Calder_Park,_Aberdeen

Balmoral Stadium

Balmoral Stadium

Football stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland

Balmoral Stadium is a football ground located in the Cove Bay area of Aberdeen, Scotland. Opened in 2018, it is the home ground of Scottish League One club Cove Rangers. From 2021, it is being shared by Scottish Women's Premier League team Aberdeen.

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History

Cove Rangers started planning to move from their old Allan Park ground in the mid-2000s, as this formed part of their unsuccessful pitch for Scottish Football League membership in 2008.[2] Initially, the move was tied in with the New Aberdeen Stadium proposals, as Calder Park would also have served as a training facility for Aberdeen FC.[3] Planning permission for this project was refused in August 2012, as Aberdeen City Council opted to examine other possibilities for development in the area.[4]

Cove Rangers then decided to press ahead with a new stadium by themselves,[5] as Allan Park did not meet Scottish Football Association licensing criteria.[6] Aberdeen City Council accepted the first stages of planning permission for Calder Park in November 2014.[7] The new stadium was originally planned to be ready for the start of the 2016–17 season. Cove Rangers left Allan Park in April 2015, having sold the ground to a housing developer. The club reached agreements to ground-share with four other clubs during the 2015–16 season.[8]

The club submitted a planning application in March 2016.[9] The plans included a stand with 312 seats, an "all-weather" 3G (artificial) pitch and 110 car parking spaces.[9] A sponsorship deal with the Aberdeen-based Balmoral Group in December 2016 included naming rights for the Calder Park ground, which will be known as the Balmoral Stadium.[10] Construction work was being undertaken in October 2017, with a target date for completion of February to March 2018.[11] Cove continued to ground-share during the 2017–18 season, with their Scottish Cup tie against Falkirk[12] and SPFL promotion playoff matches being played at Harlaw Park in Inverurie.[13]

Balmoral Stadium was officially opened in July 2018, with a friendly match between Cove Rangers and Aberdeen which had to be abandoned after Cove player Jordon Brown suffered a serious injury.[14]

From the 2021–22 season, Scottish Women's Premier League team Aberdeen are also playing their home matches at the stadium.[15]

References

  1. [1]
    "Club Information". Cove Rangers. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  2. [2]
    "Cove crave spot in Division Three". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 June 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  3. [3]
    "Aberdeen will fight on despite council opposition to stadium plan". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  4. [4]
    "New Aberdeen FC park 'killed off', says Stewart Milne". BBC News. BBC. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  5. [5]
    Drysdale, Neil (9 January 2013). "Cove Rangers set to complete move to new £3m stadium by 2015". STV News. STV. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  6. [6]
    "Cove Rangers". Non League Scotland. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  7. [7]
    Walsh, Stephen (18 November 2014). "Cove Rangers get green light to move to new Aberdeen stadium". Press & Journal. Aberdeen Journals. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  8. [8]
    McTavish, Ross (22 May 2015). "Cove to groundshare with four clubs next season". hflhub.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  9. [9]
    "Cove Rangers lodge plans for new stadium". Original FM. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  10. [10]
    Allan, Charlie (2 December 2016). "Cove boost as Balmoral Group put name to new stadium at Calder Park - Evening Express". Evening Express. Aberdeen. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  11. [11]
    Haslam, Dale (28 October 2017). "New football stadium taking shape in North-east". Evening Express. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  12. [12]
    "COVE RANGERS – SUPPORTER INFO". Falkirk FC. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  13. [13]
    "Cowdenbeath face Cove in play-off". SPFL. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  14. [14]
    Jaffray, Chris (16 July 2018). "First ever match at new Balmoral Stadium abandoned after Cove player suffers serious injury". Press & Journal. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  15. [15]
    Durent, Jamie (7 August 2021). "Emma Hunter putting faith in continuity as Aberdeen Women prepare to start new season". Press and Journal. Aberdeen. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
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