Pittodrie
From Free net encyclopedia
| Pittodrie Stadium | |
| Facility Statistics | |
| Location | Pittodrie Street, Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Broke Ground | 1884 |
| Opened | 10 September,1889 |
| Renovated | 1994 (Richard Donald Stand Opened) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Owner | Aberdeen Football Club |
| Original Construction Cost | |
| Reconstruction Cost | |
| Architect | connor milligan |
| Tenants | |
| Aberdeen Football Club | Scottish Premier League |
| Seating Capacity | |
| Football | 22,200 seats |
Pittodrie (formerly the Northern Police Mounted Division's home - owned by a certain Mr Pittodrie) Stadium is a football stadium situated in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. It was first used in 1899 and since 1903 has been the home of Aberdeen F.C.. Pittodrie was the first stadium in the UK to become an all seater stadium in the late 1970s and was also the first to introduce dugouts (1940s) and flood lighting (1950s).
As a result of a groundsharing agreement it was used by Inverness Caledonian Thistle for their home matches during the early part of the 2004-05 season. This was required because ICT's own stadium did not meet the requirements for entry into the Scottish Premier League until improvements were carried out.
The stadium was previously known as Pittodrie Park until it was changed to Pittodrie Stadium in the 1960s. The stadium is one of the largest in Scotland with a capacity of 22,199. The record attendance is 45,061, for a match between Aberdeen and Hearts in 1954.
Its finest hour is generally regarded as March 1983 when Aberdeen came back from 2-1 down in the latter stages of a European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final 2nd leg tie against the top German team Bayern Munich to win 3-2. A full house witnessed the victory to take The Dons through to the semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate.
The most recent development of the stadium came in 1993 when the old Beach End stand was torn down with the Richard Donald stand being built in its place. It is currently the only two tier stand in the stadium and many an Aberdeen F.C. supporter would argue it lacks the character of the old Beach End stand.
Nowadays it is thought that Pittodrie is becoming old and unfit for the 21st century, lacking the first class facilities found at many recently built stadia. AFC are actively looking for a new site to build a stadium, and when this happens Pittodrie would be knocked down completely to be replaced with housing.Template:Scotland-struct-stub Template:Stadium-stub