Pittodrie Stadium: Aberdeen
Lewismccabe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
To make life nice and confusing for everyone there are actually two different Aberdeens, historically speaking. For the sake of ease they are generally referred to as Aberdeen and Aberdeen FC, with the latter being the club that we know today. It was formed in 1903 when the original Aberdeen was merged with two other clubs based in the city, Victoria United and Orion. Both the original Aberdeen and Aberdeen FC have played their games at Pittodrie Stadium.
As for the stadium itself, it opened in 1899, with the first game coming on the second of September of that year when Aberdeen played Dumbarton, beating them 7-1. The first game of Aberdeen FC wasn’t quite as noteworthy. Just 8000 people turned up to watch the newly formed side draw 1-1 with Stenhousemuir. The club did increase in popularity over the years, however, with the stadium’s record attendance coming in 1954. A crowd of 45,061 supporters crammed into the ground to watch the home side play Heart of Midlothian in a Scottish Cup game.
Stats
| Pittodrie Stadium Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 1899 |
| Capacity | 20866 |
| Average Attendance | 17178 |
| Record Attendance | 45061 (Aberdeen v Hearts (1954)) |
| Pitch Size | 100 x 66 (6600) |
| Owner | Aberdeen F.C. |
| Clubs Hosted | Aberdeen, Aberdeen FC, Inverness Caledonian Thistle |
| First Fixture | Aberdeen v Dumbarton (02/09/1899) |
| Aberdeen Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1903 |
| Nickname | The Dons, The Reds, The Dandies, The Sheep |
| Club Mascot | Angus the Bull |
| Rivals | Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Dundee United, Rangers, Celtic |
| Kit | Red (Home) / Dark Blue (Away) |
| Training Ground | Aberdeen FC Training Ground |
| Shirt Sponsor | TEXO |
| Team Owner | Aberdeen Asset Management and Stewart Milne Group |
| Record Goalscorer | Joe Harper (199) |
| Record Appearances | Willie Miller (797) |
Pittodrie Stadium Photos
By Foxj (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0]
By Braveheart (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0]
By Ragazzi00 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
Pittodrie Stadium Seating Plan and Where to Sit
There are four separate stands at Pittodrie Stadium. Away supporters are housed in The South Stand, The Merkland Stand is considered to be the family friendly stand, The Richard Donald Stand is behind one of the goals and tends to be where the most vocal Aberdeen fans sit, and The Main Stand houses the dugouts, changing rooms and the players’ tunnel.
Aberdeen Ticket Prices
The ground is split into four different sections geographically and monetarily as far as ticket prices are concerned; Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Aside from this fancy way of splitting the seating into category’s there are also match categories depending on who is playing; A, B and C – so it really is a convoluted pricing system on the East coast of Scotland. Other than this, only your age and membership status will affect the ticket price thank goodness, with members getting a slight discount on the prices below:
- Adults: £22.00 – £32.00
- Concessions: £20.00 – £25.00
These are Cat C prices, no others categories were available at the time of writing.
How To Get Aberdeen Tickets
You can get your tickets online, over the phone or in person from the ticket office.
Where to Buy
Getting To Pittodrie Stadium
Aberdeen isn’t Glasgow or Edinburgh, but it still gets its fair share of visitors. Here’s how they get there:
Train – It will take you about seven hours to get the train from London King’s Cross to Aberdeen. There are direct trains available or you can swap at Edinburgh. It’s about twenty minutes walk from the ground.
Bus – Bus numbers 13, 1, 2, and X40 will all get you close to the stadium.
Car – As always with driving, your best bet is to use a sat-nav for accurate directions, especially on those twisty turny Scottish roads.
By Air – Aberdeen International Airport is eight miles from the city centre and reachable by bus.
Taxi – Getting a taxi from Aberdeen Train Station to the ground will cost about £6 and should take around ten minutes.
Parking Near Pittodrie Stadium
There is some limited on-street parking near to the stadium, but restrictions are often in place on match days. There are a number of car parks within a 10 minute walk, with the Beach Esplanade being the closest. There are also numerous excellent park and ride options.
