Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen "risks losing out" on int'l football if "plans to build a new stadium at Kingsford are blocked," the Scottish FA warned, according to the BBC. Aberdeenshire Council renewed its objection to the club's £50M ($69M) stadium and training facilities proposal last week. A "special council meeting is scheduled to rule on the plans" on Jan. 29. SFA CEO Stewart Regan said that the development "would ensure that the city remains in the running for hosting Scotland matches." Regan: "With the introduction of the UEFA Nations League replacing international friendlies, last year's match against Holland could be the last time Pittodrie, and therefore Aberdeen, will host a Scotland international, due to its well-documented constraints." The SFA and Scottish Professional Football League "had previously supported the club's stadium move" (BBC, 1/16).
DEFINING DECISION: In London, Michael Grant reported Aberdeen Manager Derek McInnes believes Aberdeen "cannot grow as a club or reach a higher level" unless its £50M new stadium plans "are finally approved over the next two weeks." Senior execs at Aberdeen "are quietly confident that councillors will give the plans their approval but the situation is tense." McInnes is "convinced that Aberdeen cannot significantly increase" its revenues without building its own dedicated training ground and having a modern 20,000-capacity stadium that "can generate higher income levels than Pittodrie." McInnes said, "The decision will impact on the club and what animal we can be. I want us to be better than what we are at the minute. Unless someone starts investing money into the club, I don’t see how we can be" (LONDON TIMES, 1/16).
