authority.

"Aberdeen City Councillors have heard Stewart Milne’s claims of dire consequences for the club, should they not move, many times over the last 17 years. It can hardly be said that the club are currently in difficulty: they have no debt, had access to European football and achieved a second place league finish. Yet, if Stewart Milne’s statements, at the Bellfield and Loirston hearings, are to be believed the club would have crumbled. Supporters need to remember that it is the AFC Board that have failed to invest in Pittodrie. It is the board that withdrew from the Loirston site for which they had planning permission. Kings Links, adjacent to the club’s historic home, continues to be a viable site, in the heart of the city.

"A few former players and managers endorsing the project do nothing to change planning law. Nearly 5000 people, Aberdeenshire Council and local MPs and MSPs have stated they are against the club building on this site.

"AFC have failed to provide valid material considerations to justify building at Kingsford. This stadium application is contrary to local and national planning policy and Aberdeen City Council must refuse the application."

• Northsound Sport