Useful Resources
- Parking - Just Park
Pittodrie Stadium Hotels
Aberdeen is one of the richest cities in Scotland, so there are numerous excellent hotels available to put up the people who want to see what all of the fuss is about:
ibis Aberdeen Centre - £40+
DoubleTree by Hilton Aberdeen City Centre - £60+
Siberia Bar & Hotel - £64+
Pubs and Bars Near Pittodrie Stadium
It’s not exactly a secret that Scottish people tend to enjoy a drink. Aberdeen, like most Scottish cities, has some excellent bars and pubs that you’ll want to consider dropping into for a pint. Here are some of our favourites:
The Old School House
The Prince of Wales Bar
The Archibald Simpson
Facilities
Pittodrie Stadium has all of the facilities you’d expect for a top-flight stadium. There are plenty of places to buy food and drink and large concourses for you to spend time in. You may well want to do just that when the football’s not on, too – The North Sea whips through the stadium, making it cold even in the summer.
Prices
- Programme: £3
- Pie: £1.9
- Cup of tea: £2.1
Hospitality
There are a number of excellent hospitality packages available at Pittodrie Stadium, and most can be booked seasonally or on a match by match basis subject to availability. The Main Stand Boxes offer a unique degree of privacy and exceptional service, whilst The Aberdeen Asset Management Suite has a buzz and excitement that can’t be matched. The Legends Lounge and Teddy Scott Lounge are both slightly more relaxed in their approach and The Captain’s Club is the most exclusive of the lot. If you’re after a un-rivalled match day hospitality experience then the club will be able to get one boxed off for you, no pun intended.
Private Hire
Most of the executive suites are available for hire, should you be looking for a unique locations in which to hold your event in the Granite City. The club is able to accommodate most things, from large conferences to smaller meetings, huge parties to intimate dinners and more. You can use the facilities for team building events, corporate dinners and even your wedding, should you be so inclined. With a max capacity of 1000 (event depending) you are sure not to be left disappointed.
Stadium Tours & Museum
Tours of Pittodrie Stadium take in all of the places you’d expect to see at a top-flight stadium. You’ll visit the dressing rooms, walk down the players’ tunnel to the side of the pitch and get a chance to sit in the manager’s seat and imagine what it would be like to be calling the shots. You’ll also get to see the Director’s Box and other hospitality areas as well as the press room and more.
Tours need to be booked in advance and cost £10.00 for adults and £5.00 for children. There is no museum at the club, but there is plenty of memorabilia on display throughout the ground when you do the tour.
About Aberdeen
Aberdeen Football Club were promoted to the top-flight of the Scottish Football League in 1905 and have never been relegated from it since.The club has won the Scottish league four times, the Scottish Cup seven times and the Scottish League Cup six times. Although those achievements are dwarfed by the success of Celtic and Rangers, The Dons boast something that the other two can not – they are the only Scottish club to have won two European trophies in the form of the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Super Cup.
Aberdeen have had some reasonably well-known players run out for them over the years, including Alex McLeish and Gordon Strachan, both of whom went on to become reasonably successful managers in their own right. No former manager has yet to live up to the success of one particular name, however – Sir Alex Ferguson. Fergie managed the club from 1978 until 1986, leading them during their most successful period of all time. He left to go off to manage Manchester United where he did alright as well, becoming the second most successful manager ever in England, behind only Bob Paisley of Liverpool.
Pittodrie Stadium History
Pittodrie Stadium is the fifth largest stadium in Scotland. Not a feat to be sniffed at when you consider that the only stadiums bigger North of the border are Celtic Park, Murrayfield, Hampden Park and Ibrox. It is, in fact, the largest stadium in the country outside of what is known as the Central Belt. Perhaps a part of this is down to the fact that the club was slightly ahead of the game when it became one of the first all-seater stadiums in the United Kingdom, which it achieved in 1978.
The ground has enjoyed some famous nights over the years, but it’s possible that none of them were as memorable as the one that occurred on the 16th of March 1983. The Dons were 2-1 down in the second leg of the quarter-final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup against German giants Bayern Munich, coming back to win 3-2. They went on to win the trophy, too. Developments of the stadium took place in the 1992-1993 when the Beach End was demolished and replaced with The Richard Donald Stand.
Future Developments
The club confirmed that it would be building a new stadium in a different part of the city years ago. The initial idea was that the new ground will be open for the start of the 2019-2020 season, but there were problems with claims that the site was greenbelt land. The club have since made arrangements to build the ground near the beachfront to help link the area to the town centre. Work is due to start imminently and the hope is the new stadium will be ready for the 2025/26 season.